Objective This proposal is for a two-year Concerted Action on data assimilation in readiness for the receipt of Envisat data. The Concerted Action involves a partnership between groups engaged on projects, already funded, concerned with the development of data assimilation and related techniques for applications in Earth Observation. The proposed partnership is between the following groups: (1) Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling, University of Reading, U.K. (co-ordinator), (2) Meteorological Office, U.K. (3) Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace, France, (4) KNMI, Netherlands, and (5) University of Koeln, Germany. This partnership will have strong links with the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts. The proposal seeks costs (57 kEcu) for meetings, workshops and travel to promote the collaboration between these partners and other interested parties; it does not seek funding for specific research. The project aims to fill an important strategic gap in the European Envisat mission, for which no formal provision has been made to use the sophisticated methods of data assimilation to exploit costly Envisat data to the full. The objectives are: (1) to co-ordinate the interaction between European groups in order to build a capability in data assimilation to process Envisat data for the atmosphere, and thereby to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of the data, (2) to facilitate exploitation of the products of data assimilation by a diverse user community, (3) to link instrument developers with groups involved with data assimilation in order to improve the calibration and validation of Envisat data, and (4) to identify gaps in existing capabilities to exploit Envisat data, to produce recommendations for future programmes and to co-ordinate bids for funding at national and European level. There are four main elements to the Concerted Action: (1) project co-ordination and planning, which will involve the establishment of a Project Co-ordination Group (PCG), (2) workshops, including a workshop that will include a summer school for the benefit of young scientists, (3) individual visits and exchanges of scientific personnel, and (4) communication with the wider community. The prime deliverables and benefits are as follows: (1) the establishment, from existing projects and infrastructure, of a capability to assimilate Envisat data, (2) the avoidance of unnecessary costs through duplication of effort, (3) recommendations to help guide the development of national and European space programmes, (4) increased interaction between data analysis teams and instrument developers, (5) a forum for the exchange of information with users of data products, and (6) improvements in data assimilation techniques that will benefit data analysis, and thereby operational weather and ozone forecasting. KEYWORDS: Data assimilation, Envisat, calibration and validation, environmental research, weather forecasting. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencenatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorology Programme(s) FP4-ENV 2C - Specific programme of research and technological development in the field of environment and climate, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 030101 - Methodological research Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CON - Coordination of research actions Coordinator University of Reading EU contribution No data Address 2 Earley Gate Whiteknights RG6 6BB Reading United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ROYAL NETHERLANDS METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE Netherlands EU contribution No data Address 10,Wilhelminalaan 10 3730 AE DE BILT See on map Total cost No data SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE - MINISTRY OF DEFENCE United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address London Road, Sutton House Room SG/12 RG12 2SZ BRACKNELL See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE - PARIS VI France EU contribution No data Address 4,Place Jussieu 4 75252 Paris See on map Total cost No data Universität Köln Germany EU contribution No data Address 201-209,Aachener Strasse 50931 Köln See on map Total cost No data
