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RATIONALE

Dear friends, colleagues and collaborators:

I’m very pleased to announce an AERONET centric workshop to address most phases of operational, research and collaborative research activities (attached preliminary agenda) hosted by our collaborators at the El Arenosillo site on the south Atlantic coast of Spain (see attached Powerpoint for logistical info) May 10 to 14, 2004. The workshop will be conducted primarily by the AERONET (Goddard) and PHOTONS (Lille) staff. As the week long jamboree will treat a diversity of topics we certainly expect most attendees to participate only for the days addressing their interests and needs.

The meeting is organized sequentially to provide:

1. An overview of the project by AERONET and PHOTONS staff
2. Regional and global scale aerosol research activities with an AERONET flavor
3. Poster session emphasizing small scale research, applied and operational issues but any issues and topics are welcome
4. Operational sessions emphasizing maintenance processing and calibration
   

Most importantly we want all of the diversity of the technicians, PIs, collaborators and research community investigators that make up the ‘greater’ AERONET program to be recognized, appreciated and to understand the tremendous data base and research opportunities they have created over the past decade of observations. As the program continues to grow and tax the limits of our resources, we can use this as an opportunity to become more efficient in our operational program and more responsive to the scientific communities needs for assessing man’s and natures particulate perturbations on the environment.

Our intention is to keep this workshop relatively small, focused and everyone actively engaged according to the following plan:

• Day one will be overview presentations by AERONET and PHOTONS staff specifically to the AERONET external review committee but everyone will be encouraged to attend. Operations thru Research.
• Day two emphasizes global and regional research topics by invitation and solicitation covering satellites, modeling, field campaigns and synergism with other programs.
• Day three begins the interactive workshop with parallel operational and inversion issues sessions. The afternoon will be a poster session and informal discussions. The steering committee will have an opportunity to provide an assessment of the program in the evening session before dinner.
• Day four will address the extremely important calibration, data processing and data access issues.
• Day five if we’re still standing will address the little issues that are fundamental to making the project work, utilizing the web page for data and operational instrument health assessment, customs clearances, shipping, cloud screening and venting complaints or offering suggestions.
  

This workshop is being held in the south of Spain to facilitate European, African and Asian participation and emphasize the importance of those regions to the program and the research community. I’ll provide more details and reminders as the workshop plans develop and time draws near. The workshop is largely by invitation but please feel free to alert your colleagues to this. If you plan to attend, please drop an email to Amy Scully (ascully@ltpmailx.gsfc.nasa.gov) and let her know if you wish to make an oral presentation, and/or poster. I’m expecting perhaps 75 participants but it’s only a guess so if there is a significant deviation from that we need to know early.

All the best to everyone this holiday season. Happy New Year! ¡Hasta luego!