We are closely collaborating with the University of São Paulo in research as well as education activities as part of the project. We have thus presented the key achievements of the last year of the research to their students in the form of a seminar on diffuse solar radiation modelling using artificial neural networks. The seminar also included a detailed presentation of the theory of multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks as universal approximators. The transfer of pattern recognition theories to the field of micrometeorology made the seminar all the more interesting, as the university aims to provide students with an interdisciplinary education. We conduct our seminars using modern video communication technologies. We also record lectures in the form of e-learning content that can be reused by the university.
D.10 Educational activities
COBISS.SI-ID: 28236071The department of the University of São Paulo with which we collaborate closely organised a one-week spring school for students of meteorology from the university and the wider area. The spring school featured renowned lecturers from the US and Europe. The university invited us to present the research we conducted as part of the project on the prediction of weather above São Paulo in a fine spatial and temporal resolution. We prepare operational forecasts of all the key meteorological parameters (including global solar radiation) that serve as a basis for the operational prediction of diffuse solar radiation. Our lecture also presented the complex procedures for the successful validation of forecasts using frequent radio sounding as part of their MCITY project. The results have also served as a basis for their further research, and a master’s thesis is currently in preparation. Operational NWP forecasts: http://www.meis.si/testbed/ We also prepare similar forecasts for the Antarctic, where Brazil runs a research station (http://www.meis.si/testbed/). This multilayered collaboration with the University of São Paulo is important to MEIS because it provides us with a better insight into the achievements of their renowned micrometeorological team. We also continuously collaborate in joint research activities on subjects that are also of considerable interest to their students. We are preparing a scientific article on the above-mentioned subject with the University of São Paulo.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 27397927We have also presented MEIS’s key research achievements to the Slovenian professional public in a lecture at the Slovenian Chamber of Engineers as part of a group dealing with the impact of industrial plants on the environment. The impact of industrial plants through atmospheric pollution is one of the key negative impacts of industrial activity. In order to be able to properly evaluate this impact, we first require a good understanding of all the atmospheric mechanisms. We consider it important to present the achievements of the applied research to the wider professional public, as this type of dialogue is the only way to ensure a more detailed exchange of opinions so as to enable the identification of unresolved operational problems from industrial practices that can be answered by projects such as this one.
F.18 Transfer of new know-how to direct users (seminars, fora, conferences)
COBISS.SI-ID: 28178727Tesbed we developed is the key complete and comprehensive practical product of this project. It encompasses virtually all the practical results of the project. This includes multi-year measurement databases, model result databases as well as the operational prediction models themselves (weather and diffuse solar radiation models). The collection also includes all the standard and newly developed tools for the use and analysis of the databases. This constitutes the key aspect of its application. The tools in the collection enable the operational modelling of fine-resolution weather and diffuse solar radiation forecasts for any location in Slovenia as well as in the region of São Paulo and the Brazilian research station in the Antarctic. The multi-year model result database allows us to provide a new service to clients on the market – the analysis of the availability of solar energy at locations where this renewable resource could potentially be utilised. The testbed will also play a key role in the planning of new scientific research on the relationship between solar radiation and skin cancer using geographical analysis methods. A subset of the testbed (part of the databases and corresponding tools) was prepared as an independent environment dubbed Girassol for our partners at the University of São Paulo for use in our further joint research work. Part of the results (online data) is available at our web page http://www.meis.si/testbed.
F.16 Improvements to an existing information system/databases
This paper was prepared for an international conference to present how the findings of two different research projects (this project and a project dealing with atmospheric pollution in which MEIS is participating) can be combined. Solar radiation is one of the key components in the creation of tropospheric ozone. Detailed information on the spatial and temporal distribution of solar radiation is thus also important for ozone research. The paper shows that MEIS is also successful in seeking out opportunities for horizontal collaboration between different research groups (MEIS and the Jožef Stefan Institute) where each group deals with environmental issues from its own perspective.
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 28052263