13th International Winds Workshop

Introduction

One of the key meteorological parameters for weather forecasting, meteorological studies and climate applications is wind. It has therefore been a major task for the science and operational community to exploit the imagery data from satellites in order to derive Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMVs) by tracking observed cloud and moisture features. The globally derived AMV fields are an established and essential product, especially for numerical weather prediction, and are complemented by other satellite-based observations of the atmospheric flow. The biennial International Winds Workshops are the forums used by the International Winds Working Group (IWWG) for co-operation in the operational and research community, and have strongly contributed to the improvement in quality of the derived wind fields.

The Workshop is an opportunity to present advances and new ideas in this specialised field. We therefore encourage participation from all organisations operating meteorological satellites, as well as from data users and the science community. Presentations on operational and experimental wind retrievals from satellite imagery data and their use for Numerical Weather Prediction, nowcasting, or in climatological applications are welcome. In addition, research work on wind retrievals from active and passive microwave instruments and active optical systems (lidar) is encouraged.

Workshop venue and organisers

This workshop will take place near Monterey, California (USA) at the Asilomar Conference Center. Dr Nancy Baker (Naval Research Laboratory) is facilitating the arrangements for this meeting on behalf of the organizing committee members. The workshop is being co-organised by the Naval Research Laboratory, the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), EUMETSAT, and the University of Wisconsin, (UW)/Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) and is co-sponsored by EUMETSAT, NOAA/NESDIS, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The meeting is being organised by a joint Scientific Program Committee:

• Mr Jaime Daniels (NESDIS), Co-chair
• Dr Mary Forsythe (Met Office), Co-chair
• Dr Nancy Baker (NRL)
• Dr Regis Borde (EUMETSAT)
• Mr Steve Wanzong (CIMSS)

Workshop registration fee

There will be opportunities to register on the Sunday evening and first thing on the Monday morning.

The final workshop fees are as follows:

• $65 for onsite attendees
• $105 limited offsite attendee registration package (no group lunches at Asilomar). Offsite attendees must make their own arrangements (either onsite or offsite) for lunch. A limited number of onsite meals will be available for purchase each day at the Asilomar front desk, but availability cannot be guaranteed.
• $205 full offsite attendee registration package, includes group lunches at Asilomar for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Breakfast and dinner at Asilomar are not part of this package. With the exception of the workshop dinner, it is up to offsite attendees to make their own arrangements (onsite or offsite) for breakfast and dinner. A limited number of onsite meals will be available for purchase each day at the Asilomar front desk, but availability cannot be guaranteed.

A website is being set up to collect registration fees - more information will follow shortly.

Presentations and final papers

Abstracts are welcomed for an oral presentation and/or poster presentation at the workshop. Abstracts should be emailed to the IWWG Co-Chairs together with the attached registration form - please see the first announcement for details. The deadline for the receipt of abstracts and registration is 12 Feb 2016.

Workshop proceedings will be prepared and placed online shortly after the meeting. Instruction for submission of final papers will be provided closer to the time.

Visa information

Participants are encouraged to check visa requirements as early as possible. Information is available from the US Visas website.

For those workshop attendees who will need a visa to enter the US please contact Jaime Daniels who can provide a letter of invitation if required. Please also provide a mailing address and your affiliation with this request so we can send an original signed letter. The visa process can take a while, so we recommend starting now if you have not done so already.