From: rob.allan@metoffice.gov.uk
To: Malcolm.Haylock@partnerre.com
Subject: Re: hello
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:20:42 +0100
Cc: Gil Compo <compo@colorado.edu>, Gil Compo <Gilbert.P.Compo@noaa.gov>,  Henry Beverley <Beverley.Henry@nrw.qld.gov.au>, Roger Stone <stone@usq.edu.au>, Adrian Simmons <Adrian.Simmons@ecmwf.int>, Brönnimann Stefan <stefan.bronnimann@env.ethz.ch>, Frank Le Blancq <leblancq.f@jerseymet.gov.je>,  Phil Jones <p.jones@uea.ac.uk>, Pamela_Heck@swissre.com, Paul.Della-Marta@meteoswiss.ch, Scott D Woodruff <Scott.D.Woodruff@noaa.gov>, Meinke@metoffice.gov.uk, Holger <holger.meinke@wur.nl>, Juerg Luterbacher <juerg@giub.unibe.ch>, tlorencak@bluewin.ch

On Mon, 2007-06-25 at 14:50 +0200, Malcolm.Haylock@partnerre.com wrote:
> 
> Hi Rob, 
> 
> Great to hear about the new project and the support of the Queensland
> Government. It sounds like a very worthwhile project from both a
> scientific and user's perspective.  
> 
> I wrote a summary of your email and your good work with historical SLP
> and sent it to my boss, Hervé Castella, who is the head of research at
> PartnerRe. He is well aware of the value of reanalyses as we use ERA40
> extensively for developing our European storm climatology. 
> 
> We would be very interested to attend such a meeting bringing the data
> developers and users together. We would also be happy to partly
> sponsor such a meeting. However the main concern, as with the case of
> ERA40 data, is that the final data can be very expensive for
> commercial users so sponsorship would probably require an agreement
> about access. 
> 
> Regarding venues, if you'd like input from the reinsurance industry
> then there is no better location than Zurich. It also has excellent
> access to Nth America becuase of the financial connections. 
> 
> Malcolm   
> 
> rob.allan@metoffice.gov.uk wrote on 19/06/2007 11:15:06:
> 
> > On Tue, 2007-06-19 at 10:45 +0200, Malcolm.Haylock@partnerre.com
> wrote:
> > > 
> > > Hi Rob, 
> > > 
> > > How's it going? Paul and I saw Tara yesterday. It's great to have
> her
> > > in Zurich. She said things are looking brighter for you at the
> > > MetOffice. Still, whay not come and join the growing Aussie empire
> in
> > > Switzerland? 
> > > 
> > > Malcolm 
> > >  DISCLAIMER: This e-mail contains information solely intended for 
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> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > Malcolm,
> >         Good to hear from you.  
> >         
> >         Glad that you guys caught up with Tara, it's great that she 
> > has fellow Aussies in the 
> > vicinity to catch up with.
> > 
> >         I just spoke to Paul Della-Marta on the phone about matters 
> > to do with my new role 
> > here in the Hadley Centre, and I'd like any thoughts you might have 
> > on a potential meeting
> > linked to that new role.
> > 
> > NEW ROLE
> > 
> >         Basically, as of next month, I'll be officially the Project 
> > Manager of an initiative 
> > called ACRE (Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the 
> > Earth).  Though based in the
> > Hadley Centre, this post is being primarily funded by the Queensland
> > Climate Change Centre of 
> > Excellence (QCCCE) in Australia!!  It is an 'end-to-end' project 
> > covering data and reanalyses 
> > at one end and looking to make the reanalyses products flow 
> > 'seamlessly' into various climate 
> > applications models at the other.  I came up with the concept, got 
> > the infrastructure together 
> > to make it work and sold QCCCE on it without any Met Office or 
> > Hadley Centre input initially.
> > 
> >         Anyway, a major component of my new role is to support and 
> > facilitate the global daily
> > to sub-daily surface pressure data requirements for historical
> surface
> > observations only reanalyses (the 20th Century Reanalysis Project)
> that
> > a colleague, Dr Gil Compo at NOAA ESRL/CIRES/CDC in the US, is
> leading -
> > see this link for an overview of the 20th Century Reanalysis Project
> > (http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2771.htm).  
> > 
> >        We aim to build on the expertise developed by the 20th
> Century
> > Reanalysis Project to provide the basis for surface observations-
> based
> > reanalyses which have sufficient data coverage to be valid globally
> back
> > to the mid-19th century and specifically over the North Atlantic-
> > European region from the mid-18th century to the present.
> > 
> > MEETING AS PART OF MY NEW ROLE
> > 
> >        The background to this is as follows:
> > 
> >        Gil Compo and I plus those in the GCOS AOPC/OOPC Surface
> > Pressure Working Group (SPWG) have had the hope for a while now
> > of being able to fund a meeting of the SPWG in its own right, rather
> > than 'piggy backing' on other meetings all the time.  The US members
> of
> > the SPWG had been hoping for a meeting in, or closer to, the US.
>  With
> > all that in mind I suggested Bermuda as a venue, given that the
> > Biological Institute of Ocean Sciences there have strong links to
> the
> > reinsurance industry and a particular focus on European storminess.
> > 
> >         The Bermuda idea has waxed and waned a bit, and though there
> is
> > now the possibility of some potential funding via Howard Diamond
> (the US
> > GCOS Rep) to support such a meeting, doing the figures shows that it
> is
> > going to be too expensive to hold it in Bermuda.  However, with my
> new
> > role as the Project Manager of the ACRE initiative developing in
> > parallel with the above, I'm now thinking of a somewhat more
> effective
> > and reshaped meeting probably held in Europe.
> > 
> >        My current thoughts revolve around the idea of holding a
> smallish
> > but manageable meeting.  The focus being on bringing together the
> GCOS
> > AOPC/OOPC Working Groups on pressure (SPWG), SST and sea-ice,
> > atmospheric reference observations plus the new one on observational
> > datasets for reanalysis, with climate applications and reinsurance
> > people, to focus on the various reanalysis data needs and on
> potential
> > climate applications and impacts usage of such reanalysis products.
> > This type of meeting fits the very core of what my ACRE Project
> > Manager's role is about. I also think strategically it might provide
> a
> > very useful focus all round which will promote the need for more
> data,
> > clarify the current and potential situation with the various
> reanalysis
> > efforts and their needs, and give the climate applications community
> a
> > better idea of what the data and reanalysis products can be best
> used
> > for.  
> > 
> >        One recent example highlights the sort of problem that exists
> > over this way with reanalyses and the climate applications side. The
> > European Environment Agency (EEA) have been talking to ECMWF about
> using
> > their reanalysis products (for wind and energy planning plus
> storminess
> > trends), but from what I've heard and discussed with Adrian Simmons
> (the
> > AOPC Chair and ECMWF ERA reanalysis person), the EEA really don't
> > understand the strengths and weaknesses of the ERA reanalysis
> product
> > and how best to use it for their needs.  As a result, this potential
> > linkage has tended to flounder somewhat.
> > 
> >        I also understand that a Spanish colleague is looking to set
> up a
> > COST (Co-operation on Science and Technology) Action under the EC
> COST
> > program that would focus on reanalyses and I think applications.
>  I'm
> > going to suggest to him that the sort of meeting I'm looking to
> initiate
> > could also be linked to his efforts and be an initial meeting for
> such a
> > COST Action. 
> > 
> >        I've talked to Roger Stone and Holger Meinke on the climate
> > applications side, plus others on the climate and reanalysis side of
> > things (Gil Compo, Adrian Simmons, Stefan Bronnimann) about such a
> > meeting and have had considerable interest.  Roger mentioned his
> links
> > with the reinsurance industry in Europe in looking to link them
> (maybe
> > even part fund) into such a meeting, and I'm going to follow up on a
> > similar tack. I'm thinking that it could be a milestone for the
> first
> > year of my contract, and something that could also be duplicated in
> > Australia or elsewhere.
> > 
> >        Thus, I'd be very keen to hear your thoughts on any of the
> above,
> > and how we might be able to make it happen for the benefit of all.
>  Some
> > ideas for venues I've had are Jersey or Guernsey in the Channel
> Islands
> > and Dublin (this might be easiest for US attendees to get to).
> > 
> >                                         Cheers,  Rob. 
> > 
> >  
> > Dr Rob Allan Climate Scientist
> > Met Office   FitzRoy Road   Exeter   EX1 3PB   United Kingdom
> > Tel: +44 (0)1392 886904   Fax: +44 (0)1392 885681 
> > E-mail (W): rob.allan@metoffice.gov.uk   http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
> > E-mail (H): rallan@onetel.com

Malcolm,
         Thanks for that, much appreciated.

         I'll forward it on to Gil Compo and others linked to ACRE and
the AOPC WGs.  I think that Roger Stone from Queensland knows some of
your people, so there should be some good links all round.

         I've also gone back to Howard Diamond, the US GCOS Rep, from
whom I'm hoping to get some financial support for such a meeting to
gauge his reaction to holding it in Europe.

                                     Cheers,  Rob. 


>  DISCLAIMER: This e-mail contains information solely intended for named recipients and is confidential and proprietary to PartnerRe. If you are not one of the intended recipients of this message, you must not read, use or disseminate the information in it and should notify the sender by replying to this message and deleting it afterwards from your mail system. Please be aware that unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this communication is prohibited.
-- 
Dr Rob Allan ACRE Project Manager
Met Office   FitzRoy Road   Exeter   EX1 3PB   United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1392 886904   Fax: +44 (0)1392 885681 
E-mail (W): rob.allan@metoffice.gov.uk   http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
E-mail (H): rallan@onetel.com

