Please see the TECO Provisional Programme here
There is also the TECO Final Programme with live links to all documents at http://www.wmo.int/web/www/IMOP/publications/IOM-94-TECO2006/PROGRAMME.HTML

SESSION 1 - NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH SURFACE OBSERVATION TECHNOLOGY AND NATIONAL NETWORKS

Possibilities for expansion of surface weather observing systems in East Africa by D. Mburu - Doc 1(6)
The East African Meteorological has now split into three separate agencies, Uganda, Tanganyika and Kenya.
The tendency in East Africa is for automatic weather stations (AWS) to be installed. Despite the initial expense of AWS, the reduced need for maintenance appears to make them a more viable solution for the situation in East Africa.

Status, evaluation and new developments of the automated cloud observations in the Netherlands by W. Wauben et al. - Doc1(7)
Netherlands presented a report on their upgrading of 140 stations to fully automated stations. Some for synoptic, some for climatology and some for aeronautical. For cloud height they use ceilometers. The use of Nubiscope is being investigated for cloud heights.

SESSION 2 - NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH UPPER-AIR OBSERVATION TECHNOLOGY

Keynote Presentation - New developments and operational experience with upper-air observation technology by C. Gaffard
Please click here to see this document in pdf format
This presentation covered various improvements in Radiosonde technology, including the improvements that could be achieved by manufactures following problems identified at Intercomparisons they are involved with.

This UK Met office presentation showed the large improvements in measurement, processing and transmission while reducing the expenditure and running cost of ground based upper air network. The presentation noted that improvements in numerical weather and climate models need observations of atmospheric variables such as clouds, winds, temperature and humidity at increasingly high resolution in space and time.

SESSION 4 - TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, CAPACITY BUILDING, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGIONAL INSTRUMENT CENTRES (RICs)

Keynote Presentation - Technology transfer, capacity building, training and development of RICs by J. Gorman
Please click here to see this document in pdf format
John Gorman from Australia made a very interesting presentation on calibration/tractability, points included:
- The identification of transfer standards
- Traceability is generally given too low a priority at most NMHSs
- The need to develop travelling standards
- In his presentation he suggested that Metrology be added as an application area to the HMEI Member Products Catalogue.

Training activities on meteorological instruments and observing systems in Turkey by E. Büyübas - Doc 4(5)
Turkey made a presentation on their recent training activities. They particularly invited weather radar manufacturers to make presentations of their systems in future Turkish training sessions, as they considered that important contributions had been made by the radar manufacturers' previous participation at these events.

RA III Radiosonde Training Workshop, Buenos Aires by J. Nash et al.- Doc 4(6)
John Nash made an informative presentation on the upper-air training recently conducted in Buenos Aires. Three HMEI members attended, InterMet, Modem and Vaisala, and contributed valuable information at their training sessions. In particular the trainees were able to see different sonde systems from the different manufacturers and this was noted as being extremely important. Dr Nash mentioned that this was the best training session he had been involved with and that the involvement of the manufacturers was part of the reason for this success.

SESSION 5 - TRENDS AND CHALLENGES: NATIONAL TO INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS - GLOBAL EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEMS (GEOSS), DISASTER PREVENTION AND MITIGATION (BPM), WMO QUALITY MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK (QMF, WMO INFORMATION SYSTEM (WIS)

Keynote Presentation - Tends and challenges: national to international networks by J. Nash (CIMO Vice- President)
Click here to see this document in pdf format
Dr Nash made a number of key and asked key questions in his presentation. In particular he asked the audience to consider the following points:
w Quality Management; it needs to be ensured that QM is not just the appearance of following the QM procedures, they need to actually work and be effective.
wVolunteerism, laudable as it may seem in principle, cannot guarantee the responsibility being taken for the end product in the way paying for a service does. It is not satisfactory, because there is no comeback where there is no payment involved. More money needs to be invested to ensure quality rather than depending on volunteers.
wThere is problem of CIMO creditability of (as is at times the case) measurements and data are still not of adequate standard, i.e. as specified by CIMO.
wCIMO data and information must be well dissemination to the wider community, including manufacturers, in order that the usefulness of CIMO's data and information is maximised.

Australia's composite observing system: identifying future directions by R. Atkinson, et al. - Doc 5(1)
Australia is looking to the future and boosting investment in new and improved technologies.
The points that came out of this presentation are as follows:
w Increase needed of network coverage, particularly in the surface observations and radar
w AMDAR observations continue to be essential in Australia for good coverage
w Wind Profilers need further evaluation as potential replacement for Radar Windfinding
w Automation is good, but there is nevertheless a critical need for recruitment and training of observers
w Radiosondes may be expensive to buy and maintain but are very much still necessary
w Quality Management needs to be introduced; Quality Assurance not just Quality Control
w Improved network design is needed
w They are looking to ensure adherence to climate monitoring principles.
w Data archiving and retrieval to be strengthened
w Australia will be looking to CIMO to provide the guidance in many of these matters

Integrated national in-situ observing network by I. Zahumensky - Doc 5(3)
This presentation defined what an integrated network should be and emphasised the potential importance and benefits of integrated systems and networks.
The main components of integration involve the following steps:
 User needs and requirements
w Knowledge of current national observing network
w Required changes
w Priorities
w Integration design
w Planning and strategy
w Implementation

Challenges posed by the WMO Integrated Observing System (IOS) by Dr J. Nash - Doc 5(5)
Some proposed points for the achievement of IOS, noted in the presentation, were:
CIMO needs to become more involved in research and development area
w Substandard data needs to be addressed and rectified
w Expertise needs to be made available for extensive needed training
w There needs to be investment in the development of instruments and the science behind this
w Via COST coordination of activities for integration across Europe
w More test bed projects to be set up
In summing up the presentation noted that having collaborative projects with CIMO, the scientific community and manufacturers, were essential for the work for an Integrated Observing System.

Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) - Requirements and realities of providing overlapping Radiosonde flight series data for long-term climate continuity by C. Bower - Doc 5(6)
There are 6 Radiosonde manufacturers/providers used in GUAN.
Because of:
w Radiosonde changes
w Algorithm changes
w Provider changes
It has been recommended that there be a one year overlapping study of old versus new equipment.

However the feasibility of this recommendation is not good considering:
w Difficulties due to changes in technology
w For many countries/regions it is not affordable
w No flight series have yet been performed

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS
During the Round Table Discussions, the point was raised that CIMO would like HMEI to promote the CIMO Guide to HMEI members, in order that CIMO guidelines would be implemented throughout the designing of instruments and systems.
HMEI Note:
The CIMO Guide has previously only been available by purchase from WMO. However it is now going to be supplied free, from the CIMO website. There has been a link from the HMEI website to the link for the CIMO Guide for some time, under Technical Information. However it is worth HMEI Members noting that the updated CIMO Guide, in draft format, is currently available at this CIMO page link www.wmo.int/web/www/IMOP/publications/WMO-8-Guide-contents.html  

1st Professor Dr Vilho Väisälä Award for the Development and Implementation of the Instruments and Methods of Observation
This was awarded by the Secretary General of WMO, Michel Jarraud, and the CEO of Vaisala, Kjell Forsén, to Messrs J. Nash, R. Smout, M. Smees (all from the United Kingdom) and C. Bower (USA) for the paper entitled “Dar-es-Salaam demonstration test of IMS 1600 Integrated Upper Air System, Dar-es-Salaam, 18-30 October 2004” published in IOM Report No .82, TD-1265,  May 2005. This paper reported on the interoperable system from InterMet demonstrated in Dar-es-Salaam.

Dr. Gill Ryall from the United Kingdom noted the importance of this paper, considering the potential benefits of interoperable systems for the least developed countries.

On accepting the award on behalf of the four authors, Dr John Nash expressed his thanks to his colleagues and to Vaisala. He also thanked those in Dar-es-Salaam who had helped with the demonstration. Dr Nash went on to thank International Met Systems (InterMet) and Mr. Clowney from that company. He said that there had been many discussions with Mr. Clowney and that there was a good relationship with InterMet as the producer of this system.

Closing of the conference
The conference was closed at 5.40pm, Wednesday 6th December, 2006.

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REPORT - CIMO-XIV, December 2006 in Geneva
This report covers various items from the CIMO-XIV considered of particular interest to the HMEI Membership and is not intended to be definitive.
Please see the WMO Final Report of the meeting when it is available at the CIMO Report page: http://www.wmo.int/web/www/IMOP/reports.html 

At CIMO-XIV From left: former CIMO Acting President, Dr Canterford;CIMO President, Dr Nash; CIMO Secretariat, Dr Ondra; HMEI Executive Secretary, Mr Sumner at the 14th CIMO

HMEI Member Attendees
Mark Dutton - ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS
Ben Dieterink - KIPP & ZONEN
Rémy Pepin-MODEM
Gabriele Kadnar  - SELEX (GEMATRONIK)
The HMEI Executive Secretary, Bruce Sumner, and Administrator, Christine Charstone, also attended.

Opening at 10am
The Acting President of CIMO, Dr Canterford welcomed attendees and introduced the Secretary General of WMO, Mr. Michel Jarraud, to open the meeting.

The Secretary General of WMO in his opening speech noted the work work of CIMO in advancing the scientific knowledge for weather and climate. He recalled the history of measurement instruments up to the current modern developments in these measurements.

Mr. Jarraud said that the work of CIMO had helped to guarantee the stability of the WMO observations network and recognised the primordial nature of the CIMO programme to the work of the other WMO Commissions. The Secretary General noted that the CIMO Intercomparisons had seen the considerable improvements in several types of instruments. Particularly in the last intersessional period he noted the important Intercomparisons done for Radiosondes and Rainfall Intensity instruments. Mr Jarraud said that these activities would lead to better quality instruments and data and also eventually lead to a lowering of costs.

Mr Jarraud also spoke of:
w The work of CIMO in the training area
w The new Quality Management (QM) Framework, with the implementation of QM standards by WMO members
w The CIMO's positive work in compatibility and homogeneity of data, for the amelioration of data sharing

Please click here to see the Secretary General's speech

Acting President of CIMO's Report by Dr Canterford- Doc 3  Please see his full report here
Dr Canterford, the Acting President listed the major achievements of CIMO obtained during the previous intersessional period, including:
w Major Intercomparisons of high quality radiosondes;
w Completion of laboratory rainfall intensity Intercomparison;
w Two Technical Conferences;
w Several training workshops;
w Publication of World Meteorological Instrument Catalogue;
w Enhanced collaboration with HMEI;
w Improved working structure of CIMO;
w Cross-cutting with other WMO bodies;
w Seventh edition of the CIMO Guide;
w 10th International Pyrheliometer Comparison;
w Input to Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS);
w Collaboration with Disaster Prevention\ and Mitigation Programme (DPM);
w Lead support of Quality Management Framework (QMF);
w Publication of 17 Instrument and Observing Methods (IOM) reports;
w Promotion of traceability of measurements to International System of Units (SI);
w Increased access to instrument data through a special web Portal: http://www.wmo.int/web/www/IMOP/WebPortal-AWS/Index.html

Keynote Addresss Presented by Dr Canterford: "Innovations in Observing Systems and Practices to Meet the Evolving Needs of Members"
Please click here to see the pdf abstract of this presentation

Surface Technology and Measurement Techniques - Doc 4.1
Automation of manned stations was still considered an issue, the continuing need for some level of manned observations was noted.
Discussion ensued on the measurements to be performed at each type of AWS, and the possibility of specifying a standard AWS.

The Chinese Meteorological Administration (CMA) expressed their wish to continue to produce The World Instrument Catalogue, supported by CIMO. HMEI and CIMO will also work together on the production of the HMEI Member Product Catalogue, as requested by WMO Executive Council. The CIMO Commission appreciated the fact that both catalogues provide uniform and comparable information.

HMEI introduced a paper introducing the suggested instrument sheets that it had developed and asked that they be endorsed by CIMO. However in the event that CIMO continues to endorse the CMA version of WMIC, there appears to be no particular requirement for HMEI to further develop instrument sheets to be incorporated into its current web-based product catalogue.

CIMO stated that it wanted to encourage equipment manufacturers to develop instruments that can work in extreme weather events. HMEI advised that it will pass this request to its members.

Surface-based instrument Intercomparisons and calibration methods - Doc 4.2
This document recognised that HMEI had been able to contribute the participation of several manufacturers instruments, in addition to those proposed by NMHSs, that were submitted to the Intercomparison of RI Gauges.

Planned Intercomparisons by CIMO during 2007 to 2010 are:

1. Field Intercomparison of rainfall intensity gauges 2007-2008
2. Intercomparison of thermometer screens/shields in conjunction with humidity measuring instruments, 2007-2008
3. Intercomparison of thermometer screens/shields in conjunction with humidity measurement instruments in Arctic regions
4. Intercomparison of solid precipitation measurement instruments in the Arctic
5. Intercomparison of present weather sensors in the Arctic
6. Pilot study sea-level gauges for Tsunami events
7. Intercomparison of hydrology gauges to cover both normal and extreme events
8. Study of cloud heights using ceilometers

HMEI advised that it will be pleased to facilitate HMEI Member manufacturers participation in the planned future Intercomparisons.

Upper-Air Systems Intercomparisons - Doc 5.2
Provisional Programme of WMO Upper-Air Intercomparisons 2006-2010

1. WMO High Quality Radiosonde Regional Intercomparison, Region II, China
2. WMO International Evaluation of AMDAR Water Vapour Sensor
3. WMO Evaluation of Wind Profiler Wind Measurement Quality and Quality Control Procedures
4. International Test-bed Experiments and Pilot Studies for Integrated In-situ and Remote Sensing Upper-Air Networks (including tropical and subtropical tests)
5. Weather Radar Workshops to Examine Differences on Signal and Data Processing Using Common Signal Data Set

Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observation and information dissemination - Doc 6.3
Significant contributions to the first draft could not be incorporated and will be included in the next revision of the Guide.

New Procedures for updating the Guide:
w There will now be a Rapporteur, Dr Zahumensky, on the CIMO Guide, who will keep the Guide up to date;
w Updates will be initiated as soon as a sound proposal is submitted;
w There are several additional steps, resulting eventually in the CIMO President approving the update;
w Incremental updates will be published, as soon as the above process allows. These updates should be considerable more frequent than previous updates.

Natural Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DPM) Programme - Doc 7.2
Disaster Risk Management
w most countries react to disasters after they happen
w countries need to be more active in predicting and so prevent disasters were possible
w there is a need for new observing networks and updating existing networks
w CIMO contributions to the activities of DPM have been identified as including:

w providing more observations in harsh environments
w good maintenance of instruments
w additional observing networks

Collaboration with relevant International Organizations - Doc 9
This document looked at the relationships between CIMO and other international organizations, including HMEI. The document recognised very positively the work that HMEI had done with CIMO in the intersessional period and thanked them for this. 

HMEI Presentation to the Meeting:
HMEI briefly recapped the history, aims and activities of HMEI. HMEI also stated:
w HMEI confirms its commitment to be involved in as many CIMO activities as possible regarding the private hydro-meteorological sector instruments, systems, software and services. 
w HMEI will continue to provide experts from the manufacturing industry to CIMO ET meetings and recognizes the usefulness of the joint exchange of information from such co-operation; with CIMO and WMO becoming aware of new manufacturing capabilities and HMEI members becoming aware of system and instruments requirements from WMO.
w Regarding Intercomparisons, HMEI will continue to work closely with CIMO in future Intercomparisons. HMEI encourages CIMO to extend these Intercomparisons with other commissions, such as Hydrology and JCOMM, and HMEI commits itself to assist with such joint-commission Intercomparisons as much as it is able. 
w The results of Intercomparisons assist manufacturers to improve their products which in turn assist WMO members to obtain more cost-effective solutions for their networks and systems. 
w In addition Least Developed Countries will benefit from HMEI members commitment to continuing producing high quality and affordable, traditional meteorological instruments.

HMEI invited CIMO members and specifically the new CIMO President, Dr John Nash, to attend HMEI meetings, noting that there would be a HMEI member meeting at AMS in January 2007 and a HMEI General Assembly at MeteoHydex in May 2007.

The HMEI presentation evoked considerable response from the meeting audience and several items were raised for further strengthening the collaboration between HMEI and CIMO.
Please see the text for inclusion in the Summary of CIMO-XIV in Working Paper of Doc 9 from the session.

Future work and working structure of the Commission - Doc 10
The current structure of CIMO, its OPAGs and ETs was deemed very satisfactory. There were only some small changes to the structure of CIMO. These changes were the addition of Coordinators and Rapporteurs to the CIMO structure and  addition of Vice-Chairs to the ETs. The Terms of Reference (TORs) recommended by the Management Group (MG) in their meeting in July 2006 in Geneva, to be adopted. The CIMO MG to be re-established, with the addition of CIMO coordinator for GEOSS; a coordinator for the Natural Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DPM); and a coordinator for Quality Management Framework (QMF).

The ETs for CIMO remain the same, with the exception of Team B1, where the word "Radiosonde" has been deleted from the title, so that the name of this team now reads as: Expert Team on Upgrading Global Upper-Air Networks.

HMEI will continue its extensive collaboration with CIMO on these ETs. The Terms of Reference (TORs) of all the OPAGs and Expert Teams were reviewed, and considerable changes where introduced to the work for the next four years. Please see the revised TORs
in the document linked here.

Future work CIMO will undertake includes::
w Additional Intercomparisons;
w Funding for Intercomparisons and RICs
w QMF input from CIMO

It was requested that the OPAG-SURFACE, in collaboration with other technical commissions and the Hydro-Meteorological Equipment Industry Association (HMEI), collect and update the guidelines for the safe handling and disposal of mercury based instruments. It also noted that information on replacement instrument options could be found in the CIMO Guide.

The meeting also elected people to the positions of Chairmen of the OPAGs, and the Chairs of the ETs as well as the core members of the ETs. For details see:

Election of officers of CIMO - Doc 12
The nominations for the new President and Vice-President of CIMO were:
w President - Dr John Nash - UK
w Vice-President - Mr Rainer Dombrowsky - USA

Both nominees were elected unopposed.

Keynote Scientific Presentations
There were, on the final day of the conference, two Keynote scientific presentations. Firstly the Russian Presentation, on its extensive instrument testing facilities and secondly John Nash, from the UK, gave the PowerPoint Presentation "Recent progress in the development of Upper air Systems" by Catherine Gaffard. Please click here to see Dr Nash's presentation.

Round Table Discussions
There was a round table discussion introduced towards the end of the conference. This session was very lively, showing the many issues and work that members would wish CIMO to address. The suggestions were taken on board by the Chairman to be collated into an informal guide for planning of future work to be considered for CIMO.

Closing of the conference
The Acting President Dr Canterford thanked various people for their work and personal help to him during his term at the head of CIMO. Dr Hayes, the WMO World Weather Watch Director, then made a statement thanking the conference for their deliberations and also various people and organizations, including HMEI. He thanked the outgoing Acting President for his excellent work. The work of Dr Canterford was also recognised and thanked by Dr Guzman from Russia and the new President Dr Nash from UK. Dr Canterford then closed the conference at 12noon, Thursday, 14 December, 2006.

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Proposal for the Assessment of the Performance of Flow Measurement Instruments and Techniques
The 12th  Session of the Commission for Hydrology of WMO, in Geneva, October 2004, it was decided that information on the appropriate use of this instrumentation and methodologies was (and is) direly needed. This especially in view of the dramatic changes in instrumentation that the last 25 years has seen.  As a result a proposal has been made to implement a project to assess the performance of flow measurement instruments and techniques against WMO standards.

No date has yet been suggested for this assessment, however a start-up meeting is expected to be convened in early 2007.

To download the Proposal for the Assessment of the Performance of Flow Measurement Instruments and Techniques in pdf please see:
http://www.wmo.int/web/homs/WEBSITEFLOW/FlowMeasurement.htm

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WMO BUFR courses and CODES
It has been noted by WMO that there may be a demand for WMO BUFR courses beyond that which they currently supply. WMO BUFR courses have been delivered to participants from 100 developing countries, however there are currently no such courses for advanced countries.

WMO has stated that if many private manufacturers were expressing the need to receive a course on BUFR, at their cost, this could be organized if expenses were fully covered by the participants.

If you are a HMEI member potentially interested in  participating in a WMO BUFR course, please contact the HMEI Executive Secretary, Bruce Sumner at hmei@wmo.int

Information on Data Representation
This can be found at: http://www.wmo.int/web/www/WMOCodes.html 

Under the heading:
New Additions
For validation, or for pre-operational implementation (either approved or not yet approved by CBS)   
You can find all the new additions to BUFR/CREX.
Additions to BUFR/CREX Tables for pre-operational implementation approved by CBS in pdf.

Under the heading:
Alphanumeric Codes  
You can find the changes to traditional character codes, concerning mainly the codes for aviation and corresponding to the Amendment 74 for implementation on 5 November 2008.  Changes to Alphanumeric Codes approved by CBS Ext.-06 in pdf.

You can find also the official templates approved by CBS with the attached approved regulations for translating in BUFR/CREX the traditional Alphanumeric Codes (SYNOP; TEMP; PILOT, etc.) (This is very important for programmers to encode in BUFR)

To know how to code Traditional WMO Observations in BUFR or CREX, read: BUFR/CREX templates with regulations for reporting, encoding  and decoding: "Manual on Codes, Part C, d" (useful for programmers, just approved by CBS Ext. 06) and for other data types also: "Examples of other BURF/CREX templates".

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Opportunities Relayed to Members

FACO Trading in Pakistan requested a list of manufacturers of automatic weather stations.
This was a request received by WMO, who passed this on to HMEI to deal with.

HMEI subsequently sent to FACO Trading a list of the 42 HMEI members who make AWS.

Efftronics Pvt Ltd, in India, contacted HMEI requesting information on pressure and temperature sensors.
They are looking for sensors to measure air pressure & temperature, which are suitable to the following ranges: pressure: Measuring Range: 800 - 1100mbar, Accuracy:0.03%;Temperature: Measuring Range:-60 to 60 degree centigrade, Accuracy:0.2 degree centigrade. All HMEI members were all informed of this procurement opportunity.

So far only one member appears to have answered this request.

Hong Kong Observatory approached HMEI for advice regarding transmissometers traceable to international standards.
Mr. P.W. Chan from the Hong Kong Observatory advised that they intend to study which forward scatterer would provide the most accurate visibility for the Hong Kong airport. As they are occasionally affected by haze, they will at first try to look for field study results about the performance of the forward scatterers in the market under hazy weather.  However, as they found that this kind of field study has not been performed, they plan to set up a measurement campaign of their own. Therefore they asked for HMEI's recommendations about transmissometers, traceable to international standards, to compare forward scatterers against.

HMEI naturally referred this question to the experts; our members. The quest for transmissometers, traceable to international standards, has raised particular interest from some HMEI members, who are directly communicating with Mr Chan.

WMO Hydrology Division request for technical specifications of DCPs.
The WMO Hydrology Division asked for HMEI aid in their preparation of technical specifications for ordering DCPs from potential suppliers. They wished to have a comprehensive list of technical specifications of the available technology on the market. Therefore they asked HMEI to forward to its membership a request for information about available DPCs. This information will be used in considering the requirements for call for tenders in future HYCOS projects. WMO also asked that the manufacturers indicate their interest in participation in future calls for tenders for such systems.

HMEI has forwarded this request and attendant information to its membership and members are replying directly to the WMO Hydrology Division contact.

Uganda National Meteorological Training School seeking manufacturers to supply conventional weather instruments for training purposes.
Dr Ondras from CIMO passed to HMEI a request for the supply of conventional weather instrumentation, for use in the Uganda National Meteorological Training School.

All HMEI members were informed of this request. Several members have expressed interest and have been given details of the contact person in Uganda.

Hong Kong Observatory requested information on suppliers of temperature & humidity sensors.
Mr C.M. Shun of the Hong Kong Observatory asked for advice as to whether there are any manufacturers who can supply air temperature sensors that could comply with the new WMO requirements for the new 20 sec time constant requirement in WMO CIMO Guide. He also asked for recommendations for high-quality humidity sensors
meeting WMO accuracy and other requirements.

HMEI has passed these questions on to its members who were asked to then respond directly to Mr Shun.

The matter of air temperature sensors that could comply with the new WMO requirements for the new 20 sec time constant requirement has raised questions about the feasibility of this requirement. Please see the MEMBER' NEWS item below for Campbell Scientific's response to the matter.

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MEMBERS' NEWS: Campbell Scientific responds to the new WMO requirements for air temperature/humidity sensors.
Following a request for information on suppliers of temperature and humidity sensors as noted above, Mr Andrew Sandford from Campbell Scientific has raised the problem of manufacturers producing sensors with the desired response times, as required by the new edition of the CIMO Guide. The problem is related to the necessity to state the conditions of measurement during the step change when defining a requirement for the sensor response time, which the CIMO Guide does not clearly do.

Mr Sandford asked HMEI to bring this matter to the attention of the committee in charge of the CIMO Guide, which the HMEI Executive Secretary has done.

The response from Campbell Scientific has created discussion between interested parties in the scientific community about this issue.

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Members News': Modem Introduces Modifications for Upper-Air in the CIMO Guide
In January HMEI passed on to its members a request from the WMO Rapporteur on the CIMO Guide, Dr Igor Zahumensky, for input as appropriate for the CIMO Guide. Following on from this information, Modem has suggested some modifications of the Chapter 12 - Upper-Air observations, in order to take into account the work performed after the Mauritius Intercomparison. This particularly concerns tables 12.5 and 12.6 and related text.

Modem is now in direct contact with Dr Igor Zahumensky.

Input for revisions for the CIMO Guides is an important activity, for which HMEI members' participation is particularly relevant. It is hoped that other HMEI members will make suggestions as the need arises.

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Members' News: Leosphere has officially released its new website: www.leosphere.com!
The whole architecture and contents have been re-thought in order to always improve the information exchange with the world’s research community.
This new website introduces many new features:
-    Whole product range: functional & technical info, software screenshots and services provided by Leosphere
-    Lidar exchange: samples of campaign results, inter comparison, scientific library, Lidar technology
-    Download section where you can find product brochures
-    A private section for its clients with many advantages: access to EZ Software update for instance.

Leosphere looks forward to welcoming you on board at www.leosphere.com

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New Member
The Association of Hydro-Meteorological Equipment Industry welcomes the following company as new HMEI member:

Campbell Scientific (Canada) Corporation - Canada

Website: www.campbellsci.ca
Email: dataloggers@campbellsci.ca

Campbell Scientific is a designer and manufacturer of a wide range of dataloggers, from the most basic system with just a few channels to expandable systems that measure hundreds of channels. Our systems feature wide operating temperature ranges, low power use, and the ability to store a large number of measurements. They can also operate independent of A/C mains power and human or computer interactions. Most sensors connect directly to our dataloggers, eliminating external signal conditioning. Scan rates can be programmed from a few hours to 100,000 times per second, depending on the datalogger model. Measurement types, processing algorithms, and recording intervals are also programmable. On-board instruction sets contain programmed statistical and mathematical functions that provide on-site data reduction and that output results in the desired units of measure. Our dataloggers not only provide advanced measurement capabilities, but can also control external devices. On-site telecommunications options include direct connection to a PC or a laptop, PC cards, storage modules, printers, and displays. Telecommunications options include Ethernet, short-haul, multidrop, telephone (including voice-synthesized and cellular), radios (UHF, VHF, and spread spectrum), meteor burst, and most satellite systems. Campbell Scientific provides full system design and integration, turn key monitoring solutions as well as installation and training services.

New Member Information
The information here was supplied to us by the member company. HMEI bears no responsibility for, nor endorses this information.