1NOTES FROM THE THIRD FORMAL COORDINATED ENERGY AND WATER-CYCLE OBSERVATIONSPROJECT (CEOP) TELECONFERENCE ON ASIA-PACIFIC-AUSTRALIA REGIONAL HYDROCLIMATEPROJECTS AND REFERENCE SITE ISSUES HELD ON
23 JUNE 2009
FIRST DRAFT, 13 October 20091.

INTRODUCTION

The 3rd Asia-Pacific-Australia RHP and Reference Sites Teleconference related to the CoordinatedEnergy and Water-Cycle Observations Project (CEOP) took place on Tuesday 23 June 2009 at 05:00 UTC.
The issues that were discussed on the subject conference call included:(i)

Special Announcements: (a) Calendar of upcoming calls, (b) Plans for Third Annual meeting (19 –21 August 2009) and (c) GEWEX/iLEAPS Science Conference (24-29 August 2009) both at
Melbourne, Australia,: Benedict/Koike(ii)

On-going Requests to Reference Site managers: (a) Reference Site satellite scene center (250km
x 250km square area around the site) (b) Elevation of the MOLTS points (site stations) – pleasereconfirm/provide the information of elevation of the sites/stations – (needed by the Model group):
Current status of the CEOP Reference Site data archive, in particular sites located in Asia andAustralia is at: (http://data.eol.ucar.edu/master_list/?project=CEOP/EOP-3/4) and the document
distributed earlier (CEOP_Phase2_51refsite.xls) were used as reference for this task.

(iii)

Individual Reference Site Documentation Review: Documentation for all Reference sites must be
discussed and reviewed.

(iv)

RHP/Reference Site data providers/managers reports – update on past activities and perspectives
with respect to CEOP

List of Participants
1. Hirohiko Ishikawa (Japan, Tibet site representative)
2. Tsing-Chang (Mike) Chen (Iowa, Northern South China Sea - Southern Japan site representative)
3. Toshio Koike (Japan, CEOP Co-Chair)
4. Katsunori Tamagawa (Japan, CEOP Asia Reference Site Data Manager)
5. Wu Zhang (China, Lanzhou site representative)
6. Hironori Yabuki (Japan, Eastern Siberian Tundra, Eastern Siberian Taiga, Mongol Arvayheer, Mongol
Nalaikh sites representative)
7. Hideyuki Kamimera (Japan, Central Vietnam site and Western Maritime Continent sites representative)
8. Toru Terao (Japan, Northeast Bangladesh site)
9. Kenichi Ueno (Japan, Tsukuba site representative)
10. Jun Asanuma (Japan, Northern Mongolia site representative)
11. Manabu D. Yamanaka (Japan, Western Maritime Continent, Central Maritime Continent, Eastern
12. Masatoshi Aoki (Japan, Chao-Phraya River, North-East Thailand sites representative)
13. Feng Jianwu (China, Tongyu site – on behalf of Liu Huizhi)
14. Steve Williams (USA, Data WG Co-Chair)
15. Elisa Vuillermoz (Italy, Himalayas, Karakorum and Alps and Apennines site representative)
16. Gianni Tartari (Italy, Himalayas, Karakorum and Alps and Apennines site representative)
17. Mingguo Ma and Rui Jin (China, Heihe River Basin site representatives)
18. Jason Evans (Australia, MDB Site Representative)
19. Hisayuki Kubota (Japan, Western Pacific Ocean site representative)
20. Fadli Syamsudin (Western Indonesia, Central Indonesia, Eastern Indonesia, Northern Indonesia,
Southern Indonesia sites representative)
21.Tetsu Ohta (Japan, CEOP Asia Reference Site Data Manager
22. Sam Benedict (Japan, CEOP International Coordination Function)

2
Could Not Participate
1. Lei Huimin (China, Downstream of the Yellow River site representative)
2. Ichirow Kaihotsu (Japan, Mongolia site representative)
3. Masatoshi Aoki (Japan, Chao-Phraya River, North-East Thailand sites representative)
4. Shigenori Haginoya (Japan, Tibet site representatives)
5. Tetsuo Ohata (Japan, Eastern Siberian Tundra, Eastern Siberian Taiga, Mongol Arvayheer, Mongol
Nalaikh sites representative)
6. Jun Matsumoto (Japan, Northeast Bangladesh site and Central Vietnam site representative)
7. Ming-Cheng Yen (Taiwan, Northern South China Sea - Southern Japan site representative)
8. Gombo Davaa (Mongolia, Northern Mongolia site and Mongolia site representative)
9. Ryuichi Shirooka (Japan, Western Pacific Ocean site representative)
10. Xin Li (China, Heihe River Basin site representative)
11. Jianping Huang (China, Lanzhou site representative)
12. Dawen Yang (China, Downstream of the Yellow River site representative)
13. Lei Huimin (China, Downstream of the Yellow River site representative)
14. Shigenori Haginoya (Japan, Tibet site representatives)
15. Jun-Ichi Hamada (Japan, Western Indonesia, Central Indonesia, Eastern Indonesia, NorthernIndonesia, Southern Indonesia sites representative)
16. Liu Huizhi (China, Tongyu site representative)
2.

NEXT CONFERENCE CALL

The next, 4th CEOP Asia-Pacific-Australia RHP and Reference Sites Teleconference is
proposed to take place on Wednesday 21 October 2009 at 05:00 UTC, which is a change from thepreviously announced date of 6 October 2009 noted in the CEOP Calls Calendar Revision 3. Please see
the attached latest version (Rev-4) of the CEOP Calendar for the latest listing of dates for future CEOP
Conference Calls. Benedict has the action (A1) to inform the group of the details of the next call nearer tothe time of the call and to coordinate the origination of the call.
3.

CEOP AND CEOP DATA GROUP GENERAL ISSUES

3.1 Opening(3.1a) Koike introduced the plans for the upcoming CEOP Third Annual meeting that was planned for 1921 August, 2009.
Three other issues were discussed:(3.1b) It was confirmed that the list of names of the he reference sites that make up the CEOP_AP datagroup in the CEOP in-situ database at NCAR/EOL would be “standardized” with agreement of all theparticipants. That list is included below for a final verification. All participants have action A2 to commenton the list lf they wish to make any additions, deletions or corrections to what has been presented here.
Table 1: CEOP_AP REFERENCE SITES NAMING CONVENTION
Current Name

Proposed New NameCentral Maritime ContinentCentral Vietnam
Chao Phraya River
Downstream of the Yellow River
Eastern Maritime Continent
Heihe River Basin
Himalayas
Lanzhou
Mongol Arvayheer
Mongol Nalaikh
Mongolia
Northeast Bangladesh
Northeast Thailand
Northern Mongolia

Central Indonesia
Central Vietnam
Chao Phraya River
Lower Yellow River
Eastern Indonesia
Heihe River Basin
Himalayas
Lanzhou
Mongolia Arvayheer
Mongolia Nalaikh
Mongolia
Northeast Bangladesh
Northeast Thailand
Northern Mongolia

3Northern Maritime Continent
Northern South China Sea –Southern Japan (NSCSSJ)
Pakistan
Eastern Siberian Taiga
Eastern Siberian Tundra
Southern Maritime Continent
Tibet
TongyuTsukuba
Western Maritime Continent(formerly Equatorial Island)Western Pacific Ocean

Northern Indonesia
Northern South China Sea –Southern Japan (NSCSSJ)
Pakistan Karakorum
Eastern Siberian Taiga
Eastern Siberian Tundra
Southern Indonesia
Tibet
TongyuTsukuba
Western Indonesia
Western Pacific Ocean(3.1c) Prof T. Koike reported the outcome of efforts to standardize meta-data and descriptive
documentation utilized in CEOP. Efforts have been underway in CEOP and related initiatives to attempt
to review standard protocols such as ISO-90115 to determine their suitability for application in CEOP or to
introduce modifications to such protocols to provide for a standard to be used in CEOP for all the
documentation and meta-data provided in conjunction with the data sets themselves. The status of thiseffort was to be provided as part of Koike’s presentation at the 3rd Annual CEOP Meeting 19-21 August
2009 at Melbourne, Australia. Details will be further described at the time of the next call.
(3.1d) Updates from the CEOP_AP data center at Tokyo, Japan provided in an email prior to the time of thecall Katsunori Tamagawa. These included that Version 1.10c is a new version of the CEOP raw data
uploading system. On this version 1.10c, the system corresponds to a file format of "MS Excel", "zip" and"rar". Some issues that were uncovered while previously uploading various raw datasets have also been
fixed in this new version.
A revised "Data Upload IF Users Guide" was also provided with this announcement. In it, theupdated points have been highlighted in "yellow ". It is felt that this user's guide will help the data uploading
process.
The guide will be linked to the top page of the Upload IF at: http://dias-d.tkl.iis.utokyo.ac.jp/CEOP/upload/. All participants have the action A3 to review this newly updated users guideand provide Tamagawa with any questions and comments on the noted updates.
4.

Status and Update of the CEOP Reference Site Data Archive: RHP and Reference Site
Reports

4.1 Written Site Reports
The Following written reports were sent in by both persons who were not able to participate directly in thecall and by those who did participate in the call but also provided their reports in written form. The list ofparticipants and of those who could not participate are provided in Item 1. above.
(4.1a) Lanzhou: Jianping Huang/Jisen Shi
It was reported that the Lanzhou site had data ready for uploading for the period 2006-2008. There
are still some operational/technical issues related to the process for upload of the data to the CEOP
database but more importantly there were other policy matters that needed to be addressed before the data
could be put into the CEOP database for sharing with the CEOP and the broader community. The China
Meteorological Administration (CMA) has never formally become part of CEOP in the sense that it has not
fully accepted the sharing of data from sites in China through the CEOP data management system.
It was confirmed that regarding the agreement for Prof Koike to discuss release of data from the
China Reference sites with the CMA director, Dr. Yu Racong, such a talk had taken place and there was atentative agreement for the Dr Yu Racong to contact each reference site representative individually. Eachsite representative was asked to anticipate the contact from the CMA Director in due course.
In this respect as noted above and as reported by Wu Zhang, at the time of the call, that the data
observed at Lanzhou site was available and only needed a final approval from the CMA Director for it to bereleased and submitted to CEOP.
(4.1b) Tibet

4Prof. Hu at CAREERI of Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues retrieved data fromseveral Tibetan sites from 20-25 April 2009. They also did some adjustments and repairs at the site. Achange in the measurement configuration was made so that the turbulent sensors were pulled down to 3.2
meter height from 20 m. This was done for the purpose of easier maintenance and for provision of a bettersite “footprint”. Additionally, this change will allow for better consistency with land surface measurements.
A problem was noted where the solar power system of the BJ super site was covered by abnormalsnow accumulation and the system lost power after January 20, 2009. The power system was restarted on
April 27, 2009 and has been working well since that time. Consideration is now being given to using acommercial power supply, which is now available.
(4.1c)

Tibet (West) site: Shigenori Haginoya

Data were not upload from this station to the CEOP website as hoped because of errors discoveredin the dataset. These errors are being corrected and when completed the data will be uploaded aspreviously planned. No new data have been collected since the time of the previous conference call.
(4.1d) MDB: Jason Evans
The Murrumbidgee surface meteorology and soil temperature/moisture data has been updated
through 2007. A change in the variance of the Tumbarumba flux data was discovered (probably associatedwith a change in the gap-filling technique used) and is being investigated before more data is submitted.
(4.1e) Tsukuba:Ken’ichi Ueno
Based on comments from the CEOP data archive group, it was noted that all the Tsukuba
referencesite
data
during2007-08
are
ready
to
upload,from:
http://www.geoenv.tsukuba.ac.jp/~ceoptsukuba/data/data_access.html.
The data with dlag "U" waschecked, and flux data at the paddy rice field in 2007 were added through the special efforts of Dr. Miyata.
Data at Staukuba site duriing 2007-2008 are available for access through the Internet Page at:
http://www.geoenv.tsukuba.ac.jp/~ceoptsukuba/. The CEOP Data Management function has checked thecontents and discovered formatting problems. The data have being rechecked by the providers and will be
resubmitted. Information about the station will be provided by the station manager and sent to the CEOP
data management group. Efforts are also underway to improve problems discovered with the site
information as it appears on the CEOP Home page.
(4.1f)

Northeast Bangladesh: Toru Tearo:

At this site in Sylhet, only a raingage is being maintained not an AWS. This rainguage data aredownloaded two or three times in a year. The next visit to Sylhet will be in August 2009. Data will be
uploaded in September after being quality checked. Some AWS units have been installed in Bangladesh.
However, these are controlled under a joint project with an international research institute, ICDDR,B. Thismay make it difficult to provide this data in the proposed 6 month period after it is collected.

(4.1g) 5 Indonesian sites: M. D. Yamanaka, F. Syamsudin, Hamada J.-I. and H. Kamimera
After the 2nd CEOP reference site call it was decided to use the following naming convention forthe sites in this region (see Table 1 above):- Western Indonesia (Kototabang and MIA stations, since Oct. 2006)- Central Indonesia (Pontianak station, since Mar. 2008)- Southern Indonesia (Serpong station, since Feb. 2008)- Northern Indonesia (Manado station, since Jan. 2009)- Eastern Indonesia (Biak station, since Feb. 2008)
Raw data for 2007 have been collected from the automatic weather station at the MIA(Minangkabau International Airport) site in Western Indonesia (VAISALA MAWS201, 1 minute data logging
for surface air temperature, relative humidity, pressure, sun radiation, wind speed/direction andprecipitation). These have been formatted into 30 minute averaged values following a process designed toeliminate unrealistic values.

5
The data were uploaded at: http://dias-d.tkl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/CEOP/upload/ and the data will then be
submitted for processing on through the QC system of the University of Tokyo for data quality control afterconverting original data format to the QC system format. This process should be completed by the end of
July. This would allow the data to be submitted to NCAR EOL for final checking and archiving.
(4.1h) Palau-Western Pacific Ocean: Hisayuki Kubota
Observation data was collected up to June 2009. The AWS dataset for 2007 for Palau has beenformatted into 30 minute averaged values following a process designed to eliminate unrealistic values.
These have been sent on to the University of Tokyo for application of their QC system. More work is being
done to continue the process of arranging the new data into the CEOP data format. It is hoped this can becompleted by the end of July 2009.
(4.1i)

Central Vietnam: J. Matsumoto and H. Kamimera

Measurements and logged data from the Da Nang AWS in Central Vietnam has been collected
since October 2008. Transfer of this data to Ha Noi and Japan began in March 2009. Surface
meteorological data composed of 7 elements sampled at a 1-minute interval has continued logging locally,
but the data transfer to the remote locations at both Ha Noi and Japan has recently been stopped due to an
unstable connection at the ADSL. Therefore, at the time of the call the data were no longer able to becollected remotely in real time. The key investigators planned to visit Da Nang possibly in September, which
is at a time just before the beginning of rainy season. At that time, the locally collected data will be retrieved
an an attempt will be made to re-start automatic data transfer process.
(4.1j)

Mongolia Arvayheer and Nalaikh, Eastern Siberian Taiga and Tundra: Hironori Yabuki- Mongolia Arvayheer
This station has been closed since May 2009 due to limited funding to support its continued operation. The
data available up to April 2009 will be updated in the archive.
- Mongolia Nalaikh:
At the time of the call, this station was undergoing maintenance, which is expected to be successfullycompleted by the time of the next reporting period.
-Eastern Siberian Taiga
The station has been operating properly and data available from it were collected in early June for further
processing and format conversion for handling on the QCIF system and submittal to the CEOP archive indue course.
-Eastern Siberian Tundra
The station has been operating properly and measurements made there were collected in early June forfurther processing and format conversion for handling on the QCIF system and submittal to the CEOP
archive in the near future.
(4.1k)

Mongolia site: Ichirow Kaihotsu:

Ground-based monitoring of the water cycle by three AWS and eleven ASSH (Automatic Station for Soil
Hydrology) were continuing. At the time of the call, efforts were still underway to compare some old sensor
data with data from newer sensors that were installed this year.
(4.1l)

Northern Mongolia: Jun Asanuma

Currently the observation at the site, Kherlen Bayan Ulaan, is going well. The data are currently
undergoing a quality control process. The quality check scheme that is being applied is one that has beenused by the Fluxnet community, and if it is successful data for the period starting January 2007 throughJanuary 2009 will be submitted by the next reporting period. Meta-data will be also submitted with the data.
(4.1m) Northern South China Sea - Southern Japan site: Mike Chen
Because it was under the influence of an “aging” La Nina last (08/09) winter, the weather activity inthe vicinity of Taiwan was weakened. Although the weather development was monitored at this site, thesecond phase of the Winter Rainfall Field Experiment between southern Japan and Taiwan was not6undertaken. The first phase of the field experiment between central Vietnam and Philippine, wasaccomplished. Because of the unusual development of the cross-Pacific winter short-wave train over SE
Asia, a cold surge vortex was steered by the anomalous anticyclonic flow to reach northern Vietnam. An
unprecedant heavy rainfall event occurred at Hanoi on 10/30/08. A plan has been developed to expand thesecond phase of the winter field experiment. The site team is hoping to include more components of tropical
SE Asia, particularly the impact of East Asian cold surges on the regional severe weather development, in
addition to the originally planned component between southern Japan and Taiwan. The science plans ofdifferent components over SE Asia were completed and the implementation plans of these components areunderway. It is hoped they will be in place by the time of the next reporting period.
4.2 Site Reports Obtained From The Oral Discussion or From Other Sources (e.g. Internet/Personal)
The Following reports were either provided by persons who were able to participate directly in thecall or information was obtained by way of the Internet or through other sources. The accounts for each site
listed in this section are based on notes taken by Benedict during the oral discussions or obtained later byother means. They must, therefore, be considered a very rough draft of the exact information provided byeach site representative during the call. The information presented by the participants is greatly
appreciated and everyone feels they benefit from the oral discussion but as noted in item 4.1 above brief
written summaries provided in advance of the call will always be a very good way to assist with andstimulate the oral discussion and will also be an excellent way of ensuring accuracy of the call report andthe actions noted in that report. In the future, therefore, brief written summaries will be asked for inadvance of the call from ALL participants as well as from those who are unable to participate.
As noted above Benedict has accepted action A4 to communicate with the site representatives at
the time of the planning for the next call to ask all participants to submit brief written status reports
prior to the conference call itself. This will allow for a more efficient organization and implementation of
the call. All members of this Group who are responsible for site management/operations should be
prepared near the time of the next call to undertake action A4a to submit brief WRITTEN status
reports.
(4.2a) Tibet (West) site
As noted previously the site name: Western Tibet is Gaize - Gaize station is installed in the field of
meteorological observatory for easy maintenance and safety. The site which is part of the JICA Project
collects the data monthly and sends it to Japan through CAMS (Chinese Academy of Meteorological
Sciences, Beijing) with a delay of up to several months.
At the time of the call, the observations were continuing.
(4.2b) Chao-Phraya River, North-East Thailand sites
Efforts have been taken to repair some sensors that were previously reported to be in need ofupgrading. This work has been taking place as efficiently as possible under the circumstance of reduced
budgets. The effort to upgrade the site and continue the data collection was considered to be very
commendable, especially the support obtained in this year from the Kasetsart University in Thailand.
Future visits are planned to take place on a regular basis during 2009 and collection andprocessing of the data will continue in concert with the site visits.
(4.2c) Himalayas, Karakorum
As previously reported the Himalayas sites data were being processed at NCAR/EOL andcommunication between the site representatives and the CEOP Data Management Group are continuing toensure this data is properly handled and formatted for entry into the CEOP database. Action was taken tohave letters sent to the site managers for the other sites in this group so that the data can be provided to
CEOP. The data should be forthcoming during the next reporting period.
(4.4.d) Tongyu
The status of the data from Tongyu remained consistent with the report provided at the time of the last call.
At the time of the previous call all data sets from Tongyu had been put into the CEOP NOAA/EOL databasethat had been completed through 2004. Work continued on those data and additional progress is expected
to be reported in the next reporting period;

7(4.4e) Yellow River
Yang could not attend the call but had earlier reported that data were available from thissite for the period March 2005 to the present. All the instruments have been running well during the entire
period. Work to get the data readied for the CEOP database has gone on in concert with UT data systemgroup and progress in this respect has been made since the last reporting period. However, as with
Lanzhou the Yellow River site sharing of the data must be approved for distribution through the CEOP data
management system. As noted in item (4.1a), it was confirmed that regarding the agreement for Prof Koike
to discuss release of data from the China Reference sites with the CMA director, Dr. Yu Racong, such a talk
had taken place and there was a tentative agreement for the Dr Yu Racong to contact each reference site
representative individually. Each site representative affected by this situation was asked to anticipate thecontact from the CMA Director in due course.
(4.4f) Huihe River BasinAs reported earlier, this site includes 4 stations that were installed in different land cover areas atboth the upper and lower reaches of the basin. Some sites have data only from 2007 on ward but somesites have data extending back to 2005. The process is underway for the collected data to be checked forerrors and converted into the CEOP format. It is expected that this work can be accomplished by the timeof the next call.
5.

CLOSING

Koike acknowledged the participants for attending the call and providing their valuable contributions,comments and suggestions.