1. World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference www.wmo.int/sat Jérôme Lafeuille WMO Space Programme, Geneva Acknowledgements: Luciane Veeck, Henk Verschuur, Volker Gaertner The WMO/CGMS Virtual Laboratory (VLab) for Education and Training in Satellite Meteorology

2. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference2 What is the VLab ? The VLab is a worldwide collaborative network of training centres called « Centres of Excellence » (CoEs) and satellite operators To improve the utilization of data and products from meteorological and environmental satellites. Established in 2000 by WMO and the Coordination group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS)

3. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference3 VLab strategic goals ■ To provide training on meteorological and environmental satellite systems, data, products and applications through the CoEs; ■ To strengthen each CoE’s regional training activities. ■ To foster the development of applications for societal benefit at the local level by the NMHS.

4. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference4 Key points of the VLab strategy Partnership between space agencies and training centres Covering all WMO Regions and official languages Sharing training resources: Virtual Resource Library –List and depository of training resources –Supported by ESRC (COMET programme) Blended learning: face-to-face and distance learning –Regional courses (typically 1 or 2 weeks) –Distant lecturers and/or distant participants –Moodle environment

5. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference5 Key points of the VLab strategy (continued) Each COE supports a «Regional Focus Group» holding on-line meetings to analyze satellite imagery and other products –Current situation or case studies –Maintains knowledge beyond the training course –Strengthens regional collaboration among professionals

6. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference6 The VLab network in 2011 12 Centres of Excellence and 8 satellite operators Argentina (Buenos Aires and Cordoba) Australia (Melbourne) Barbados (Bridgetown) Brazil (Cachoeira Paulista) China (Beijing and Nanjing) Costa Rica (San Jose) Kenya (Nairobi) Niger (Niamey) Oman (Muscat) Republic of South Korea (Jincheon) Russian Federation (Moscow and St. Petersburg) South Africa (Pretoria)

7. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference7 VLab management The Vlab Management Group reports to WMO and CGMS Meetings in Darmstadt (2001), Barbados (2003), Boulder (2007), Langen (2008), Beijing (2010) Virtual meetings : 3 times a year VLMG-5 meeting, Beijing, 2010 Two Co-chairs, currently: - Kathy-Ann Caesar, CIMH, Barbados - Volker Gärtner, EUMETSAT Technical Support Officer: - Luciane Veeck

8. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference8 Training topics Initial focus on use of satellites for synoptic meteorology Currently evolving to the use of satellites for wider range of meteorological, climate and environmental applications: –Marine applications –Aviation meteorology –Climate applications –Disaster Risk Reduction –Sand and dust storm detection –Volcanic ash detection –Other matters depending on regional priorities –…..

9. WMO ETR SYMPOSIUM XI, Citeko, Oct 2010 SAND and DUST: EUMETSAT Dust Week Map showing the countries that participated in the fourth session of the Dust Event Week Expert lecturers: Thomas Lee (NRL,USA) Hérve Le Gléau (Meteo France) Humaid Albadi (Oman) Carlos Perez (NASA-GISS and IRI, USA) Nuno Moreira (Portugal) Jose Prieto, HansPeter Roesli and Jochen Kerkmann (EUM) In the Framework of the VLab activities a virtual Dust Week Event was organised 20 organisations world wide participated at this very successful event WMO ETR SYMPOSIUM XI, Citeko, Oct 2010

10. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference10 Some facts On line meetings Monthly “Regional Focus Group” now held monthly by Caribbean and Southern African CoEs 89 courses in the year 2009/2010 1300 participants (+ 2 distant courses in China with >3300 part) Involving all 6 WMO Regions and 7 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Chinese VLab web site: http://vlab.wmo.int http://vlab.wmo.int Common calendar of training events Newsletter

11. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference11 Conclusions The VLab is a very successful collaboration Scope for further expanding the activity (topics) Essential role of Technical Support Officer to support cooperation and momentum (funded on voluntary basis by sponsoring agencies, currently CIRA) Thanks to all sponsoring satellite operators NOAA, EUMETSAT, JMA, CMA, ROSHYDROMET, KMA, INPE, CONAE

12. WMO OMM NOAA 2011 Satellite Direct Readout Conference12 Vlab.wmo.int