Vaisala’s RD93 GPS dropsonde. The dropsonde data have improved the mean hurricane track forecasts from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory’s (GFDL) hurricane model by as much as 32 per cent and the intensity forecasts by as much as 20 per cent.

1998 UCAR Outstanding Performance Awards Dropsonde for Weather

he Technology Ad- ceived the award for the devel- Reconnaissance vancement Award is opment of the GPS dropsonde given each year at system. In just over two years, T UCAR/NCAR (Uni- this NCAR/ATD design has versity Corporation for At- become one of the most mospheric Research / National important observing tools on Center for Atmospheric Re- 18 research aircraft in the USA, search, USA) for the most sig- Germany, Canada and the UK. nificant technical development The GPS dropsonde has pro- In December 1998, a ten-man develop- in support of Atmospheric vided order-of-magnitude im- ment team from NCAR/NOAA was Science. This award honors provements in data quality and awarded the Technology Advancement major individual or group cre- reliability. ations of the past five years that To build this next-generation Award for development of the Global represent outstanding technical dropsonde, the development Positioning System (GPS) dropsonde. achievements in engineering, team made a series of key deci- This NCAR/ATD design has become computer science, or applied sions, including the use of a science. low-cost Vaisala codeless GPS one of the most important observing Terry Hock, Hal Cole, Dean receiver module and the new tools on 18 research aircraft in four Lauritsen, Ken Norris, Ned RS90 PTU sensor module. The countries. Groundbreaking research Chamberlain, Errol Korn, and telemetered dropsonde data and improved forecasts have already Chip Owens from NCAR’s uses the aircraft data system for Atmospheric Technology Divi- position calculations. The new emerged from the data gathered by sion (ATD), and James Franklin, dropsonde also uses a unique GPS dropsondes in hurricanes and Alan Goldstein, and Jeff Smith cone-shaped parachute that re- winter storms. from the National Ocean- duces the opening shock and ographic and Atmospheric allows fragile sensors to be Administration (NOAA) re- dropped safely and quickly

Group picture of the ten-man development team from NCAR/NOAA which won the Technology Advancement Award. From the right: Chip Owens, Ned Chamberlain, Hal Cole, Ken Norris, Errol Korn; (seated) Dean Lauritsen and Terry Hock.

150/1999 17 from high-altitude jet aircraft. Ro b e r t Ireland Gr o u n d b r e a k ing research and Systems Engineer improved forecasts have al- Vai s ala Melbourne ready emerged from the data Au s t r a l i a gathered by GPS dropsondes in Vai s ala Win s hurricanes and winter storms. The dropsonde data has im- proved the mean hurricane USAF tr a c k forecasts from the Geo- ph ysical Fluid Dynamics Lab o r a - to r y’s (GF DL) hurricane model TACME T by as much as 32 per cent and the intensity forecasts by as much as 20 per cent. Awa r d Ton y Baldwin Project Consultant Old award tradition Special Services Unit Bureau of Meteorology Ea c h December a select group Au s t r a l i a of UCAR /NCAR staff have Vai s ala has been awarded a contract been recognized with the insti- from Raytheon Tec hnical Services / tution’s most prestigious hon- Indianapolis to supply the USA F or s , the annual Outstanding oodside Australian Per formance Awards. There are with Tactical Meteorological Energy is an Austral- five awards given: (1) the Out- (TA C M ET) Observation Systems. ian resource compa- standing Publication Award, The TAC M ET is based on Vai sa l a ’ s W ny specializing in the (2) the Tec hnology Adv a n c e - Co m m e r c i a l -O f f -t h e - Shelf (COTS) ex p l o r a t i o n , development and ment Award, (3) the Tech n i c a l production of oil and gas . Act- Su p p o r t Award, (4) the Adm i - pr o d u c t s . ing in a partn e r s h i p , Woo d s i d e nistrative Support Award, and operates the Nor th West Shelf (5) the Education Award. he TAC M ET system is a field-de p l o y - gas project off the coast of The ceremony is traditional, able, compact weather station, capable Western Australia. To date this dating back to the awards’ in- of monitoring three general types of is Australia’s largest resource auguration in 196 7, but the T en vironmental parameters: meteorolog- development project. selection process in 1998 was a ical parameters (air temperature, wind, humidity, The discovery in late 1994 of new one. It is part of a two-ye a r pressure, precipitation accumulation); ground/ the Laminaria oil field in the transition meant to raise the lighting conditions (soil moisture, soil tempera- Timor Sea provided Woo d s i d e profile of the awards and bring ture, ambient illumination); and aviation support with the opportunity to devel- them more in line with the real- parameters (cloud height and cover, visibility / pre- op its second crude oil project ities of how science is conduct- cipitation type, thunderstorm / lightning). The sys- – and its first project outside ed today. Awardees receive a tem is designed to be capable of quick deployment the Nor th West Shelf. Woo d - cash award and a bronze worldwide, and operate in tactical situations under side has a 50 per cent stake in me d a l . various envi r o n m e n t s . the AC/P8 Exploration Per m i t , The TAC M ET systems are based on Vai sa l a ’ s wh i c h contains the Lam i n a r i a New dropsonde MA WS Mobile Automatic Weather Station. Up to and nearby Corallina oil fields, tec h n o l o g y three systems can be connected to the Windows NT and is the Permit Operator. BHP based workstation via hardwire and / or radio mo- and Shell own 25 per cent each. Designed for weather reconnais- de m s . The workstation takes care of numerical and The major project invo l v e s sance, hurricane and weather re- graphical data display, coding of aviation weather the construction of a Floating se a r c h, the Airborne Vert i c a l re p o r t METAR, archiving and transmitting data Pr o d u c t i o n , Storage and Off- Atmospheric Profiling System for further processing. Also a hand held display loading (FP SO) facility which (A VAP S) incorporates a Vai sa l a can be used for viewing measured and calculated will be permanently moored RD93 GPS dropsonde. This ad- data in the field. ■ between the Laminaria and vanced research system was Corallina fields in some 390 developed by the U. S. Na- metres of water depth. It is tional Center for Atmospheric expected that this will be the Re s e a r c h (NCAR) in coopera- world’s largest such facility. tion with the German Aero- space Research Establishment Ob s e r v ations networ k (DLR) and the National Oce- upgrade needed anic Atmospheric Adm i n i s t r a - tion (NOAA). NCAR has li- Late in 199 7, Woodside Off- censed the production of the shore Petroleum Pty Ltd re- new GPS dropsonde, which is a quested the Bureau of Meteor- key component of AVAP S, to ology to upgrade the meteorol- Vai sa l a . ■ ogical observations network in

18 150/1999