Oral Presentation Abstract for the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Conference (IUGG), 28 June – 7 July 2011, Melbourne, Australia

Web-based Training in Hydrometeorology from the COMET Program

The COMET Program at UCAR in Boulder, Colorado routinely develops web-based training material in collaboration with government agencies and the university community. Topics include hydrologic analysis and forecasting, quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) and quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF), drought, and forecast verification. These topics are presented in the form of online modules and courses and supported by numerous case studies that cover a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. These web-based materials are freely available to users worldwide on our MetEd website (www.meted.ucar.edu) courtesy of our sponsors, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other domestic and international agencies including the Australia Bureau of Meteorology and EUMETSAT.

COMET training material explores scientific issue associated with analyses and forecasts for both precipitation and the subsequent hydrologic response. Precipitation topics include a discussion of direct and remotely sensed precipitation. An online course in Basic Hydrologic Sciences, with an international version, covers runoff processes, streamflow routing, flood frequency analyses, flash flood, and regional topics like snowmelt and river ice. Other online training modules address hydrologic ensemble forecasts, distributed modeling, dam failures, verification, winter precipitation, NWP, and social science issues.

Web-based modules are used extensively worldwide by students and instructors in the university community, as well as professionals and enthusiasts in both government and private enterprise. The training is available in English with many modules also in Spanish. With the variety of training platforms in numerous hydrometeorological topics, COMET offers a comprehensive scientific examination of hydrology and hydrometeorology.

Co-authors Matt Kelsch and Arlene Laing: UCAR’s COMET Program