The publication of the Special Issue of the QJRMS at the beginning of 2003 is clearly marking a new milestone in the life of MAP.
The MAP steering committee met after the MAP meeting in Brig and discussed various issues. Noteworthy, the MSC decided to publish the entire MAP reanalysis of ECMWF on its internet site, and to encourage use of these new data within the MAP community. Innovative work on data assimilation at the mesoscale is also made possible by the release of the BUFR-formatted observation files, and this is very much encouraged. The correction of the dry bias of some radiosondes (RS) is also progressing well, and the MSC decided that the original and bias-corrected RS data will be transferred to the MAP Internet site. We also discussed how to ensure a smooth transition of the MAP Data Centre from ETH to MeteoSwiss.
An important discussion took place on the future of MAP. It was decided to pursue three lines of actions. First, a panel chaired by R. Smith and H. Volkert will organize a thorough assessment of the MAP results, with the help of all Working Group chairs. A series of publications and possibly a special conference will then be organized to draw formal conclusions. Second, the feasibility of a "forecast demonstration project" will be explored by a task group. The idea is to build a multi-model ensemble at the non-hydrostatic, meso-gamma scale, and to use this in real time to issue probabilistic predictions of intense rainfall in the Alpine area. The key point here is to select end-users ready to use and assess these experimental predictions. Third, a series of prospective workshops in mountain meteorology will be organized in conjunction with upcoming conferences. These will be largely open outside the MAP community. New ideas will emerge from this process.
This editorial is a nice occasion for me to say good bye to MAP. As many of you know, I have been recently appointed Head of the Research Department at ECMWF. These new duties are not compatible with a strong involvement in MAP and I have decided to withdraw from my position as chair of the MSC. My involvement in MAP dates from the very first workshop in ETH, Zurich, in 1994. At this workshop, we discussed all sorts of motivations and possibilities to launch a new big program in Alpine meteorology. On a very short notice (2 minutes!) I was offered by Huw Davies to chair a panel on the timing and objectives of the field phase. I was fortunate enough to lead the panel to some sort of consensus, which actually, believe it or not, was quite close to what the SOP really became. Later on, I was offered to chair the Scientific Committee of MAP for 3 years. I enjoyed it so much that I volunteered for two additional terms, spending 9 years of my life heavily committed to this program. This has been a very exciting and rewarding experience for me, and I will never forget some key instants of the SOP. We have achieved a very significant progress in mountain meteorology and small scale NWP. The MAP community is strong and ready for more: I wish you all the best of luck!Philippe Bougeault
