First announcement:

The 5th International Workshop on Adjoint Applications in Dynamic Meteorology

The next adjoint workshop is now scheduled for 21-26 April 2002 at the Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center in Mount Bethel Pennsylvania, USA located on the Delaware River that borders Pennsylvania and New Jersey, approximately 70 miles due east of New York City.

The cost per person for Sunday dinner thru Friday lunch will be between approximately $215 and $375, depending on accommodation (single or double occupancy and room type), including all meals, lodging, and breaks, with no additional registration fee. The site is adjacent to the river, in a wooded rural area. It is used as a Christian retreat center on weekends and in the summer, so no alcohol is allowed on the premises. Most rooms are hotel style, each with 2 double or 2 queen sized beds. There should be an opportunity for boating, biking, or hiking, as well as use of a gymnasium. The two closest major airports are Philadelphia and Newark International Airports (the latter just east of New York city in New Jersey). We will try to rent a bus for arrivals and departures at Newark (several European airlines fly there).

Workshop organizers are Ronald Errico (NCAR), Martin Ehrendorfer (Univ. Vienna), Jan Barkmeijer (ECMWF), Erik Andersson (ECMWF), Francois Bouttier (Meteo-France), Rolf Langland (NRL), Ron Gelaro (NASA), Monique Tanguay (MSC, Canada), and Jean-Francois Mahfouf (ECMWF). (Several members may be changing affiliations next year).

The format will include tutorials, reviews and issues presentations on selected topics as well as oral and poster presentations on individual works. Specific topics and issues have not been selected. Nor has the specific format been determined. Suggestions will be requested in the fall when the organizers begin a program plan.

The date for the workshop coincides with the EGS in Nice.

IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE FUTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THIS WORKSHOP, THEN email rmerrico@ucar.edu with the subject heading "adj5-yes". Only those so responding will be placed on the subsequent mailing list for this workshop.

IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO RECEIVE SUBSEQUENT ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE NEXT WORKSHOP OR ANY FUTURE ADJOINT WORKSHOPS, SEND an email to rmerrico@ucar.edu with the subject heading "adj-remove" and you will not be bothered with such mail again.

The next announcement will be a call for suggestions on tutorial topics and issue subjects. This is an open workshop, so feel free to pass this on to others who you think may be interested if you suspect they are not on my lists of past attendees or that my email address for them may be outdated.

Ron

Second announcement for the 5th adjoint workshop

So far, 85 people have expressed interest in the workshop. This announcement is only being sent to those of you who have expressed such interest.

We plan to have several different types of talks as well as posters. Some talks may be tutorials with the primary goal of teaching fundamentals. Other talks will be presentations of issues, for the purpose of focusing discussion. Theses issues could concern controversies, or views of what the outstanding problems are, or anything else for which a focused discussion would be valuable. A third set of talks will be presentations of new works.

In order to better serve those planning to attend, the organizers are now providing you an opportunity to recommend specific topics for possible tutorials or issues talks. You can also recommend specific names of corresponding presenters. The organizers will use your responses to create a program, although any individual's recommendations may not necessarily be followed. If I do not hear interest in tutorials on specific topics, we will not have such talks.

I do not have an exact price for room and meals, but it should be close to $330 for single occupancy, or $260 each for two persons sharing a room with 2 beds. I expect the room quality to be excellent. More information will come in the next announcement.

By mid November, you should expect to receive a third announcement detailing instructions for reserving a room and perhaps a tentative program format. Likely, individual participant reservations will have to be made by mid January.

For the workshop organizers,
Ron Errico

4th announcement for the 5th Adjoint Workshop.

So that NCAR does not incur financial liability for no-shows at the workshop, you will have to reserve your room by sending your payment to NCAR by some date in mid February. If you later decide not to come, your payment will be refunded as long as the conference center refunds it to NCAR (which will depend on the number of no-shows).

To help you decide whether to commit yourself, the following schedule is being implemented:

Dec. 15: talk and/or poster abstracts due (Instructions following)
Jan. 10: notification of selection of talks and posters
Feb. 15: money due for room and meals payment

Tutorials will likely be presented on the following topics:
-Uses of Hessians for adjoint applications
-Problems in developing adjoints of physical parameterization schemes
-Applications of predictability analysis
-Applications of adjoints to climate problems
-Methods for estimating background error statistics
-Ensemble methods for data assimilation
-Consideration of dynamic balances in adjoint applications
-An update on automatic adjoint generation tools

There will also be 3 evening issues talks:
-The validity of SV applications
-The future directions of data assimilation and adjoint applications
-The history of adjoints and their applications in some other fields

Oral presentations will likely be 24 minutes, with 6 additional minutes for questions/discussion. We will have at least 2 poster sessions, probably 1.5 hours each. The number of oral presentations, excluding tutorials or issues talks, will number approximately 35. Assignment of oral or poster presentations will be decided by the organizers based on indicated preference, content of submitted abstracts, and quality of past history of presentations. It is possible that you will not be able to use computer-assisted projection for your presentation.

Abstracts need not yet include results, but should clearly state the questions investigated, the particular methodology used, and what the audience should expect to learn from the presentation. They should be no longer than 300 words, submitted in plain ASCII text form. One abstract should be submitted per person, and only one presentation of one kind will be permitted per person. PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.

The next announcement will be in early January, when you will be informed of results of the selection process and directions for room payments.

Instead of renting a bus, I will try to help pay for some car rentals, to allow more flexibility for arrival times.

For the organizing committee,
Ron Errico

5th announcement for the 5th Adjoint Workshop.

Adjoint workshop participants:

We have received 44 abstracts, all of which have been accepted for some type of presentation. This number excludes 9 additional tutorial or special talks. All presentations will be oral except for 8 currently scheduled as posters. These latter were primarily chosen on the basis of preference or as second presentations offered by someone already scheduled for a tutorial. For those of you wishing to change presentation mode, please let me know: possibilities may change as some people fail to commit themselves.

The scheduled poster presentations are by: Christine Johnson, Gerald Desroziers, Saroja Polavarapu, Tim Payne, Mike Fisher, Philippe Rogel, Dale Barker, and Patrick Haas.

Since NCAR cannot assume financial liability for cancelled reservations, all participants will be required to pay for their room and board in advance, by the date that NCAR would otherwise become responsible, which is 15 February. If no more than 10% of participants (approximately 9 in our case) cancel later, those cancellations will be entirely refunded. If more than 10% are cancelled and replacements are not found, only a portion of those reservation payments may be refunded. Of course, if new participants are found to transfer reservations, the original reservations will also be entirely refunded.

There are different style rooms. All come with 2 beds and private bathroom. We are actually charged slightly differently for different room types, but it would be too difficult for us to make these distinctions since NCAR does not have the required reservation system in place. For this reason, we are charging an average price, except for the lowest-end rooms (which I did inspect, and are still very nice; in fact, they are the nicest of any of the previous workshops). The room assignments will be made by lottery, although if too few volunteer for the cheapest rooms and we still need them, those receiving support from the organizers may be assigned to them. You can inspect the rooms on-line at www.tuscarora.org (click on the virtual tour; note that the cheapest rooms we have are their cottages with private bath). Prices include state room tax. All of you who have expressed a willingness to share a room must do so if we are all to be accommodated.

The fees for room and board are as follows:
$360 for a single standard room with one occupant.
$290 for each occupant of a shared standard room.
$290 for cottage room as single occupant.
$230 for each occupant of a shared cottage room.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAYMENT APPEAR AT THE END OF THIS MAILING. These prices include all meals: Sunday dinner on 21 April through Friday lunch 26 April. There is no additional registration fee.

Rather than rent a bus, I plan to pay for rental cars for some of those willing to fill them at airports. If you are willing to drive one of these cars, please let me know. These will be Hertz cars, reserved through NCAR.

Although Philadelphia is the closest international airport, Newark (airport code EWR) may be more accessible since you take highway all the way (Interstates 95 to 280 to 80). We will provide detailed driving instructions at a later date. Also, note that Newark airport is centered in the ugliest portion of New Jersey. If you are coming a day early, you may prefer to stay somewhere near the conference site, if you prefer countryside to city. There are trains and buses that go directly from Newark to New York City if you prefer to spend Sunday morning site seeing there. I can provide you more information if you desire (I lived in that area until I was 18).

Currently, there are some very cheap air fares around, like 177 UK Pounds for LHR to EWR and return (departing 20 April).

I still have funds for students or postdocs. Please contact me if you want to be considered for partial support.

More information will be sent to you later. A web site is being constructed at http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/gds/raeder/work5.html This site already has most of the abstracts available (excluding those for tutorials or other special talks). A draft schedule will also appear shortly on the site.

PAYMENT INFORMATION:

Follow these instruction carefully. (At the first adjoint workshop, some people simply sent checks to NCAR with no cover letter. NCAR is a large institution, and can be involved with many workshops. Consequently, some checks were effectively lost.)

Make checks or money orders payable to National Center for Atmospheric Research, in U.S. dollars. We cannot accept credit cards. Address the mail to

Adjoint Workshop
C/O Ms. Barbara Ballard
NCAR
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000

Include a cover letter stating who you are and what (and whom) the funds are for. If several people are coming from your institution, it is easiest for us if there is one check. Indicate to us who, if any, are paying for cottage rooms or who are sharing, and if sharing, with whom.

Payments are due at NCAR by 15 February. Please send early to allow mailing time. Those not reserving a room will have their reservations cancelled and will receive no further mailings about the workshop. We will send a mailing on 16 February stating who has paid.

THOSE OF YOU RECEIVING OR REQUESTING FINANCIAL SUPPORT should not send a room payment. Instead contact Ron for possible alternative instructions. Those few of you RECEIVING FUNDS FOR AIR TRAVEL, note that you MUST fly a U.S. air carrier. You can make your own reservations and get reimbursed, or we can do that for you. We have few funds, so please shop for the best fare. Flights on non U.S carriers are permitted if your ticket is a code share on a U.S. carrier (i.e., it is the ticket, not the plane that matters).

Ron

Two ammendments to the previous announcement.

  1. The cottage rooms are available for students only and those few people being supported by funds from me.
  2. I will not be able to rent cars for people. We will encourage and assist drivers willing to car pool, however, by providing a site for matching drivers and passengers. Information about how we will do this will be sent in March.
  3. The workshop ends with lunch on Friday, which should allow time for late afternoon flights.

6th announcement for the 5th Adjoint Workshop.

To adjoint workshop participants:

  1. I have changed all reservations to single rooms. This means that if you paid for a double, you will instead get a single cottage room at the same price. Let me know if you do not want this change. We had been concerned with availability, but since only 63 are registered, sharing is not required. All cottages have private baths.
  2. The final schedule will not be made until after April 1. I am still waiting to hear if Edward Lorenz will present an evening talk.
  3. We want to help people to car-pool to and from Newark Airport. The contact person for these arrangements is Kevin Raeder at raeder@ucar.edu
    1. If you have room in your car for another person plus luggage and are willing to wait a little while in case the additional person's plane is late, please let us know (a) how many additional people you can take and (b) what your own plane arrival time is.
    2. If you need transportation, please let us know your arrival time.

Note that workshop lunch should be over by 1300 (1PM) on Friday, so airport arrival by 1430 (2:30PM) should be no problem. You may need 2 more hours to easily make some flights: I do not know how slow check-in and security queues are at Newark.

Kevin Raeder will be departing Newark at 2000 (8PM) with room for 3 additional people. This option is reserved for anyone who was supposed to obtain a ride from someone much earlier but has been greatly delayed. With this plan, those planning to leave earlier do not have to wait for very late arrivals. His meeting place will be the lobby of the Hertz car rental facility next to the airport.

Once we have these lists, we will likely just post them on our website with contact information. Then those seeking rides can contact those with available space. That site is http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/gds/raeder/work5.html

Ron Errico

7th announcement for the 5th Adjoint Workshop.

The final workshop schedule is now available on the web site: http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/gds/raeder/work5.html

The subjects proceed from the basic to the complex; the first being adjoint model development and the last being data assimilation. The most notable change to the early draft is that Giering and Kaminski are now on Mon. evening since Cacuci can't come, and Ed Lorenz is now on Wed. evening. Also 2 new talks appear on Friday. Please check your information. Note that only presenters' names appear in the schedule, but co-author's are listed in the abstracts. Some additional schedule changes will likely occur last minute.

Copies of the schedule will be available at the workshop. If you want the abstracts, you should acquire them yourself from the web site.

Registration opens at 1500 on Sunday. There is a $1 deposit for your room key. If you arrive after midnight Sunday, you can obtain your key from me in room #9 which is in a small building next to River Road (on the right), next to the blue building (all the other buildings are white; likely your room key will be taped to my door).

We are still in the process of arranging car pools. Tom Bewley will be leaving from the Hertz car rental at Newark Airport at 2300. If you missed an earlier ride, try to connect with him. Kevin Raeder will be leaving from the same place at 1900. If you are picking up people at the airport whom you do not know, please make a little sign to hold.

You will have some highway and bridge tolls to pay en route, so make sure you have some small currency.

The Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center is a non-profit facility intended primarily for churches. Our use of the facility is an exception. Please consider yourself a guest and follow whatever regulations they may have. In particular, there is to be no alcohol on the premises. Likely we will be the only group in attendance.

If you have a special diet (e.g., vegetarian, no beef, or other) please contact me by Monday 8 April so that I may notify the conference site kitchen.

PREPARE TRANSPARENCIES for your talk rather than a power-point presentation. Keep in mind several things:

  1. Time limits will be enforced. 22 minutes for regular talks, 44 minutes for longer talks, excluding questions. On the average, 2 minutes per slide is required. Figure out how to introduce your work in under 5 minutes. Test your timing before you come. The audience will appreciate a well constructed talk.

  2. The audience will appreciate you teaching us something about your work rather than simply advertising it. That means you should focus on one thing, with enough details that we can all follow it.

  3. Although we do not have tutorials on very basic things like earlier workshops (like "what is an adjoint") you should not have to spend much time in your talk on such aspects. Most of the audience will know the basics. Since some people are coming to learn basics, however, bring some extra material to talk individually with those wanting more basic or additional information. Better than a lot of math derivations are a few equations whose meaning and interpretation are explained well.

  4. Use appropriately large fonts. 12 point fonts are too small. Test sizes yourself in some large room. Note that the entire page will perhaps not be visible at one time.

  5. Label all graph axis so they can be read. Be prepared to explain what has been plotted. Remember, the audience does not know what is in your figures as well as you do.

  6. The more information on a slide, the longer it takes for you to explain it and for the audience to digest it. Too much written or graphical information can also be a distraction to the observer.