The article presented a new software for the analysis of global dynamical fields in (re)analyses, weather forecasts and climate models. A new diagnostic tool, developed within the MODES project, allows one to diagnose properties of balanced and inertio-gravity (IG) circulations across many scales. The paper includes the theory of normal-mode function (NMF) expansion, technical details of the Fortran 90 code, examples of namelists which control the software execution and outputs of the software application on the ERA Interim reanalysis data set. The outputs reveal several aspects of the large-scale circulation after it has been partitioned into the linearly balanced and IG components. The global energy distribution is dominated by the balanced energy while the IG modes contribute around 10% of the total wave energy. However, on sub-synoptic scales, IG energy dominates and it is associated with the main features of tropical variability on all scales.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 335017The workshop associated with the normal mode function representation of the atmosphere and its application in numerical weather prediction and climate research was held at the National center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado 26-28 August 2015. It gathered about 40 people from whole world including some pioneers in the field of dynamical meteorology. Workshop was a combination of invited talks, contributed talks and poster presentations. Also, the workshop included the presentation of the MODES software, a tool for the analysis of modern NWP and climate model outputs to complement the broad other ideas of modes of atmospheric variability. Workshop's webpage and all the lectures are accessible at https://www2.cgd.ucar.edu/sections/amp/events/20150826 .
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 342697Dr. Andreja Gomboc is now a professor of astronomy at University of Nova Gorica, but till november 2015 she was employed as an associate professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of mathematics and physics and was taking part in its research programme Astrophysics and physics of the atmosphere (P1-0188). The main field of her research are gamma ray bursts which are one of the leading themes in modern astrophysics. Dr. Gomboc is a co-founder of an international group investigating gamma ray bursts which is using three of the largest robotic telescopes in the world. She proposed to fit the Liverpool telescope with a special polarimeter which as a consequence opened a new way to measure polarization of optical afterglows of gamma ray bursts only minutes after their detection by the satellite. She is a member of the only research group in the world which has technological capabilities to acquire such measurements. This testifies of originality and uniqueness of this research. Dr. Andreja Gomboc made crucial steps to better understand these extremely violent events in the Universe by her contributions and by introduction of new measurement approaches. Her scientific publications have been published in top journals, including Science and Nature.
E.01 National awards
Astronomy Picture of the Day (apod.gsfc.nasa.gov) is a unique daily source of professional information about events in the Universe and in the atmosphere of the Earth. For over a decade members of the programme team have been making voluntary daily contributions by making Slovenian translation of this page (apod.fmf.uni-lj.si) which includes an explanatory text with many relevant links. Reader feedback suggest a large and overwhelmingly positive response to this effort. The role of this page goes beyond enjoyment of beautiful pictures with a clear explanatory text. The topics are often new, so we are faced with the challenge of being the first to present a Slovenian translation of a given professional term. The task can be complicated, as Slovenian language does not tolerate joining common terms and giving them a new meaning, which is often the case in English. Space limitations, on the other hand, prevent us from resorting to a descriptive translation. So the programme group frequently gets caught in lively discussions about the proposed terminological solutions. We do believe that this effort is contributing to an expansion of Slovenian professional vocabulary. In 2016 we are planning to allow a free public access to our upgraded internal professional dictionary, which now contains about 2000 entries.
F.18 Transfer of new know-how to direct users (seminars, fora, conferences)
The program team is responsible for the university level education in meteorology and astrophysics in Slovenia. This sums up to some 20 courses at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and at other faculties of the University of Ljubljana. Considering that these lectures are given by just 4 teachers and that many courses, despite their optional nature, have over 50 students, it is clear that our program team has an exceptional teaching load. The program team is very active in science outreach and in communicating scientific results to the general public. We do: (1) our own daily weather forecast calculated with increased spatial resolution and a detailed forecast of air quality, both published on our webpage meteo.fmf.uni-lj.si/) (2) daily astronomical news digest (www.portalvvesolje.si/) and translation of astronomy picture of the day (apod.fmf.uni-lj.si), (3) monthly public lectures for the general public within a lecture series entitled "A journey through the Universe" (www.portalvvesolje.si )dogodki), which was in the spring 2015 hosted by the National museum of natural history in Ljubljana, (4) open days and nights on the occasions of season changes at the Astronomical observatory Golovec (astro.fmf.uni-lj.si), (5) preparation and organization of the monthly radio broadcast "Frequency X" with an astronomical topic, which airs on the 2nd programme of the national radio (Val 202, www.val202.si/frekvencax/), (6) contribution to educational and news programmes of the national TV (Ugriznimo znanost, Dobra ura, Odmevi, 24 ur, etc.), (7) translation and publication of astronomical and meteorological learning materials and professional publications and of the yearly astronomical ephemeris Naše nebo (Our sky), (8) contribution to organization of competitions in astronomy knowledge for primary and secondary school pupils.
D.10 Educational activities