AROME-ALADIN special workshop, April 11-12, 2003, Prague

Appendix 2 : List of main questions raised during the workshop (25)

1. Research (7)

2. Maintenance (4)

3. Policy of the convergence (3)

4. Stability of the policy (4)

5. Extension of the policy (2)

6. Frame for the convergence policy (5)

Research

R1) How to co-ordinate the different streams of physics development for a smooth convergence?

R2) The question of the computing costs of the ’10-km’ version.

R3) How to distribute the data assimilation ‘upscaling-downscaling’ work before the convergence?

R4) How to revisit the coupling scheme?

R5) By what means will the coordination between the two nearly parallel activities (still in data assimilation) be achieved?

R6) What about the verification side of the project?

R7) What will be the mechanism of collaboration with say, HIRLAM on LBCs?

Maintenance

M1) How exactly to maintain and merge the physics (with respect to ARPEGE, AROME-ALADIN and Meso-NH)?

M2) Who maintains what within the tool-box?

M3) Who coordinates the operational implementations in the ‘transition period’ (to avoid dispersion of maintenance through too diverging operational goals)?

M4) Which compromise on the level of NWP-type optimisation?

Policy of the convergence

P1) How to cope with the spread of possibilities between the different partners (and possible change of position of each one) leading to very different situations in the long transition period?

P2) How to make demonstration of the feasibility of the common aim within the current framework?

P3) How to be sure that there will already be operational dividends on a 2 to 3 year scale and through which compromise? How to maintain such a win-win deal until the end?

Stability of the policy

S1) How to find justifications for such a long term ‘dream’

S2) How to make sure that the political thrust will be sufficiently strong within the project to avoid staying in-between in the medium term (2 to 6 years)?

S3) How to attract new talents around this new concept?

S4) What place for something already more structured like LACE in the new coordination?

Extension of the policy

E1) How to insert the scientific strategy in a concept that goes beyond modelling aspects? The user side of the problem, including the training aspect (encompassing technical tools, forecasters work, downstream application, measurable gain in quality of the response to security demand, crisis management for extreme events, …)

E2) How to avoid a too uniform (and then surely less convincing in each case) presentation of the justification to authorities? How to link this with the previous item? Is the AROME-ALADIN convergence a catalyser or a marker of differences in this list of more general questions?

Frame for the convergence policy

F1) What body defines the long-term strategic objectives of the process initiated here and now? What are the manpower, financial and other means needed and when?

F2) What group watches the scientific long-term new aspects and proposes a selection of the ‘strategic’ ones (our strengths and our duties, in short)?

F3) The question of the legal aspects (MoU, rights and duties, policy of collaboration with current non-Members, research use of the product, …).

F4) Within the previous point, what about the ACMAD-ALADIN-DMN special effort on ALADIN-NORAF?

F5) Kick-off status. How to start and find quickly the current boundary conditions of the exercise?