E-SURFMAR Programme Management
Programme management responsibilities of the E-SURFMAR Programme rest with Meteo France. The Programme Management is assigned to Pierre Blouch.
E-SURFMAR management tasks are:
General Management
- ensure the responsibility for matters related to the organization of the programme, including its finances and cost limitations, external relations, deliverables and milestones;
- ensure that all components of the programme develop in harmony and in an efficient manner working in close consultation with the EUCOS Programme management team;
- prepare documents, reports and publications related to the E-SURFMAR programme: annual and status reports, programme proposals, etc. Maintain a website including a working area;
- regularly revise the network design study according to EUCOS objectives, data user’s requirements, contribution of the satellite observations, present technology and budget constraints;
- attend EUMETNET and EUCOS meetings (EUCOS-AG, EUCOS-PM, E-SAT, PB-OBS most especially);
- represent surface marine activities of EUCOS near organizations such as JCOMM, GOOS, WMO, ECMWF and EUMETSAT.
VOS Management
- prepare documents, reports and publications related to the VOS activities;
- maintain and manage a list of EUMETNET VOS ships (WMO Pub 47 format) thanks to information regularly provided by the national operators. Provide WMO with a consistent list on a quarterly basis;
- propose rules (allocation keys) to be used for the computation of compensations paid to participants for VOS observations and communications. Compute these compensations and ensure their payment after the rules are agreed by PB-OBS;
- monitor and control the quality of the VOS observations. Continuously control the performance of the VOS data in matter of availability, timeliness and quality;
- search any possible improvements to make VOS observations more efficient (better performances at a lower cost);
- promote the use of AWS and TurboWin aboard ships;
- purchase a few AWS systems each year. Co-ordinate their installation aboard suitable ships.
- attend the JCOMM/SOT and PMO meetings.
Data Buoy Management
- prepare documents, reports and publications related to the data buoys;
- continue to maintain and manage the EGOS drifting buoy metadata-base until it is transferred in a format and to a location agreed so that the data can be accessed via the Web by all the DBCP community, thereafter it will be necessary to keep the new DBCP meta-database up to date;
- organize the insertion (or deletion) of drifting buoy data onto the GTS ;
- monitor buoy positions and corresponding deployment strategy, monitoring and quality control of the buoys - including reports on their performances (data availability, timeliness and quality);
- manage the buoy communications costs, mainly for drifting buoys from 2006;
- search any possible improvements to make the use of drifting buoys more efficient (better performances at a lower cost);
- arrange calls for tender and purchase of news drifting buoys, liase with the deployment centres, and arrange customs clearance for drifting buoys deliveries;
- ensure the moored buoys are working properly, and have contact with the operators;
- compute compensations for the maintenance of moored buoys and ensure their payment;
- present an annual report on the E-SURFMAR activities related to the data buoys to the DBCP, (as E-SURFMAR is an action group of DBCP);
- make proposals for new data buoy programmes to meet the requirements of marine meteorological and oceanographic data. The proposals will be reviewed by the E-SURFMAR Data Buoy Technical Advisory Group and recommendation will be sent to EUCOS and PB-OBS for decision;
- keep up to date with technical developments (scientific, engineering and operational matters) relating to data buoy programmes and co-ordinate the exchange of this information through E-SURFMAR Data Buoy Technical Advisory Group;
- attend the annual JCOMM/DBCP meeting.