Issue 01/06

1. Eumetcal continued 2. Material for the Radar Working Group 3. Call to participate in the Eumetcal Learning Solutions Working Group 4. WMO High Profile Training Event in October 5. Eumetcal Courses to begin early 2007 6. Newsletter launched

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1. Eumetcal continued

The EUMETNET Training Programme, Eumetcal, got a continuation of five years from the EUMETNET Council on 15 September. While the certification scheme present in the old proposal was lifted, the essence of the Programme Proposal has remained the same. Eumetcal will continue from 2007 to 2012 to develop the intraLibrary service, maintain a website dedicated to training resources, hold annual workshops, coordinate the creation of training modules and provide support for Eumetcal courses delivered by member NMSs. The EUMETNET Council will choose the Responsible Member for the next Eumetcal phase in the beginning of December following a call for proposals.

Eumetcal has recently gained two new members with Latvia and Hungary joining the programme. The Eumetcal Programme currently has 20 member countries and EUMETSAT as a participating member. Only Cyprus is currently missing from the EUMETNET countries and with new EU countries joining the programme it is hoped that we will see many more new members in the programme!

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2. Material for the Radar Working Group

Eumetcal hosts Themed Resource Working Groups (TRWG) in several topics. These working groups are dedicated to specific themes and can apply for funding from Eumetcal for work and meetings in order to prepare training syllabi and material.

The Eumetcal Radar Working Group held a meeting following the Eumetcal workshop in Langen this August and decided to proceed with its plans to create a syllabus for radar meteorology. This is achieved mainly through the collection of existing training material from member and participating NMSs. The Working Group is now in the process of collecting training material and all members are encouraged to take part in the work of this working group. If you have radar training material you would like to share, please contact Wilfried Jacobs ([email protected]) of the DWD or Jarmo Koistinen ([email protected]) of the FMI.

The Radar working group is an open community dealing with radar training issues in the field of meteorology. If you are interested in participating in the activities of this group you can subscribe to group’s mailing list at http://www.eumetcal.org.uk/mailman/..., by contacting the Training Support Officer or by contacting Wilfried or Jarmo directly.

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3. Call to participate in the Eumetcal Learning Solutions Working Group

In the Eumetcal Advisory Board meeting held in Langen in August it was agreed that in order to keep up to date with the current rapid development of e-learning solutions a group of dedicated experts should be formed. This Working Group will explore and test the scope of Learning Management Systems, video conferencing solutions, Learning Object Repositories, etc. with the aim to be able to assist member NMSs in the development and utilisation of the most recent e-learning technologies.

This group may receive funding from the Eumetcal programme in a later date, but for the time being this group will act on a voluntary basis. If you are interested in the opportunities that modern computing offers for training, please join this working group in the following address: http://www.webropol.com/P.aspx?id=1...

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4. WMO High Profile Training Event in October

The High-Profile Training Event (HPTE) is a series of interactive online lectures covering 4 topics in Satellite Meteorology that will be broadcast to WMO Members in each Region during the second half of October 2006. To participate in this training event you will need to have access to a computer (equipped with a microphone and headset or speakers) connected to the internet and able to download at least at 56 Kbs. A series of trial lectures will be held prior to the main lectures to enable you to become familiar with how to collaborate online.

Lecture A: WMO Space Program, Satellite Capabilities and the WMO Virtual Laboratory Lecture B: Spectral Bands and their uses. Lecture C: From Digital Data to Products Lecture D: Detection and Monitoring of Severe Convection

More information and the instructions on how to participate in this event can be found from the HPTE website: http://www.resmp.com/default.aspx

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5. Eumetcal Courses to begin early 2007

The first ever “Eumetcal Course” will be on Advanced Aviation and will be organised by Météo France beginning early 2007. The approach will be based on the “blended learning” principle with classroom sessions and distance learning periods. The classroom sessions will be held in Toulouse, France followed by training with close cooperation with the trainer using e-learning resources.

The price for the course remains to be fixed and registration is not yet open, but you are encouraged to keep an eye out for the announcement due in October. The course is aimed at aviation forecasters and is intended to update and enhance the knowledge of forecasters on aviation meteorology and to bring them up to date with the upcoming WMO 258 regulation standards.

More information on the Eumetcal courses will follow with the launch of the website in October and you can find all the details on the course in the next issue of this newsletter.

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6. Newsletter launched

You have just received the first issue of the Eumetcal Newsletter. This newsletter will be an entirely electronic publication delivered to subscribers roughly four times a year. The newsletter is edited by the Eumetcal Training Support Officer.

The newsletter needs articles and news on training in the field of meteorology. If you have announcements, news, a useful website, a good article, a meeting, or anything related to training you would like to share with the training community, I would be very grateful for your contributions. Please send your articles to me directly via email and I will edit them into this newsletter. All contributions are valuable!

If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe following the directions below or by going to the website http://www.eumetcal.org.uk/mailman/...

The next issue will come out in December and the deadline for articles for newsletter 02/06 will be Friday 24 November. Email your stories to [email protected]

Thank you for reading