2. Resilience to Weather, Climate and Atmospheric Hazards

Priority 2: Building Capacity for Coping with Weather and Climate Hazards

To help society cope with weather and climate hazards, decision makers must be made aware of threats and vulnerabilities so that options of mitigation and adaptation can be developed. EOL has contributed to this strategic priority in 2007 by installing a brand-new radar processor, developed at EOL for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Center in Brisbane, Australia.

NCAR's CP-2 Radar in Brisbane, Australia

The CP-2 radar was set up by a team of EOL engineers in Brisbane, Australia for long-term scientific collaboration in the areas of nowcasting, hydrology, and weather modification. The Australians have built a permanent structure to house the radar for continuous 24/7 operations.

The CP-2 radar was set up by a team of EOL engineers in Brisbane, Australia. and began functioning in August 2007. As part of a 2002 Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Australia and UCAR, a formal agreement was established to transfer CP-2 to BOM and setup and operate it in Brisbane, Australia for long-term scientific collaboration in the areas of nowcasting, hydrology, and weather modification. EOL engineers installed a brand new radar processor that was developed at EOL. The Australians have built a permanent structure to house the radar for continuous 24/7 operations.

The Brisbane area is an excellent location for studying flash flood producing rainstorms over moderate topography as well as sub-tropical oceanic systems. The area has a first-class array of rain gauge and lightning detection systems. CP-2 will be available for both operational and research activities. The Queensland government has recently started to explore the potential for cloud seeding to enhance rainfall and plans a feasibility study starting later this year in the Brisbane area. The Queensland program provides a unique opportunity to address some of the outstanding cloud micro physical issues such as growth of hygroscopic particles into drizzle drops and glaciation and graupel growth in silver iodide seeded clouds identified in previous rainfall enhancement experiments. The CP-2 radar with its advanced measurement capabilities would collect a dual polarization, and dual wavelength radar observations for cloud micro physical research during the Queensland program.

Priority 3: Establishing Research Connections in Emerging Nations

People everywhere are affected by weather, climate change and other atmospheric phenomena. Continued improvements in scientific capabilities in emerging nations creates opportunity for scientific progress and increases the likelihood that science can improve the effectiveness of local and regional decision making on environmental and development issues. While a good number of EOL's activities center around our international collaborations, two activities stand out as prime examples of our commitment to support NCAR's strategic priority to establish research connections in emerging nations.

India workshop

In February 2007, EOL staff members and a representative from NOAA/NSSL traveled to New Delhi to participate in a five-day workshop with the Indian National Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting and many other Indian scientists. The goals of the workshop were twofold: 1) to give India advice regarding the development of an airborne science platform; and 2) to begin initial planning for a Bay of Bengal tropical cyclone experiment aimed at improving forecasts of cyclone intensity and landfall.  Both India and the US will be entraining interested scientists in the next phase of planning - likely to be an international meeting in late Fall 2007.

Representatives from NCAR/MMM and UOP/COMET also attended as discussions were held defining tasks in the next UCAR/NCAR MOU with India detailing specific interactions among our scientific institutions on topics ranging from regionalizing WRF to training the Indian Meteorological Department in modern forecasting techniques.

CO2 Analyzers in Africa

EOL scientists are also pursuing collaborations with scientists in Africa to establish continuous CO2 analysis sites. Within the last year, scientists have worked to establish CO2 sites in order to fill in the gap of data in CO2 exchange in Africa, and to further understanding of Africa’s role in global CO2 exchange. In April 2007, EOL staff attended the Sahel Conference in Burkina Faso to establish relationships with African scientists, and to explore the possibility of setting up one of EOL’s CO2 analyzers. In FY07, EOL scientists, in collaboration with local scientists as well as other international scientists, decided to install the CO2 analyzer at the Mt. Kenya Meteorological Observatory, which is World Meteorological Organization site. Pending research permits. EOL plans to install the analyzer either in November 2007 or early 2008.