The Suomi NPP OMPS LP Science Team is pleased to announce the release of Version 2 (V2) ozone and aerosol profile data products from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite. These products consist of daily files containing individual ozone profiles (0-60 km altitude range) and aerosol extinction coefficient profiles (0-40 km altitude range). OMPS LP measurements began in January 2012, and continue to the present (August 2014). Level 1 gridded radiance (L1G) orbital data sets are also available. All data files and supporting documents are available at the NASA OzoneAQ web:

http://ozoneaq.gsfc.nasa.gov/omps

These documents provide an initial evaluation of the V2 product data quality. More detailed information will be provided on the website as they become available. Preliminary results indicate that below 25 km, LP profile ozone data quality is comparable to MLS and SAGE, and significantly better than nadir profiling instruments such as SBUV, OMI, GOME and AIRS. However, above 25 km there are some known data quality issues in the V2 product that are discussed in the Data Release Notes document. The LP aerosol extinction coefficient data quality compares well with concurrent data sets from CALIPSO, GOMOS, and OSIRIS.

Contact person:
Matthew DeLand

The July issue of the SPARC newsletter is in print and will be sent to subscribers within the next week. Find its digital version at

http://www.aparc-climate.org/publications/newsletter/

Find the SPARC Annual Report 2013 at

http://www.aparc-climate.org/publications/programme-plans/.

SPARC is inviting the wider community including participants from the SPARC General Assembly 2014 to help shaping the SPARC Capacity Development activity.

Find more information and link to survey.

From 14-26 May, the Kelud Ash Experiment (KLAsh) will make measurements of the volcanic plume from the Mt. Kelud (Indonesia) using balloon-borne instruments.

The experiment consists of the University of Wyoming’s Optical Particle Counter, together with instruments that measure aerosol optical properties, ozone, and meteorological variables up to 30 km in altitude. The aim is to better characterize particle sizes and optical properties from a relatively fresh volcanic plume in the stratosphere. Mt. Kelud last erupted on 13 February 2014 and replaced lava dome with 400 meters diameter crater with 30 to 50 meters depth. The measurement campaign will provide valuable data for the SPARC activity on stratospheric sulfur (find more information on the SSiRC activity).

The data from the GASS-YoTC (GEWEX Global Atmospheric System Science, GASS, and Year of Tropical Convection, YoTC) Vertical Structure and Physical Processes Multi-model Experiment is highly suitable for detailed model-based, physical-process studies of a wide range of weather and climate phenomena.

Find data access and more information on the experimental framework, contributing models etc.

Dr David Carlson, oceanographer and former Director of the Project Office for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 will take up his duty as Director of the World Climate Research Programme secretariat in Geneva as off June 2014.

Find full announcement.

ESA is inviting young researchers to apply for a fellowship in the context of Earth Observation, Earth science and Climate research.

Find more information.

The large international Conference organised by the German Helmholtz Association will take place on 6-9 October 2014 in Berlin, Germany. Submit abstract before 30 May.

Find website.

Climate modelers and scientists from around the world are invited to help improve the next generation of Coupled Model Intercomparisons and submit their comments before 15 September 2014.

Since 1995, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) has coordinated climate model experiments involving multiple international modeling teams. Through CMIP, climate modelers and scientists from around the world have analyzed and compared state-of-the-art climate model simulations to gain insights into the processes, mechanisms, and consequences of climate variability and climate change. This has led to a better understanding of past, present, and future climate, and CMIP model experiments have routinely been the basis for future climate change assessments made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

An initial design for CMIP6 has now been developed (Meehl et al., EOS, 2014) that is open for comments from the community until 15 September 2014. This includes a small set of experiments to be routinely performed by modeling groups whenever they develop a new model version. The output from these so-called ongoing CMIP Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima (DECK) experiments will be distributed for community use via the ESGF infrastructure. Other Model Intercomparison Projects (MIPs) will build on the CMIP DECK experiments and augment them to address a broad range of scientific questions. Additionally proposed MIP experiments together with the CMIP DECK experiments will constitute the suite of simulations for the next phase of CMIP.

MIPs are now invited to request endorsement for the next phase of CMIP (i.e., CMIP6). A CMIP6-Endorsed MIP may propose that a subset or even all of their experiments be included as part of the suite of simulations constituting CMIP6, see further information in the template for these applications which is available on the CMIP Panel website. This website also lists the current active MIPs under ‘Catalogue of MIPs’. The co-chairs of these MIPs have been informed by the CMIP Panel and WGCM co-chairs that the application for CMIP6-Endorsed MIPs is now open.