E-ASAP Programme Report on the EUMETNET ASAP Presentation by Rudolf Krockauer, E-ASAP Programme Manager April 2007, Geneva, SOT-IV

E-ASAP Programme Contents: 1. E-ASAP fleet 2. Performance 2006 (and 2007) 3. Plans and activities 2007/2008

E-ASAP Programme

E-ASAP Programme

E-ASAP Programme

E-ASAP Programme Current E-ASAP fleet 2007

E-ASAP Programme Contents: 1. E-ASAP fleet 2. Performance 2006 (and 2007) 3. Plans and activities 2007/2008

E-ASAP Programme Distribution of soundings 2006 (Jan-Dec)

E-ASAP Programme ShipASAP stationManaged byReceived soundings 1SL PerformanceASEU01E-ASAP305 2SL AchieverASEU02E-ASAP330 3EnduranceASEU03E-ASAP235 4PowerASEU04E-ASAP212 5Melfi Italia IIASEU05E-ASAP375 6Atlantic CompassASDE01E-ASAP277 7FS MeteorASDE02E-ASAP243 8SL MotivatorASDE03E-ASAP359 9HornbayASDE04E-ASAP293 10Mississauga ExpressASGB01E-ASAP265 11Fort St. LouisFQFLMeteo France268 12Fort St. PierreFQFMMeteo France ships Royal Arctic Line DMI unit 1DMI277 14DMI unit 2DMI231 15Esperanza del MarEBUQINM191 16SkogafossV2XMVedurstofa Islands168 Total4,300

E-ASAP Programme * Mean average ** Median average

E-ASAP Programme Availability key figures: 5150 soundings set as target for launches according to log books soundings received on the GTS. 83% average efficiency. Reduced soundings since Oct 06 due to - Closure of receiving station Goonhilly, - Helium shortage.

E-ASAP Programme Quality key figures: Mean timeliness < HH+100 (new timeliness target). Median burst heights < 50 hP for all units. Median burst heights slightly better for 350g than 200 g balloons, but no difference in achieving the EUCOS targets (90% 100 hPa, 75% 50 hPa). Comparison 200g vs 350g balloons: => 30% more helium is needed to achieve 5% more height

E-ASAP Programme Received soundings 01/Feb – 12/Mar 2007 Performance 2007

E-ASAP Programme Performance 2007 Key figures and occurrences: Code 41 transmissions changed from Goonhilly to Aussaguel. KNMI is working on a solution to accept sounding data via station Burum. Low performance in Jan/Feb due to storm season (e. g. 8 in 19 launches from ASEU01 crashed at launch in Feb). Return to ususal schedule since Feb (soundings at 00, 12, and 18 UTC on dedicated ships) despite helium supply problems. Completion of replacements of station PCs by semi rugged notebooks on E-ASAP ships.

E-ASAP Programme Contents: 1. E-ASAP fleet 2. Performance 2006 (and 2007) 3. Plans and activities 2007/2008

E-ASAP Programme Plans and activities: Establish a wider network of supporting PMOs Improving the satellite communication - Decoupling sounding and transmission systems, - Direct transmission to DWD and forwarding to GTS. IPY: - additional soundings for GFDex campaign 19/Feb – 10/Mar, - further support, if requested EURORISK: - providing facilities for position tracking for targeted soundings. Assess options for high resolution BUFR data - TEMP: 2 KB - Edited 5sec BUFR: 65 KB

E-ASAP Programme Summary: 16 units delivered 4300 sounding data (5153 launches) in 2006 Average timeliness < HH+60 Average burst height < 50 hPa Decoupling of transmission and sounding Changeover to transmission instead of SAC 41