CESOC First Members' Assembly

On Friday, June 16, 2023, Center for Earth System Observation and Computational Analysis (CESOC) hosted its inaugural Members’ Assembly at the Geozentrum, University of Bonn, bringing together registered members of the three partner institutions to lay the groundwork for a joint vision of CESOC’s future.

The Members’ Assembly usually takes place once a year setting the frame for the members to evaluate and discuss the development of CESOC. This year’s assembly was special – as it was the very first! Thus, the main focus lied on getting to know each other, discussing our ideas for CESOC in an informal, summery setting and interacting with our guests from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

After the welcoming words by Petra Mutzel (CESOC, University of Bonn) the guest speakers from ECMWF, Jean-Noël Thépaut (Director of Copernicus Services), Irina Sandu (Director of Destination Earth) and Florian Pappenberger (Director of Forecasts), presented the “Research and Development Highlights at ECMWF” to stimulate discussions on potential links and exchange with the CESOC members. They provided an overview of the latest developments and plans in numerical modelling at ECMWF , the current state of the running Copernicus services at ECMWF and the DestinE initiative which is now preparing for a second phase.

Keeping the official part brief and concise – Susanne Crewell (University of Cologne), one of the three founding directors of CESOC, gave an overview of the development of CESOC, its internal structures, as well as current and past activities. The members were encouraged to support, suggest and contribute to the further establishment of CESOC and its future activities. During the assembly, Andreas Wahner (Forschungszentrum Jülich) spoke in memory of our recently deceased colleague Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, founding director and dedicated driving force behind the establishment and early development of CESOC.

The subsequent summer party in the garden of the Geozentrum was a pleasant setting to round of the first get-together. The relaxed and personal atmosphere allowed for dynamic conversations, socializing, networking, and fueling future plans and innovative ideas.