Atmospheric Modeling and Weather Forecasting Group - AM&WFG
| Group Leader: | Dr. G. Kallos, Professor and Head of the AM&WFG |
| Research Scientists: | Dr. G. Galanis, Dr. C. Mitsakou, Dr. P. Athanasiadis, MSc G. Emmanouil, MSc C. Spyrou, MSc S. Solomos, MSc J. Kousta, MSc C. Kalogeri, MSc N. Bartsotas, BSc I. Athanaselis |
Expertise and experience of the organization
Research activity: The Atmospheric Modeling and Weather Forecasting Group (AM&WFG) is part of School of Physics and the Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications (IASA) of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The AM&WFG has the Professor of University of Athens G. Kallos as a leader, 5 Senior and Post Doctorate researchers and Research Associates, 5 PhD candidates and MSc professionals in Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, 1 computer expert, an administrator and a number of MSc students working on various projects funded by external sources (EU, USA, Greece). The research activities of the group are related to atmospheric, air pollution, soil dust cycle, climatic variability and wave modelling and applications related to data assimilation, weather, wave and air qualitry forecasting, agricultural and wind energy applications. The 25-year research activities of the group had as a result the development of various models and integrated modelling systems used from the AM&WFG as well as in several other locations worldwide. The most important of these modeling products are listed below:
The SKIRON modeling system: This is an integrated limited area modelin system developed from the AM&WFG. It is in use in approximately 20 research institutes and weather services worldwide. It is based on the Eta/NCEP model. It is in operational use at NKUA (http://forecast.uoa.gr) with more than 7000 visitors per day. One of the capabilities of the SKIRON system is the simulation of the dust cycle (uptake-transport-deposition and its impacts on radiation). This development has been made in the framework of MEDUSE, ADIOS and SKIRON projects funded by EU. SKIRON is a unique modeling system which provides dust load and deposition forecasts worldwide.
The ICLAMS system (The Integrated Community Limited Area Modeling System): This system is still underdevelopment at the framework of CIRCE project. It is based on the RAMS modeling sytem and includes several other capabilities. The most important of them are:
- Direct coupling of the dust cycle with 8-size bins
- Direct coupling of the sea salt cycle with 2-size bins
- Direct coupling of the gas phase chemistry
- Direct coupling of the aqueous chemistry, gas to particle conversion, heterogeneous chemistry
- Detailed cloud microphysical schene with 8 categories of hydrometeory
- Treatment of CCN, GCCN, IN eg predictive quantities
- Cloud-radiation-particle interation
The system is appropriate for cloud microphysical and climatic simulations
The Mercury modeling systems: Both modeling systems, SKIRON and RAMS, have been used in order to develop two modeling systems appropriate for simulations of the mercury cycle in the atmosphere. This development was performed in the framework of MAMCS, MERCYMS and NYSERDA projects.
POSEIDON system: This is an integrated marine weather and sea state forecasting system that is in operational use at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). Recently the AM&WFG delivered an upgraded version of SKIRON system at HCMR called POSEIDON II.
NHREAS forecasting system: This is an integrated high-resolution weather and sea state forecasting system that is used at the Hellenic Meteorological Service for optimal routing and ship safety operations (integration of LAPS, RAMS and WAM models). The system is used also from the DANAOS SEAROUTES for optimal routing on worldwide basis. The WAM model used as basis is the one available from ECMWF (WAM4) with extra capabilities concerning satellite data assimilation (ENVISAT, JASON1) and distributed memory programming.
Mediterranean Air Quality Forecasting System: The AM&WFG has developed an air quality forecasting system for the Mediterranean Region. This system is based on the CAMx, SKIRON and RAMS models. A similar system has been developed for the King Fahd University and ARAMCO for the Arabian Peninsula
Weather Forecasting Activities for Athens Olympics 2004: The AM&WFG had developed and operated the weather, wave and air quality forecasts for Athens Olympics 2004. The contract was with the Ministry of Culture/General Secretariat for Athens Olympics, the Organization ATHENS2004 and the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS). This forecasting system is based on the SKIRON/Eta, NHREAS and WAM models.
Infrastructure
The group has a considerable computer infrastructure. This includes a Linux cluster of Dual and Quad-Core nodes (156 CPUs). In addition, AM&WFG has a number of conventional workstations and servers running Linux. The online storage system of this computing installation is at the range of 80 TBYTES. The local intranet is connected to WAN and internet with GIGABIT infrastructure. This infrastructure covers the operational as well as research demands (development). In addition to this infrastructure IASA is a key partner of the HELLAS-GRID and GRIDCC projects for GRID computing. IASA has a 96 DUAL-CPU node linix system that is connected to GRID (tier 0).
Participation in programs:
The AM&WFG was involved in several large European programs such as SECAP, T-TRAPEM (AVICENNE), MEDUSE, CARL, MAMCS, SUB-AERO, ADIOS, AUTOHAZARD-PRO, ENVIWAVE, MERCYMS, ANEMOS, MFSTEP etc. It also took part in the AUTO OIL I and II projects of DG-XI. Currently, the group participates in the FP6 projects POWWOW and INSEA. In addition to this involvement, the AM&WFG participated in a number of projects in USA such as the NARSTO project (Ozone study over NE USA) and the Mercury budget over NE USA. National projects like SKIRON, NHREAS, POSEIDON, PYTHAGORAS, etc. The AM&WFG leads the Reasearch Line for Air Quality and Climate in the Mediterranean in the CIRCE project of FP6. These activities brought significant research experience to the members of the groups. The AM&WFG participates in the CESTM/ASRC project on weather and air quality forecasting over NE USA.