The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an international organisation supported by 25 European States. ECMWF's principal objectives are the development of numerical methods for medium-range weather forecasting; the preparation, on a regular basis of medium-range and long-range weather forecasts for distribution to the meteorological services of the Member States; scientific and technical research directed to the improvement of these forecasts; collection and storage of appropriate meteorological data.ECMWF's computer facility includes supercomputers, archiving systems and networks. A detailed description is available at:

www.ecmwf.int/services/computing/overview

ECMWF, through its partnerships with EUMETSAT, ESA, the EU and the European Science base has established a leading position for Europe in the exploitation of satellite data for operational numerical weather prediction, and in the exploitation of satellite data for operational seasonal forecasting with coupled atmosphere-ocean-land models.

Partly in response to the EU’s GMES initiative on environmental matters, the ECMWF Council is at an advanced stage of preparation for a revision of the ECMWF Convention to be recommended to Member States. The draft revised Convention includes the following revise text

‘The primary purposes of the Centre are the development of a capability for medium-range weather forecasting and provision of medium-range weather forecasts to the Member States.

The objectives of the Centre shall be to develop, and operate on a regular basis, global models and data-assimilation systems for the dynamics, thermodynamics and composition of the Earth's fluid envelope and interacting parts of the Earth-system, with a view to preparing forecasts by means of numerical methods, providing initial conditions for the forecasts, and contributing to monitoring the relevant parts of the Earth-system.

The ECMWF Member States are: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The ECMWF Co-operating States are: Czech Republic, Croatia, Iceland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia.

Anthony Hollingsworth is Coordinator of ECMWF’s activities in GMES, and was ECMWF’s Head of Research and Deputy Director 1991-2003. He has expertise in most aspects of numerical weather prediction and is a leading figure in the development of effective ways to use satellite data for weather prediction. He has been an adviser to EUMETSAT, ESA, NASA and NOAA and the US National Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the WCRP/GEWEX scientific steering group for many years, and has recently been invited to join the scientific steering group of GCOS. He is the author of over 80 papers.

Adrian J. Simmons, B.A, Ph.D, Smith's Prize University of Cambridge. Research studies in dynamical meteorology at Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics; Postdoctoral Fellow, UK Universities' Atmospheric Modelling Group, University of Reading, Research in spectral modelling of the atmosphere and dynamical meteorology of the troposphere and stratosphere. ECMWF 1978-date, Head of Model Division , and later Head of Model Division. Extensive research and management experience in numerical modelling, data assimilation, reanalysis, predictability, dynamical meteorology and the use of high-performance computing. As Head of the Data Division, reports directly to and deputizes for the Head of Research of ECMWF. Awarded L.F. Richardson and Buchan Prizes of Royal Meteorological Society. Publications include more than fifty papers as author or co-author in the open peer-reviewed scientific literature, and many contributions to ECMWF publications.

Horst Böttger Diploma in Meteorology and Doctorate in natural sciences from Free University in Berlin, worked as research scientist at the university from 1972-1979. Since 1979 at ECMWF, senior scientist and Head of Met Operations Section, since 1987 Head of Meteorological Division. Background in operational meteorology, synoptic meteorology and forecasting.

Jean-Noël Thépaut is “ingénieur de la météorologie” from Météo-France. He is currently the head of the Satellite Section of the Research Department at ECMWF. He is a member of the Mission Advisory Group of the ESA/NASDA SWIFT mission, and a member of the Meteosat Third Generation Mission Team, Member of the Steering Group of the Data Assimilation Research Centre (DARC). His scientific activities concern the development of the three and four dimensional variational data assimilation system at ECMWF, the development of the three and four dimensional variational data assimilation system at Météo-France, and the preparation for the assimilation of satellite data, in particular from the European advanced sounder IASI. Since 2001, he is the head of the Satellite Section at ECMWF. This Section is in charge of the RT developments for Numerical Weather Prediction Applications, the assimilation of satellite radiances from Infrared and Microwave sounders/imagers on board polar and geostationary satellites, the assimilation of ozone information from satellite instruments, the development of novel strategies to assimilate cloud/rain information from Infrared and Microwave satellites and the development of assimilation strategy for exploiting new advanced Infrared sounders exploitation of radio-occultation technique for NWP.

03-08-2005