Proposed WWRP Project: Monsoon Radar Meteorology Data Information Center
Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center
Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Project Leader: Professor Hiroshi Uyeda, Director
1. Goal:
To establish a data information center to provide information on radar observation
data from past, current, and future monsoon and tropical field campaigns and from
available operational and other radar sources for monsoon researchers.
2. Description:
A major difficulty in tropical and monsoon research is the lack of routine conventional
observations in the tropical and subtropical regions. For more than 20 years a
number of important field experiments that included Doppler radar observations took
place in which large amounts of resources were spent to make special or intensive
observations over selected locations of interest. The data from these field campaigns
have been invaluable as the main observation bases for advancing tropical and
monsoon research in the last two decades. These data were created and used by
various organizations and research groups and their archiving status and accessibility
are quite varying. Researchers who wish to use these data often have to contact a
variety of places to try to obtain the data. With the passing of time there is a danger
that some of the data will be difficult to find.
The component of field program data sets that tends to have the greatest long-term
value to the scientific community is the characteristics and dynamics of precipitation
systems represented by Doppler radar observation data. These observations are used
most commonly for diagnostic studies and for the development of cloud
parameterizations for weather and climate models. There is currently no central
location for access of all research-quality Doppler radar data from past monsoon and
tropical field experiments. The Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center (HyARC)
at Nagoya University has holdings from some past experiments, but the collections and
usage instructions are by no means complete.
HyARC, Nagoya University has been maintaining data sets and information of
Doppler radar observations for nearly two decades from various monsoon and tropical
field experiments. Specific field campaigns for which data exist at HyARC include the
following:
1991-92
Snow Storm Experiment in Sapporo
1992-93
Tropical Global Ocean Atmosphere Couple Ocean-Atmosphere Response
Experiment (TOGA COARE) in Manus
Baiu Frontal Rainfall Experiment in Tanega-shima
Baiu Frontal Rainfall Experiment in Nagasaki Prefecture
Global Water and Energy Cycle Experiment Asian Monsoon Experiment
/Huaihe River Basin Experiment (GAME/HUBEX)
Meiyu Frontal Rainfall Experiment in the downstream of Yangtze River
Basin
Baiu Frontal Rainfall Experiment in Okinawa and Miyako
Palau Experiment on Tropical Cloud Clusters
1995 & 1996
1997
1998 & 1999
2001 & 2002
2003 & 2004
2004 & 2005
2006 & 2007 Baiu Frontal Rainfall Experiment in Miyako and Tarama (PHONE)
2008
Terrain-influenced Monsoon Rainfall Experiment (TiMREX) Southwest
Monsoon Experiment (SoWMEX)
This proposal is to establish a Monsoon Radar Meteorology Data Information Center at
HyARC, Nagoya University as a WWRP project to continue collecting and archiving
relevant field campaign information and data, and to supplement the collection with
operational and other Doppler radar data from the monsoon regions. It is expected that
the main efforts will be to collect information on the accesses, contact points, and
availablilty of data in the Asian monsoon region where most of the field experiments
took place. This information will be catalogued and made available to researchers.
Work is underway in collaboration with researchers in the Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) to identify additional data sets
from past field programs that should be archived and made accessible before they are
lost forever.
In addition to ensuring the retention of the valuable past field data, the center will also
make a concerted effort to collect Doppler radar data from conventional and relating
observations that took place in and around the field projects.
Once established, this WWRP Monsoon Radar Meteorology Data Information Center
will continue to provide the service of furnishing available field campaign information
and data to researchers to ensure that data will continue be available by contacting a
focal point even though the time period for many of the experiments has long passed.
The center will also arrange for permanent data information centers to receive
redundant copies of the data, if it is requested by many researchers, to ensure
longevity of these important monsoon and tropical data sets for the long term.
3. Cooperation with other monsoon date centers
The Monson Radar Meteorology Data Information Center will collaborate with and
maintain a link with other monsoon data centers, including:
(1) Center for Monsoon Field Campaign Legacy Data Sets, hosted at Department of
Meteorology, Colorado State University, U.S.A. This center is also establishing link
with the field experiment data sets archived at the Delhi Summer Monsoon Activity
Center hosted by the Indian Meteorology Department.
(2) Monitoring and Assessment System and Data Center for Extreme Weather and
Climate Events in Asia, hosted at the Beijing Climate Center/East Asian Monsoon
Activity Center, China Meteorological Administration
4. Management and Funding
The proposed center will be headed by Professor Hiroshi Uyeda, Director, HyARC,
Nagoya University. Professor Uyeda is a member of the WWRP-TMR Monsoon Panel’s
Expert Team on Severe Monsoon Weather.
The initial period for the center is proposed to be 2009-2014, during which period the
center will be supported by HyARC, Nagoya University. HyARC was authorized by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan as one of the
key research centers in July 2009 and is well supported to carry out this project.