2017 Joint DTC-EMC-JCSDA GSI-EnKF Tutorial

Dates/Location:

11-14 July, 2017 at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP) conference center in College Park, MD.

About

The combined Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) and Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) Data Assimilation (DA) System Community Tutorial is co-hosted by the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC), the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Environmental Modeling Center (EMC), and the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA). Information regarding the GSI and EnKF systems can be found at the Community GSI User Homepage and the EnKF User Homepage .

The tutorial consists of three days of lectures (Tuesday-Thursday) and four hands-on practical sessions (Tuesday-Friday) where the Friday practical session is optional. Please refer to the agenda for more details. The invited speakers are from the primary GSI and EnKF development teams, including DA experts from NOAA, JCSDA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), University of Maryland and the DTC. The practical sessions will provide the essential skills to run the GSI/EnKF system with basic and advanced implementations.

Requirements

Basic knowledge of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models (e.g., WRF, GFS) and DA, as well as essential skills in Fortran and Unix, are required for the class.

For practical sessions, participants should bring a laptop computer with a ssh client with x11 forwarding. The laptop also needs a USB port for the token (provided) to access NCAR's High Performance Computing.

Available Spaces

Tutorial lecture and practical sessions: 40 on a first-come first-served basis, due to the constraints of physical space and computers

Tutorial lecture only: No limits

Registration & Payment

There are registration fees associated with the GSI/EnKF Tutorial to cover necessary material costs and other expenses.

• Tutorial (both lecture and practical sessions): $190 (includes a USB flash drive with copy of lectures and morning and afternoon refreshments). Please bring a personal laptop for the practical sessions.
• Tutorial Lecture only (no practical sessions): $110 (includes a USB flash drive with copy of lectures and morning refreshments for three days)
• NCWCP residents (with NOAA CAC cards):No registration fee will be charged, but USB flash drive with copy of lectures and refreshments will not be provided - an option to order refreshments will be provided separately.

Registration fees must be paid by credit card. You will receive a confirmation that you have registered, and your credit card will be charged immediately. No refunds for cancellations made after June 20, 2017.

Given time constraints for lunch break, information on how to order a lunch from the cafeteria will be provided to all registrants in the June time frame.

If you have any questions or are unable to register please e-mail: jessaj@ucar.edu.

Summary of Important Information:

Registration deadlines:

• 9 June, 2017: Registration closes for non-US citizens (excluding NCWCP residents with NOAA CAC cards). Additional paperwork is needed for non-US citizens to enter the NCWCP building and it takes about one month to process the paperwork. We recommend people register ASAP.
• 20 June, 2017: Register closes for US citizens and NCWCP residents (with NOAA CAC card).

Cancellation deadline:

• 20 June, 2017. Last day to receive a refund of your registration fee, less $25.00 to cover administrative fees. After this date, there will be no refunds.

Tutorial dates:

• 11-14 July, 2017 . 11-13 July includes both lectures and practical sessions. 14 July (Friday) is scheduled for a half-day practical session (optional).

Location:

NCWCP Conference Center, 5830 University Research Court, College Park, MD 20740

We look forward to your attendance!

Contacts

• Hui Shao (huishao@ucar.edu)
• Jessa Johnson (jessaj@ucar.edu)

Address: NCWCP building, 5830 University Research Court, College Park, MD 20740

PDF version of the tutorial agenda may be downloaded from here.

2017 Joint DTC-EMC-JCSDA GSI/EnKF Tutorial Agenda

Tuesday, July 11, 2017 : Day 1

8:30 AM	Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM	Welcome, Speakers & Participants'    Introduction	Hui Shao (DTC, NCAR)
9:15 AM	Fundamentals of Data Assimilation	Kayo Ide (U. of Maryland)
10:15 AM	Break (Group photo)
10:45 AM	Overview of GSI	John Derber (NCEP)
11:45 AM	Lunch (order by request)
12:45 PM	GSI Fundamentals (1): Setup & Compilation	Mark Potts (NCEP)
13:15 PM	GSI Fundamentals (2): Run & Namelist	Jeff Beck (DTC, NOAA)
13:45 PM	GSI Fundamentals (3): Diagnostics	Guoqing Ge (DTC, NOAA)
14:15 PM	Intro to Practical Session	Chunhua Zhou (DTC, NCAR)
14:30 PM	Practical Session
15:00 PM	Break
15:15 PM	Practical Session
17:00 PM	Adjourn

Wednesday, July 12, 2017 : Day 2

8:45 AM	Arrival & Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM	Radiance Assimilation	Andrew Collard (NCEP)
10:00 AM	Break
10:15 AM	Radiance Assimilation (cont)	Andrew Collard (NCEP)
10:45 AM	GSI Fundamentals (4): BE, Obs Error	Ming Hu (DTC, NOAA)
11:15 AM	GSI Fundamentals (5): Prep BUFR and BUFR Format	Guoqing Ge (DTC, NOAA)
11:45 AM	Lunch (order by request)
12:45 PM	Radar/Lightning Data Assimilation	Jacob Carley (NCEP)
13:45 PM	GSI Fundamentals (6): Review and Applications	Jeff Beck (DTC, NOAA)
14:15 PM	Practical Session
15:00 PM	Break
15:15 PM	Practical Session
17:00 PM	Adjourn

Thursday, July 13, 2017 : Day 3

8:45 AM	Arrival & Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM	GSI Hybrid/4D EnVar Data Assimilation	Daryl Kleist (NCEP)
10:00 AM	Break
10:15 AM	GSI Infrastructures and Advanced Features	Ricardo Todling (GMAO/NASA)
11:15 AM	Community Code Contribution & Transition	Hui Shao (DTC,NCAR)
11:30 AM	Lunch (order by request)
12:30 PM	EnKF Overview and Theory	Rahul Mahajan (NCEP)
13:15 PM	EnKF Fundamentals (1): Configuration and Run	Chunhua Zhou (DTC, NCAR)
13:45 PM	EnKF Fundamentals (2): Diagnostics & Applications	Ming Hu (DTC, NOAA)
14:15 PM	DA Evolution & Expansion: JEDI	Yannick Tremolet (JCSDA)
15:15 PM	Closing Remarks (for lectures)	John Derber (NCEP)
15:30 PM	Practical Session
15:45 PM	Break
16:00 PM	Practical Session
17:00 PM	Adjourn

Friday, July 14, 2017 : Day 4

9:00 AM	Optional Practical Session
10:30 AM	Break
12:00 PM	Tutorial Adjourn

Arriving at NCWCP

Arrival times

Please check the agenda each day as the starting time may vary.

Meeting Location

The tutorial will be held at the NCWCP Conference Center, located at 5830 University Research Court, *College Park, MD 20740
(*Note - older GPS systems may reference Riverdale instead of College Park).

Arriving at NCWCP

• Via driving
  From Maryland: Take I-495 East to exit 23A (Kenilworth Ave/MD-210 S). Stay on 210 South until you make a right onto River Rd. Take the 1st right onto University Research Ct. The NCWCP will be the building on the left at the end of the court.
  From Virginia: Merge onto I-495 OUTERLOOP/Capital Beltway/ toward Alexandria. Take the I-295 N/National Harbor exit, EXIT 2A-B, toward Washington. Keep right to take DC-295 N toward US-50 E (crossing into Maryland). Take the exit toward MD-410/Hyatt sville/New Carrollton. Take left onto Riverdale Rd (Riverdale Rd becomes East-West Hwy/MD-410 W). Turn left onto River Rd. Take the 1st right onto University Research Ct. The NCWCP will be the building on the left.
  From Washington DC: Take I-295 North to MD- 410/Hyattsville/New Carrollton. Take left onto Riverdale Rd (Riverdale Rd becomes East-West Hwy/MD-410 W). Turn left onto River Rd. Take the 1st right onto University Research Ct. The NCWCP will be the building on the left.
• Via Metrorail (please note Metrorail may be closed occasionally)
  The NCWCP is accessible via the Green or Yellow Metrorail Line to the College Park/University of M aryland station. It is a 15-20 minute walk (to the east down River Road) from the station to the NCWCP. A shuttle is also availa ble during peak commute periods. You may view a detailed shuttle schedule here. UM Shuttle (109 River Road) will drop passengers off at end of cul-de-sac. NCWCP building is the large glass building to the left.
• Via Hotel Shuttle
  Please ask the hotel if they provide free shuttle and if yes, make sure you sign up at the hot el when you check into the hotel upon arrival.Please check with the hotel for the latest schedule.
  

Entrance Instructions

You will need to show a valid ID (or your NOAA badge) to the outside guard station as you walk by/drive through. Once your park your car in the garage , please walk to main entrance on the front side of building. You will need to push a doorbell and announce you are here to attend the GSI/EnKF tutorial.

Once you enter the building, please DO NOT go through the security check point. The Conference Center is on your right, just before entering the security check point. It is a non-security area and open to public.

You are not permitted to enter the secure areas unless you are a NOAA employee or you have a NOAA host and have gone through appropriate paperwork for a visit. The GSI/EnKF Tutorial does not arrange such visits. Please arrange your visit accordingly, if needed.

Lodging

Information on several hotels in the College Park area can be found here. Please check with the hotels to see whether they provide shuttles to NCWCP if needed.

Tutorial Logistics

Meals and refreshments

If you paid a registration fee for the lecture and practical sessions option, morning and afternoon refreshments will be provided for the length of the tutorial at no additional cost. If you paid registration fee for the lecture only option, morning refreshments will be provided at no cost.

For speakers, refreshments are covered for the day of your presentation.

For people working at the NCWCP building and not paying registration fee, refreshments can be ordered separately. A separate email will be sent out before the tutorial with the link to order the lunch and refreshements.

For all, lunch is not covered and should be ordered separately. You should receive an email from Jessa by June 23rd with instructions on how to submit the order. If you do not receive the email by June 23rd and would like to order food, please contact Jessa Johnson at jessaj@ucar.edu.

Group Photo

The group photo will be taken on Tuesday (July 11) at 10:15AM during the Morning break.

Tutorial Survey

To assist in improving future events, we urge that tutorial participants please fill out the surveys. The survey will be opened during the tutorial and will remain open for the month of July only.