The Training Bulletin

EUMETCAL/ECMWF workshop on Advancing training and education in weather prediction

The tenth edition of the Eumetcal workshop is at the door! This time in joint cooperation with ECMWF! In line with the philosophy of previous Eumetcal workshops, the aim will be to explore and discuss solutions, strategies, practices and innovations that can be applied to the training and education of meteorological personnel to meet future competency and skill requirements especially in response to advances in weather prediction sciences and technologies. The Eumetcal-ECMWF workshop will be a forward-looking forum for trainers, researchers, forecasters and managers of hydro-meteorological services.
In this context the workshop will provide a forum for analyzing and discussing:
• Anticipated advances in weather prediction sciences and technologies
• Changing role of hydro-meteorological services driven by changes in weather prediction models
• Future needs of society and stakeholders
• Skills and competencies of operational staff in the future scenario, along with training needs
• Current and future developments of training and education
Don't miss this unique opportunity to contribute to the improvement in future meteorological education and training! Please visit the workshop page and register. Please submit your ideas for discussion topics, demonstrations, learning activities and presentation abstracts!
Deadline is close: 30 April 2015!

Eumetrain Convection Week 2015

From 8 to 12 June, EUMeTrain is running an event week on convection. During this week new remote sensing developments in forecasting and/or analysing convective weather situations will be presented. Actual and/or past convective events will be analysed and discussed. This event week will provide an interesting insight into the world of convection, from the scientific and application-oriented point of view.
Participation is free and available to all. Due to the fact that this event week is run online, prior registration is needed. Self-registration is simple and you can register for one or more sessions.
Registration links soon available at eumetrain.org. 

Announcing the CALMET XI Workshop

The CALMet Working Group is excited to announce our next event, the CALMet XI Workshop. Start planning your attendance today! This CALMet XI Workshop provides a forum to share experiences, expectations, and new ideas for applying emerging technologies and strategies in meteorology/hydrology education and training. It offers learning and networking opportunities for all international trainers, involved with workforce development supporting national meteorological and hydrological services.

Workshop themes:
• Competency-based training and assessment
• Adopting new teaching strategies and innovations
• Quality control and trainer competencies
• Collaboration and the Global Campus

Training sessions – well-planned, active and effectively designed

Free and open access will be granted to a series of 45-minute online sessions focusing on planning and delivering training sessions.

> Monday 20 April -- 12:00 UTC: Planning training sessions, what information do you need?
(Ivan Smiljanic - EUMeTrain; Maja Kuna - EUMETSAT)
(register here)
> Monday 27 April -- 12:00 UTC: How do you make training sessions more active?
(Vesa Nietosvaara-EUMETSAT; Luciane Veeck - VLab)
(register here)
> Thursday 7 May -- 9:00 UTC: Creating effective presentations.
(TBD)
(register here)

This event is being organised as part of this year’s WMO/EUMETCAL Course for Trainers.  You can register to a particular session above by clicking on the title of the session.

15th EMS Annual Meeting & 12th European Conference on Applications of Meteorology (ECAM)

The title of the EMS-ECAM conference 2015 is "High impact weather and hydrological hazards: from observation to impact mitigation", the focus being on exploring the end-to-end process of modern weather and flood risk forecasting.
As in previous editions, one of the conference themes will be "Communication and Education (CE)". In this context the conference provides a unique chance for providers of education and training to reach a wide audience and strengthen the connection with professionals in the field of hydro-meteorology.
Additional information is avaialable at the EMS website.
All providers in the domain of education and training are warmly invited to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations (deadline: 24 April 2015).

Training workshop on forecasting extreme hydrometeorological events

Eumetcal, EUMeTrain and EMS are organising the course 'Forecasting extreme hydrometeorological events'. The primary aim of the workshop is to expose operational forecasters to the different components of the weather warning process, through the simulation and analysis of some extreme hydrometeorological case studies. This workshop is primarily aimed at the community of operational weather forecasters and hydrologists across Europe, whose main duties are forecasting and issuing weather warnings. Forecasters from other branches are also welcome to attend, as well as people involved in using warnings or in relevant management positions.
Registration opens in May and closes on 30 June. Additional information in the EMS webpage.
We are looking forward to active participation from Eumetcal and EUMeTrain member organisations.

ePort Monthly Weather Briefings

Every month EUMeTrain organises a weather briefing open to everyone to discuss the present weather situation. The basis of discussions is that day's satellite images and the corresponding numerical weather prediction data. A basic knowledge on conceptual models used in satellite meteorology is of advantage, in order to follow the presentations. The weather briefings are performed by meteorologists from Croatia, Portugal, Finland and Austria, with many guests from around the globe. At the end of the briefings, participants have the opportunity to talk to the presenters. The sessions are recorded and made available online.
Participation is free, but you need to register in order to receive an invitation. Registration can be done by directly following the link on the EUMeTrain homepage, or by clicking on the date of the briefing in the calendar on the homepage.

Simulators in Meteorological Training

A few years ago EUMETSAT trainers developed a simulator to display weather case studies for Aviation Forecasting. Data appears in 'accelerated real time' i.e. five times the normal speed with data being drip-fed to the simulator at the correct 'simulator time'. Timed tasks focus on possible hazardous weather conditions. Several simulators are now used in the classroom phases of the ESAC courses in Nairobi and Oman. These simulations are generally well received, as participants feel it is like a real work environment. The rapidly ticking clock imposes a realistic time pressure element. Running faster than normal time allows for many hours of weather data to be experienced in a two hour session.
In February 2014 a 'Why you want to/how to build a simulator' course was held in Langen, chiefly for European participants. As a result a number of simulators have been developed and used in training across Europe.
Plans are progressing to deliver a similar course in Nairobi for African trainers later this year. Discussions are taking place with the UK's Met Office College about a course for European trainers in Exeter.
Existing simulations can be seen here http://www.ianmillstraining.co.uk/sims.html. If you’re interested in attending a simulator course email ian.mills@eumetsat.int.

Himawari-8 Training Campaign

The Australian VLab Centre of Excellence has started a training campaign to help users improve their skills for using data from Himawari-8. The campaign has three phases.
Phase I (February –April): Familiarising stakeholders with the use of 10 minute rapid scan and the 'Red-Green-Blue ' (RGB) products that combine multiple channels of data. Weekly online, recorded tutorials are also available.
Phase II (May to July): Highlights the use of rapid scan data and RGB products through the use of case studies. Assessment activities will be available for BMTC and selected stakeholders only. The 2015 Advanced Forecaster Course 'Science Week' hosted by VLab CoE Australia, will be an important part of this phase.
Phase III will start after the receipt of the Himawari-8 data and will include ongoing support and training to stakeholders.
Training campaign page: http://www.virtuallab.bom.gov.au/training/hw-8-training/

XVII SBSR - Programa Técnico Preliminar

EUMETSAT, together with representatives of the Land SAF, VITO and the South American Group of EUMETCast operators, will be at the XVII SBSR symposium in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, 25–29 April. Visitors to our stand can find out how to use satellite imagery for hydrological and meteorological projects and how to set up Meteosat receiving stations. Around 1,500 scientists, meteorologists and other professionals are expected to attend a variety of sessions, including one on the future satellite systems GOES-R, Meteosat Third Generation and EPS-SG.
The following week, at INPE, EUMETSAT, in cooperation with CPTEC, will organise a training course for participants from countries in South America and Africa. The objective is to present physical concepts and applications of satellites in nowcasting and to the surface analysis of radiation applied to the meteorological remote sensing, and show the EUMETSAT programmes. The course also includes the presentation of modules developed by regional partners, describing local atmospheric events — a project coordinated by EUMETSAT, involving meteorologists in South America, South Africa, Australia and Indonesia. More than 50% of the course will be based on hands-on exercises. It includes a remote session on the Land SAF by Carla Barroso in Lisbon