FOREWORD

 

Welcome to the 13^thSymposium onMeteorological Observations and Instrumentation Symposium (SMOI)

 

 We are pleased to hold this conference jointly with the 15^th AMS Conference on Applied Climatology and the American Association of State Climatologists (AASC) Annual Meeting.  This is the first time that these three groups have been organized under common themes.  The result is a collection of papers and presentations that is truly unprecedented, not only in the quality of the work but in the common threads that link the importance of high quality meteorological measurements and observations to understanding changes in our climate.

 

The meeting is organized around two broad themes. The first is "Monitoring the Climate.”  Sessions include a joint national and international session on climate networks with overviews of major national and international monitoring networks, reports on an ever-growing number of state and regional mesonets, and presentations on data quality assurance and metadata.  The highlight of this theme is a panel discussion entitled “Locating Observing Stations Where It Counts: What do We Have? What are We Missing?”. 

 

The second theme is concerned with examining the integration of observing systems as it pertains to climate change.  Extending ourselves in this way fosters increased linkages with collegues in related fields who do not formally participate in, and with the AMS in general.  This includes joint sessions on observing systems, quality control, metadata, and national and international networks.

 

We would like to thank Greg Johnson and Christopher Daly, David Robinson and Ken Crawford, representing the AASC, for their willingness to share their conferences with us, and for their time and energy in organizing this meeting.  We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Cara Christensen and the other staff at the AMS for their hard work, and above all, patience, in helping to arrange this conference.  Without their behind-the-scenes efforts the conference simply would not happen.

 

On behalf of the AMS Committee on Instrumentation and Observations and with best regards,

 

C. Bruce Baker, Chairman