THORPEX is an observing-system research and predictability experiment that aims to study and improve the effectiveness of both earth-based and space-based atmospheric observing systems. In January 2003, Vaisala announced a co-sponsorship opportunity to support an extensive post-doctoral research program on observing systems.

The international evaluation panel for the awards has accepted two proposals. One award goes to MétéoFrance’s study “Towards the optimal combination of advanced sounder data and in-situ pro-files for the short-range forecast of synoptic events”. The research project of the University of Reading and the UK Met Office “Atlantic TOST (THORPEX Observing Systems Test) Evaluation of Pre-dictive Skill” has received the second award.

In the MétéoFrance project, Hua Zhang of the China Meteorological Administration will be the post-doctoral scientist, under the supervision of Florence Rabier and Alain Joly; Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. degree from Lanzhou University, Gansu, China. The research project will utilize the China-Japan region with its high-density Rawinsonde Observation programs (RAOBs). In the second award, the post-doctoral scientist is Dr. Gudrun Petersen from Iceland, who received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Oslo, Norway.

Second THORPEX program announcement

Within the THORPEX program, a second round of awards has been announced in December 2003. Support will be available for two additional proposals.