For all participants and visitors to the Map Operations Centre Innsbruck (MOC), the first question will be:
The MAP Operations Centre (MOC) in Innsbruck is located at Innsbruck Kranebitten Airport. Administrative Offices and MOC Forecaster Centre are within the facilities of the Austrian Civil Aviation Authority (AustroControl, ACG) at the General Aviation tract near the tower at Fürstenweg 180 at the airport. The Secretariat is found within the same building on the first floor. The terminal room, general assembly/ briefing room-cum-display-room for forecast products is found nearby at the WIST student hostel at Fürstenweg 174.
Accommodation/private offices for participants to the experiment will be mostly at the student hostel, and partly at the Hotel Penz across the street. Storage and workshop facilities for aircraft operators will be handled by the Tiroler Flughafen Gesellschaft Innsbruck (TFG) by individual arrangements with aircraft operators. All these are found in the western part of the town (3km from the town centre) near the Autobahn A12, exit Innsbruck West for travellers arriving from Brennerpass or Kufstein/Munich or exit Kranebitten for those arriving from West (Switzerland, Garmisch). Just follow the signs to the airport. Please do not forget to buy a ‘Autobahn Vignette’ (windshield sticker) at the border if you are going to drive on the Autobahn. They are available for one year (about ATS 500), or 10 days (around ATS 90).
For participants arriving by train, there is a direct bus (line F) from the railway station at regular intervals (15min daytime, 20min evenings). For train connections, check the website of Austrian Railways (http://www.oebb.at). Airline connections through Zurich (3 flights/day), Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Vienna and Paris are easily found from all destinations.
Administrative Offices: Scientific Director (SD), Operations Director (OD) and Flight Coordinator (FC) will be housed within the AustroControl area of the airport building. It is anticipated to assign the SD a first-floor office (the Secretariat Office), the OD and FC will be housed at a large communal room (~70m2) together with the secretary on the ground floor next to the office of the MOC Director (25m2). If preferable, the sharing of the MOC director's office by OD might be an alternative, ensuring excellent communication.
Forecast Centre: This will be also within the AustroControl-compound at the ground floor, opposite the MOC SD-office.
The General Assembly/Briefing room: at the student hostel is located on the ground floor and has dimensions of approximately 15x10m2. There is 24h-access for all residents at the hostel and daytime access for all other participants.
The terminal room for work groups at the student hostel is located in a quiet courtyard, sheltered from the hustle of the hostel and airport traffic and has approximately 50m2. There will be around 15 desks for workstations. Due to an increased demand for workstation placement, some 5-10 workstations could be placed in the General Assembly room, separated by a mobile dividing wall. Some 5-8 rooms in the hostel will be equipped with high-speed network access to the MOC-net using the TV-cables into the room, the other rooms may use the telephone for internet-access. This will require an account and will be somewhat slower than the MOC-net, and is envisaged for occasional downloading of information from home institutions, e-mail etc.
Phones and faxes: The MOC forecast office will be equipped with an open telephone link. All users of the terminal room will have access to telephones there upon opening an account with the hostel management. It is advised to use your personal commercial phone accounts (such as AT&T, Bell, Visaphone, Mercury etc.) for all international and overseas calls as telephone rates in Austria are still higher than most US and many European companies rates.
For OD/SD/FC arrangements will be made to have a phone account for their office phones. Key staff will also have access to a limited number of mobile phones for calls to each other and local calls; these will be accessible from any outside phone. A deal is being negotiated with a cellphone operator using dual-band phones (900/1800MHz). Anybody needing a cellphone is encouraged to use the same company since calls within an operator's network are much cheaper than calls between different companies' networks. Do not bring your own national cellphone, since each call would be billed as an international one.
Numbers for the fax units at the MOC forecast office and communal office (secretariat) will be published as soon as lines have been established.
PC/workstations :All research groups and aircraft operators are expected to bring their own workstations. A MOC technician will assist in the hook-up to the local networks/internet. Please allow ample time for this work, as things are bound to become hectic prior to the start of the SOP!
Copiers: A3-size black-and-white copiers can be used with an account card at the student and at the ACG offices in immediate vicinity to the administrative offices. Additional copiers can be rented for groups, provided there is a timely request to the secretariat. Several commercial copy shops within a 3km-radius offer colour copy services.
Rental Cars: An arrangement has been concluded with the local FIAT dealership for long- term-rental cars on a monthly basis. The approximate monthly rates are 700 Euros for a 5- seater Punto (small-intermediate), 850 Euros for the intermediate 6-seater Multipla, and 1000 Euros for the 8-seater Minivan Ulysse. These rates include all taxes, unlimited mileage and CDW. These rates are approximately 50% below normal tariffs. Interested groups please contact the MOC secretary, Harald Schellander, before May 1, 1999.
Meal Vouchers: It is planned to provide meal vouchers for a number of nearby restaurants and cafes at a fixed cost. They can be purchased from the secretariat upon arrival.
Security: All participants requiring access to the non-public areas of the Airport, including the ACG tract of the building, will need an ID card to be worn visibly at all times. Please allow approximately one day for the production of these cards by the Airport Security Manager, Mr. H. Wilhelm. Only aircraft flight and maintenance crews have access to the airfield at any time. Crew and on-board scientists need to pass customs on departure and return from any international flight.
Access to administrative offices is strictly limited to persons on MAP business only, as they have to pass through ACG private areas.
Access to the general assembly room at the student hostel will be open during daytime, but wearing a MAP name-tag may be required. Groups with a workstation in the terminal room will be given access keys and are responsible for any loss or damage to their and/or MOC equipment and installations.
Innsbruck and the airport are very safe areas; normal precautions for valuables apply as in any other place. A police station is in the same building as the administrative offices. There is no military sector at the airport so that no limitations in terms of free movement, photography etc. are in force.
Storage: Storage of equipment other than data processing hardware needs to be arranged with commercial companies. The official handling agent for air freight and storage at the airport is Schenker & Co AG tel. +43-512-22521-0, fax: +43-512-282125.
Since a complicated exam is required to use radio communications for any frequency other than the CB-band, we discourage the idea of using individual radio links other than those already present in aircraft. A special MAP-VHF communications frequency (136.8MHz) is currently being reserved in all participating countries. We are considering the use of AustroControl aerials installed at the Zugspitz Observatory (3000m) and point-to-point radio channels to relay this frequency to the operations facilities, but are awaiting confirmation from the relevant authorities. For brief messages between ground and research planes, the air traffic control staff at Innsbruck airport would be prepared to act as ‘relay’ using the approach frequency.
All aircraft operators flying in Austrian airspace need third party liability cover through an insurance company registered in Austria. For operators having difficulty meeting this requirement (government regulations) we suggest to obtain a pro-forma covering letter from an insurance company that has a contract with the respective government authorities. This regulation ensures that anyone suffering damage can obtain compensation through national courts of law rather than having to litigate with a foreign government. In particular, those operators wishing to use dropsondes are strongly advised to arrange for such a pro-forma cover.
For vehicles brought into the EU, please make sure you obtain sufficient cover if your stay exceeds 30 days! (Green card or similar). There are serious problems to get Swiss-registered rent cars into EU and therefore Austrian territory without having to pay import duties. You may contact Schenker & Co for detailed information on customs formalities.
Anyone entering the airfield would be strongly advised to take out personal liability insurance with adequate cover (think of an Airbus A300 running off the taxiway because you disregarded instructions!).
For health insurance, EU citizens are usually covered under state treaty for any unavoidable treatment cost. Please request the relevant forms from your employer/insurer. Non-EU-citizens, please check that your insurance covers costs for treatment abroad including a possible transfer back home (there are ambulance jets at the airport). Daily costs at the (excellent!) University Hospital at Innsbruck are in excess of 300Euro/day excluding medication and fees for surgery.
