Editorial

We are in the midst of the last phase, the Evaluation Phase, of MAP. This new focus of MAP affects the committee structure of MAP.
The "work-horse" committee of the Coordination and Implementation Group will be merged with the Scientific Steering Committee to form the MAP Steering Committee (MSC). A big thanks to all members for their input!
Also, MAP's "treasure chest", the MAP Data Centre (MDC) is getting fuller with data from the field phase every day. You can inform yourself about the status of MDC in this issue.
The MAP newsletter is coming of age! While teenagers at that stage proudly show their brand-new driver's license around, the newsletter shows off the ISSN number on its inside cover. Some librarians' headaches on how to file the MAP newsletter should now be over and done with.

Six years have gone by since the official launch of MAP in Bad Tölz. We provide space in this issue of the newsletter to take stock and see where we will be headed. What are the "new frontiers", the new developments brought about by MAP? Where have previous limitations been pushed back; which new roads have opened up (or will open up soon)? Into which direction(s) should mountain meteorology go? Philippe Bougeault, Bob Houze, and Christoph Schär give their point of view in three very diverse articles.

MAP has brought together people from many scientific disciplines and nations. Two groups have gained so much momentum within MAP that they are ready to start projects that extend the scope of MAP. These groups are the forecasters and the climatologists together with data providers. They present a short summary of the current status of the proposed MAC (Mesoscale Alpine Climate) and FACT (Forecasting in Alpine and Complex Terrain) projects.

The focus of our next issue will be the results of your work with the MAP data set as you present them at the MAP meeting in Bad Schliersee, May 14 - 16, 2001. Deviating from our procedure of the previous years, we will publish your extended abstracts immediately after the meeting. This way you will still have the chance to incorporate your very latest results, while the MAP community won't have to wait for several months to get them in written form. We urge you to use your chance to reach the whole MAP community by submitting your extended abstract (up to 4 pages) no later than May 8.

I am looking forward to an exciting MAP meeting in Schliersee,

Georg Mayr