BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:2026 AR Recon workshop and 2nd Observational campaigns workshop fo r better weather forecasts DTSTART:20260629T080000Z DTEND:20260703T170000Z DTSTAMP:20261007T123300Z UID:indico-event-519@events.ecmwf.int CONTACT:events@ecmwf.int DESCRIPTION:\nAR Recon workshop high res photo\n\nObservational campaigns workshop high res photo\nIn 2019\, ECMWF held a workshop which successfull y brought together past and future field campaigns with model developers a nd data assimilation experts. As more than 5 years have now passed since t his workshop\, one can ask the following questions: “were the presented campaigns successful?”\, “what new science has been learnt?”\, “wh at impact have the data had on the forecast model and data assimilation de velopment?”\, and “what are the remaining gaps needed to be filled by campaigns?”\nIn general campaign/field experiments can serve the communi ty in several ways by: \n1. providing observations in real-time to be ass imilated into the forecast systems to improve current operational forecast s  \n2. giving opportunities for diagnostic studies and new physical ins ights about the Earth system \n3. providing observations to guide model d evelopment by identifying systematic errors in models and insights on area s of potential improvement  \n4. providing observations to help validat e/calibrate satellite platforms \n5. giving guidance on the design of fut ure observation systems\nIn January and February 2026\, several campaigns – AR Recon\, SAFARI\, NAWDIC\, PONEX and NURTURE – will take place acr oss the middle and high latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Although the se campaigns have their own specific aims\, their observations provide a u nique opportunity to investigate the potential impact of the Global Atmosp heric River Reconnaissance Program (GARRP)\; specifically\, to evaluate wh ether the addition of multiple conventional observing platforms across the northern hemisphere could increase weather forecast skill. Running up to these campaigns in 2026\, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Worl d Weather Research Programme (WWRP) organised and led a small working grou p bringing these campaigns and some other stakeholders together to find po ssible synergies.   \nThis workshop at ECMWF was formed of two separat e – yet overlapping in scope – workshops.  \n1. The 2026 Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon) Workshop\, providing the latest updates an d science from the 2026 season. AR Recon uses U.S. Air Force Reserve Comma nd WC-130Js and the NOAA G-IV aircraft to carry out reconnaissance mission s collecting high-density flight level observations and atmospheric profil es using dropsondes. The program has also partnered with the Global Drift er Program\, led at Scripps Institution of Oceanography by the Lagrangian Drifter Laboratory\, to deploy 429 drifting buoys with pressure sensors si nce 2018. AR Recon also supports innovative technologies such as Airborne Radio Occultation (ARO)\, and partners with private sector companies like WindBorne Systems to carefully coordinate data collection for maximum valu e.   \nThe AR Recon workshop is jointly organized by ECMWF\, NOAA\, and CW3E.\n2. The 2nd observational campaigns workshop for better weather fore casts\, focusing on the northern hemisphere campaigns during January and F ebruary 2026. The most appropriate ways to coordinate related diagnostic w ork and forecasting experiments will be discussed.  \nThe workshop invite d back the campaigns from the 2019 workshop to hear about the outcomes and the lessons learnt in the activities after the campaigns. We also discuss ed how to maximise the uptake of the campaign data in the scientific commu nity. Finally\, we discussed the future gaps and how campaign data can bes t serve training of machine-learning models.  \n \n\nhttps://events.ec mwf.int/event/519/ IMAGE;VALUE=URI:https://events.ecmwf.int/event/519/logo-3849770596.png LOCATION:ECMWF URL:https://events.ecmwf.int/event/519/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR