June 2014, Bracciano
EUMETSAT and the Centro Nazionale di Meteorologia e Climatologia Aeronautica (CNMCA) of the Italian air force, organised the 13th ‘International Summer School on Applications with the Newest Multi-spectral Environmental Satellites’. The course presented in depth explanations of methods and techniques used to extract information from environmental satellite data, with emphasis on the latest measuring technologies.
It was attended by 16 participants from different countries. The lecturers and tutors were Ralf Bennartz and Mike Hiley, from the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies; EUMETSAT trainer Jochen Kerkmann; Davide Melfi (CNMCA) and Zanita Avotniece, a EUMETSAT trainee from the Latvian Met Service.
The curriculum consisted of 13 lectures covering a number of subjects, including convective clouds and climate applications. Participants were also able to take part in 14 lab sessions and to access real-time MSG data to practice their new skills on actual weather situations.
In addition, the portable version of McIDAS-V (McV-Cast) was used for the first time. No installation of the software was required, which was a great improvement. McIDAS-V is a tool used extensively in the EUMETSAT courses. Read about our practice with McIDAS-V in the ‘”Practical use of EUMETSAT data'” course that was delivered this year in Latvia (Link).