The UCAR Africa Initiative – Overview and Update

Paper #135201

The UCAR Africa Initiative – Overview and Update

Tom Yoksas, UCAR, Boulder, CO; and R. Bruintjes, B. Foote, S. Heck, S. Herrmann, L. Hoswell, P. A. Kucera, A. Laing, B. L. Lamptey, M. W. Moncrieff, R. Pandya, M. Ramamurthy, R. Roberts, T. Spangler, T. T. Warner, and M. Weingroff

UCAR has embarked on an effort whose goal is assisting in building atmospheric-sciences capacity in Africa. The UCAR Africa Initiative is motivated by Africa's under representation in international efforts to develop improved research capabilities, observing facilities, operational forecasting, and meteorological education. Three initial endeavors focused on West Africa and the Sahel, have begun: 1) the development of a modest radar network and data-distribution system for a few countries in the Sahel, 2) initiation of a partnership among UCAR, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, and the Ghana university community to develop an operational Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for West Africa, and 3) the organization of a workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on April 2-6, 2007, where the theme of the workshop was “Improving Lives by Understanding Weather”. This presentation will provide an overview of the various efforts being planned as part of the UCAR Africa Initiative, give a status update of efforts currently underway, and explore avenues for greater collaboration with the UCAR community on African issues and endeavors.

We recognized that there are a number of efforts being undertaken by universities and government agencies that include atmospheric-science capacity building in Africa. Given the substantial existing unmet needs and the size of the challenge, UCAR is augmenting these other activities in a variety of ways. We invite UCAR-Member and Affiliate universities, and other organizations, to share information relevant to their endeavors with the community at-large so that all can better achieve the common goal of improving the atmospheric-sciences infrastructure in Africa.->

Abstract ID#: 135201

Password: 848003

Final Paper #: 3B.1

Program Selection: 24th Conference on IIPS

Topic Selection: 3B. International Applications - PART II [the Last Six Papers in This session are 'overflow' papers from the Joint Session on Global Earth Observations with IOAS-AOLS]

Title: The UCAR Africa Initiative – Overview and Update

Comments to Organizer: Exactly which author will present the paper has not yet been determined.

Presentation Format: Oral

Paper Submitted by a Student: N

First Author

Presenting

Tom Yoksas

Unidata

UCAR

P.O. 3000

Boulder, CO 80307

Phone Number: 303.497.8642

Fax Number: 303.497.8690

Email: yoksas@unidata.ucar.edu

* AMS Member

* Membership Number 016805

Second Author

Roelof Bruintjes

Rap

NCAR

PO Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307

Phone Number: 303-497-8909

Fax Number: 303-497-8401

Email: roelof@ucar.edu

Third Author

Brant Foote

NCAR

* AMS Member

Fourth Author

Sherri Heck

University of Colorado

Fifth Author

Stefanie Herrmann

NCAR

Sixth Author

Liz Hoswell

NCAR

Seventh Author

Paul A. Kucera

Research Applications Laboratory

NCAR

P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307

Phone Number: 1-303-497-2807

Fax Number: 1-303-497-8401

Email: pkucera@ucar.edu

* AMS Member

* Membership Number 010190

Eighth Author

Arlene Laing

The COMET Program

UCAR/COMET

P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307-3000

Phone Number: 303-497-8147

Email: laing@ucar.edu

* AMS Member

* Membership Number 018028

Ninth Author

Benjamin L. Lamptey

Research Applications Laboratory

NCAR

3450 Mitchell Lane

Boulder, CO 80301

Phone Number: 303-497-2836

Fax Number: 303-497-8401

Email: lamptey@ucar.edu

* First Time Student Presenter

* AMS Member

Tenth Author

Mitchell W. Moncrieff

Mesoscale and Microscale meteorology Division

NCAR

National Center for Atmospheric Research

Boulder, CO 80307-3000

Phone Number: 303-497-8960

Fax Number: 303-497-8181

Email: moncrief@ucar.edu

* AMS Member

Eleventh Author

Rajul Pandya

SOARS Program Office

UCAR

P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307-3000

Phone Number: 497-2650

Email: pandya@ucar.edu

* AMS Member

Twelfth Author

Mohan Ramamurthy

Unidata/UCAR

Boulder, CO 80307

Phone Number: (303)-497-8661

Email: mohan@ucar.edu

* AMS Member

Thirteenth Author

Rita Roberts

NCAR

3450 Mitchell Lane

Boulder, CO 80301

Phone Number: 303-497-2838

Fax Number: 303-497-8401

Email: rroberts@ucar.edu

Fourteenth Author

Timothy Spangler

UCAR/COMET

UCAR/COMET

P.O. Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307-3000

Phone Number: 303-497-8473

Email: tspang@ucar.edu

Fifteenth Author

Thomas T. Warner

Research Application Laboratory

NCAR

P.O Box 3000

Boulder, CO 80307

Phone Number: 303-497-8488

Fax Number: 303-497-8401

Email: warner@ucar.edu

Sixteenth Author

Marianne Weingroff

UCAR