Jennifer S. Haase
Eric Calais
Antonio Rius
Ismael Colomina
Francesco Vespe
ACRI S. A., 260 Route du Pin Montard, BP. 234, 06904 Sophia Antipolis,
France, jh@acri.fr
CNRS/Geosciences Azur, 250 Rue Albert Einstein, 06560 Valbonne, France,
calais@faille.unice.fr
Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya, Edif. Nexus, 104, Gran Capita,
2-4, 08034 Barcelona, Spain, rius@ieec.fcr.es
Institut Cartografic de Catalunya, Parc de Montjuic, 08038 Barcelona,
Spain, ismael@icc.es
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Centro di Geodesia Spaziale, P.O. Box 155,
75100 Matera, Italy, vespe@asimt0.mt.asi.it
The current sparsity of information on the water vapor content of the atmosphere is the limiting factor in the accuracy of present numerical weather prediction models. This is especially true for rapidly evolving mesoscale features in the western Mediterranean and Alpine regions. Novel measurements made using the Global Positioning System (GPS), a high precision satellite positioning system, can fill this gap in observational capabilities.
Considerable interest has been provoked in the European operational meteorology community by the new measurements made available by the GPS. However, most of these agencies at present do not have the resources for operating and analyzing the data from an experimental network of GPS receivers, especially before their value in operational meteorology has been proven. A large number of permanent GPS stations have been installed in Italy, Spain, and France, and more are in the process of being installed, to support geodetic and geodynamics research.
The objective of the MAGIC project is to bring together the separate
meteorological and geodynamics research communities in a practical effort
to enhance the existing GPS network in the western Mediterranean where
necesssary, analyze the available GPS data, evaluate its impact in meteorological
modeling, and provide recommendations for further work. This project will
be carried out in collaboration with an advisory committee of representatives
from more than five major European meteorological centers. This committee
will provide input at regular intervals througout the
project in order to ensure that the needs of the final users are taken
into account.
At the time of this writing, the MAGIC project has been submitted for consideration by the European Commission for the Second Phase of the Environment and Climate RTD Programme under the theme: Space Techniques Applied to Environmental Monitoring and Research. We will present the research alliance formed for the work and the project objectives and implementation strategy.
Paper Reference number 00471
IAMAS SYMPOSIUM CGM23: ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH USING SPACE GEODETIC TECHNIQUES
1997 JOINT ASSEMBLIES OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR METEOROLOGY AND TMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCES OF THE OCEAN
EARTH - OCEAN - ATMOSPHERE: FORCES FOR CHANGE
1-9 July 1997 World Congress Centre, Melbourne, Australia