http://www.rmets.org/index.php The Royal Meteorological Society webmaster en http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1201 Four faculty positions in the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK The University of Reading is undertaking a major investment programme to appoint 50 new faculty positions including up to 20 in Climate and Environmental Sciences, around 10 of which will be in the Department of Meteorology. As part of this we are delighted to advertise the following four permanent posts, all of which have an application deadline of 24 May. Chair in Climate Processes Reader in Hazardous Weather Reader in Climate Processes Lecturer in Climate Processes http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1200 Use the link below for Weather Front for April http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1199 Science enthusiasts will be able to see how weather forecasts work while helping to create the world's largest weather-predicting human computer at Reading Town Hall next month.The Forecast Factory experiment, organised by meteorologists at the University of Reading, will attempt to recreate an idea first put forward by weather pioneer Lewis Fry Richardson 90 years ago, but which has never been attempted at such a large scale - until now.Organisers are now seeking 200 enthusiastic people, aged eight plus, to arm themselves with a pencil, paper and calculator and become a vital cog in the world's largest ever human computer designed to predict the weather.The free event, in the Town Hall on Sunday 3 June, is part of the Reading WAM Festival (Weather, Art and Music) over the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend.Participants will also have a chance to meet Met Office forecaster Laura Tobin, who is a BBC weather forecaster and a former University of Reading student, and scientists from the world-leading Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and the Reading-based European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.Andrew Charlton-Perez, a meteorologist from the University of Reading, said: "This is a fascinating and ambitious attempt to carry out an experiment that was first put forward by one of the fathers of modern weather forecasting."You will need no previous experience of meteorology, maths or science to take part. But you will form part of a human computer that will work in exactly the same way as the modern supercomputers used to predict the weather by scientists today."This is a unique experiment and it promises to be a lot of fun. We look forward to seeing you."Fry Richardson first put forward his idea for weather forecasting - in which a series of calculations are made across a grid, with the results for each grid cell depending on the output of those around it - in 1922, and he proposed that a large group of people could be used to make the calculations quickly and accurately.However, his idea for what he called a 'forecast factory' to make the calculations was overtaken by electronic calculating machines in the 1950s - the forerunners of modern computers - and was therefore never tested.The event will take place in two sessions, from 10am-12pm and 2-4pm on Sunday 3 June. Tickets are free, but limited to 200 people. Visit the Town Hall box office website or call the box office on 0118 960 6060 for tickets.For more details, contact Pete Castle at the University of Reading press office on 0118 378 7391 or p.castle@reading.ac.uk. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1198 New Zealand's National Meteorological Service is looking for qualified Meteorologists to join its forecasting bench in Wellington. If you’re looking to build your career among the best in the business, they can offer you all the benefits of living in New Zealand’s stunning capital city and a job that will bring you both opportunity and satisfaction. There are several levels of position available depending on your experience, so visit the careers site today to find out more. www.metservice.comApplications will close on 1 June 2012. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1197 A tornado was seen in parts of Oxfordshire during a recent storm which also saw hailstones and damage to roof tiles and trees.The tornado was visible from Bicester, Kidlington and South Leigh on Monday afternoon.For more information use the link below http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1196 Download the Accounts and Report belowAnnual Report 2011Accounts 2011 http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1193 Powerful weather forecasting models are only as good as their data. To understand global climate change, it is imperative that we collect environmental data for long periods of time with representative samples from locations that span the entire planet. As part of the International Environmental Data Rescue Organization’s (IEDRO’s) mission, we collect, photograph and digitize historic environmental data to share that data via the NOAA open database. While industrialized nations, embodying one-third of the planet, have incorporated environmental data into databases, the data is spotty or missing for developing nations, as well as for seas and oceans. IEDRO works with developing nations to capture and digitize historic data. Scientists are then able to conduct valuable climate change research.Regionally, the benefits of environmental data can be invaluable. Historic hydrometeorological observations, once digitized, are critical to improve weather forecasts and severe weather warnings as well as to forecast the spread of diseases such as malaria. In April, IEDRO’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Sharon LeDuc, as team lead, paid a second visit to Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in South America. Accompanying her were Argentinean Darío Damián Di Franco, IEDRO’s new South American Program Manager; and Teddy Allen, IEDRO’s Manager of Scientific Applications, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Miami. Bolivia, which is a landlocked country, has many challenges, including agriculture and a lack of potable water. In 2007, severe flooding killed dozens and affected 72,000 families, forcing President Evo Morales to declare a state of emergency. In 2010, heavy rains and floods threatened the livelihoods of 24,000 families, destroying houses and crops and killing livestock.The goal of our visit to Bolivia’s meteorological society was to help their staff photograph their country’s paper-based data. IEDRO bought equipment and provided training in its use. Teddy Allen spoke to the meteorological staff about the many benefits they will be able to derive from their data once it has been digitized. IEDRO’s Value-Added Team, led by Teddy Allen, using the country’s digitized data, will instruct the Bolivian government how to better prepare for disasters and how to design community planning to protect its citizens from such disasters as mudslides. Additionally, our team will confer with local farmers to help them prepare for extreme weather.IEDRO is a US-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We have rescue sites at the national hydrometeorological services of Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Paraguay and Uruguay. In South America our sites include Chile - Punta Arenas Museum, Uruguay - SOHMS (Uruguayan Navy) and Niger - ACMAD [African Centre for Meteorological Applications for Development]. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1192 Natural Environment Research Council funding available for academics and business to collaborate.The Natural Environment Research Council are funding a number of short projects / internships on Business Engagement with Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services.The objectives of this programme are to:•Initiate collaborations between academics and business or third sector organisation partners, leading to the application of ecosystem services approaches in longer term self-sustaining activities undertaken by partners.•Generate evidence and case studies of how businesses and other organisations have used or could use ecosystem services approaches, in collaboration with academics, to introduce innovation into their business. •Provide evidence concerning the effectiveness of policies intended to facilitate the development of ecosystem services approaches by businesses and third sector organisations.More informationThe call is managed by the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network, on behalf of Natural Environment Research Council. Full details of the call and the application form are available here. https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/natural-capital-and-eco-system-services/document-library?p_p_id=20&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_count=1&ns_20_struts_action=%2Fdocument_library%2Fview&ns_20_folderId=7693293If you are have a project idea but do not yet have a partner, then please make use of the discussion area on the webgroup forum to advertise / develop your collaborative ideas: click here https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/natural-capital-and-eco-system-services/discussions/-/message_boards/category/7266859DeadlineThe call is now open, deadline is Friday 15 June 2012.For more information contact the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network Administrator, Anna Baginska on or phone 01865 610505. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1191 The Royal Meteorological Society is undertaking a project to collect documented memories of significant weather events and evidence of changes to our weather over the past 60 years.  The Society is inviting schools to submit memories from pupils that have been taken from interviews and discussions with family and community members.  This can be in any form; written, video, audio or pictorially. The information sent in will be presented to Her Majesty The Queen as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  The information will also form part of a wider national research project in partnership with the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, and contribute to a national social science archive on the impact of weather on our local communities. Teachers who would like their schools to be involved should forward any submissions to the Royal Meteorological Society by 27th July 2012.  Entries should be forwarded to:Chief ExecutiveRoyal Meteorological Society104 Oxford RoadReadingRG1 7LLThe project team will select one of the entrants to help with the presentation of the information to Her Majesty The Queen.If you would like any further information about this project then please contact Dr Sylvia Knight, the Society’s Head of Education, on ‘Sylvia.Knight@rmets.org’. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1189  Defra, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government launched a joint consultation on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) on 27 March 2012.  You will be able to find the consultation documents on the Defra web site www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2012/03/27/marine-strategy-framework-1203/  Defra will be hosting a stakeholder event in London on Friday 20 April 2012 to present the proposals in this consultation and to give stakeholders the opportunity to find out more information from policy-makers and experts on the thinking behind them. We will provide more details nearer the time.  There will be limited space so please email MSFDTeam@defra.gsi.gov.uk  to book your place now.   Background: The Directive requires Member States to take measures to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) for their seas by 2020.  GES involves protecting the marine environment, preventing its deterioration and restoring it where practical, while using marine resources sustainably.  This consultation will focus on the initial stages of implementation and will include: a draft initial assessment of the state of the UK's seas; proposals for characteristics of GES; proposals for detailed targets and indicators of GES; and an impact assessment setting out potential implications of the proposed GES targets and indicators.  Later consultations will cover proposals for the UK monitoring programmes for GES and the UK programmes of measures for achieving GES.   Marine Strategy Framework Directive Implementation Team http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1190 First announcement and Call for abstracts for the International workshop on interdecadal variability of the global monsoons http://www.clivar.org/organization/aamp/activities/international-workshop-interdecadal-variability-global-monsoons Venue: Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), Nanjing, China, 10-12 September 2012. Organizers: Dr Andy Turner, Prof. Bin Wang and the WCRP CLIVAR(1) Asian-Australian Monsoon Panel and local hosts Prof. Jinzhong Min & Dr Weiyu Pan of NUIST. Understanding interdecadal variability is a prerequisite for attribution of present and future changes under anthropogenic forcing. The global monsoon systems (Asian-Australian; West African; American Monsoons) exhibit important decadal variations with potential large socio-economic impacts, but there is little consensus on the character of this variability. Recent studies have highlighted interdecadal variability in: The various regional monsoons; Features embedded in the monsoon, such as tropical cyclones and monsoon depressions; The strength of monsoon teleconnections, impacting the prospect for seasonal prediction. Major objectives are (a) review evidence of monsoon interdecadal variability collectively and regionally; (b) discuss how these variations are linked to each other and other major modes of interdecadal variability in the global oceans such as the PDO, IPO, or AMO, and to climate change; (c) examine possible mechanisms underlying these interdecadal variations, including in simulations and numerical experiments that address driving physical processes with the goal of assessing the predictability of monsoon interdecadal variations. Sessions will last around half a day each, consisting of invited speaker(s) and a period of discussion. The majority of scientific presentations will be made via interactive poster sessions: Session 1: Monsoon decadal variability in the modern observational era (19th/20th centuries). Session 2: What do palaeo-modelling and proxy data tell us about monsoon interdecadal variability? Session 3: Interconnections between the regional monsoons and other modes of climate variability. Session 4: Mechanisms for decadal modulation of the monsoon. Session 5: Using our knowledge of decadal variability to further monsoon prediction and projection. The workshop will provide an overview of the state of knowledge and emerging issues in monsoon interdecadal variability and promote coordinated experimental designs to test possible causes and explore predictability. The workshop will be of potential interest to climate scientists of the tropical monsoon regions, as well as those with expertise in ENSO and multi-decadal ocean variability, the seasonal forecasting, climate impacts and PAGES communities. We hope to promote collaborations between current- and palaeo-climate scientists. Financial support: We expect around 80 international participants. Limited funding is available for some US graduate students and early career researchers courtesy of the NSF. Other avenues of funding for graduate and early career researchers in other countries such as India and China may also become available. Please send a short (max 2 page) CV, statement of interest and details of funding requested to be considered. Deadline: The call for abstracts is now open until 1 May 2012 although applicants interested in support should apply more quickly. Please specify the main session of interest. To be added to the list of interested participants or send an abstract please contact Dr Andy Turner <a.g.turner@reading.ac.uk>, cc Prof Bin Wang <wangbin@hawaii.edu>. More information will also be made available via <http://www.clivar.org/organization/aamp/activities/international-workshop-interdecadal-variability-global-monsoons/>   (1) WCRP CLIVAR is the CLImate VARiability and predictability project of the World Climate Research Programme http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1187 This year has seen an unusually active start to the tornado season in the USA. There have been dozens of destructive tornadoes from Illinois to Texas, where up to 18 might have touched down in one day alone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.According to NBC weatherman, Al Roker "We're at just the beginning of a very unusual tornado season"The numbers show just how unusual: March saw 223, up from an average of 80 from 1991-2010, according to the US National Weather Service. February saw 63, compared to an average of 29; and January saw 97, compared to an average of 35. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1186 The Latest European Meteorological Society newsletter is now available, with news about the latest members, Europhotometeo‘12 and travel awards.  Use the link below. http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1185 Use the link below to access the latest Weather Front http://www.rmets.org/news/detail.php?ID=1183 Teachers: please help: a 10q multi-choice survey on #weather & #climate for a Reading School. Thanks! http://t.co/6YNtYkax