The International TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) Working Group promotes global information exchange on meteorological and climatological use of sounder missions on low and geostationary Earth orbits.
Leads/Contacts
Co-Chair: Fiona Smith, Bureau of Meteorology, Australia
Co-Chair: Reima Eresmaa, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland
Mission Statement
ITWG aims to maximize the societal benefit of space-based sounding infrastructures through (1) bringing together users and data providers, (2) facilitating exchange of information on current and future programs and best practices to make use of them, (3) coordinating scientific research on meteorological and climatological use of the measurements, and (4) influencing future satellite programs by formulating recommendations and setting action items to space agencies and WMO.
Key Activities
- Organize International TOVS Study Conferences (ITSCs) once in every 18-24 months to exchange knowledge among operational and research users of passive sounder data
- Provide recommendations to guide the directions of future research and to influence relevant programs of WMO and other agencies (NASA, NESDIS, EUMETSAT)
- Foster and participate in the development of processing software that are shared throughout the community to enable use to be made of sounder data in operations and research
- Play an important role in education and training on the use of satellite data
Membership/Participation
Registration and attendance to the ITSC conferences are open to everyone. ITWG maintains a mailing list that anyone can join by sending a request via the ITWG website at https://itwg.ssec.wisc.edu/contact/
Website