This summer marked the first time the MAP Annual Meeting was held jointly with another conference. The joint nature of the AMS 10th Conference on Mountain Meteorology and the MAP Meeting 2002 offered a wonderful opportunity for the MAP community to see how their research complements that of other recent field programs focusing on orographically modified atmospheric flow. The synergy between MAP and these other programs was nicely illustrated by the invited talk given by Bob Houze in which he compared orographic precipitation in MAP and IMPROVE II, a field program that took place in the Oregon Cascades in late November and December of 2001. On the other hand, the joint nature of this meeting also presented some limitations, such as abstract deadlines that were much earlier than those for past MAP Meetings and higher registration fees, concerns that extend beyond the MAP community. The AMS Mountain Meteorology Committee has already initiated discussions on how they might be able to reduce the time between the abstract deadlines and the conference and ways to keep down the costs related to attending the next AMS Conference on Mountain Meteorology.
Given the timing of the initial abstract submission deadline (just a little over three months after Sep 11), we were pleasantly surprised to find almost 200 submissions, of which over a third were related to MAP. This overwhelming response meant our program committee had the challenging task of finding an optimal mix between oral and poster presentations that would fit all these exciting papers into 4.5 days. The submissions represented a diverse range of topics spanning from turbulent to planetary scales and from slope-valley flows to orographic precipitation. The diversity of the research being done within the MAP community was high-lighted by the fact that only a few of the conference sessions did not include at least one paper related to MAP. Although the week was jam-packed with conference sessions and working group meetings, we did manage to squeeze some time into the schedule for attendees to tour the Utah Olympic Park and a BBQ at a local park.
Another aspect of the meeting that I would like to high-light is the participation by students from the MAP community. I was delighted to see a good showing of students from the European community (as well as our US contingency!), despite the extra costs associated with overseas travel. The EMS student travel awards were a welcome addition that I hope EMS will be able to offer in the future. Attending a conference and being able to present your results to the community are a priceless opportunity for students! The caliber of research being done by the students from the MAP community was reflected by the fact that all three student paper awards (one for best oral and a tie for best poster) were received by students pursuing MAP-related research.
I am looking forward to hearing about the progress everyone has made on their data analysis and modeling work the next time the MAP community
gathers to present their new results at the joint ICAM / MAP Meeting 2003!
Louisa Bogar Nance
CIRES/NOAA/ETL, Boulder, CO
