IMPLEMENTING ARRANGEMENT #18 Development of a High-Resolution
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation and Quantitative
Precipitation Forecast (HRQ2) System Pursuant to the Agreement
Between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
In the United States and the American Institute in Taiwan for
Technical Cooperation in Meteorology and Forecast Systems
Development

Article I - Scope
This Implementing Arrangement describes the scientific and
technical activities to be undertaken by the American Institute
in Taiwan (AIT), through its designated representative, the
Global System Division (GSD), (formally the Forecast Systems
Laboratory) of the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
United States Department of Commerce. It provides for continuing
development of the forecast system being developed by the Joint
Forecast Systems Project. This project is a cooperative effort
between AIT's designated representative, NOAA/ESRL/GSD, and the
Central Weather Bureau (CWB), the designated representative of
the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the
United States (TECRO). This agreement is of mutual interest to
both parties. The products of this agreement will provide
substantial value through development of new and upgraded
capabilities and applications that can be integrated into other
NOAA/ESRL/GSD systems.

Article II - Authorities
The activities described in this Implementing Arrangement will
be carried out under the general terms and conditions
established by the Agreement between the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of
Commerce, and the American Institute in Taiwan for Technical
Cooperation in Meteorology and Forecast Systems Development
(NOAA-AIT Agreement), and any subsequent revision as agreed to
by the parties. This Implementing Arrangement is the eighteenth
such arrangement under a succession of umbrella agreements
between NOAA and AIT.
NOAA has authority to participate in the meteorology and
forecast systems development project with AIT under:
A.15 U.S.C. 1525, the DOC Joint Project Authority, which
provides that DOC may enter into joint projects with
nonprofit, research, or public organizations on matters of
mutual interest, the cost of which is equitably apportioned;
B.22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq., the Taiwan Relation Act of April 10,
1979, Public Law 96-8, which authorizes agencies of the United
States Government to perform services for, and to accept funds
in payment from AIT;
C.15 U.S.C. 313, the Weather Service Organic Act, which
authorizes the Secretary to perform meteorological services;
D.49 U.S.C. 44720(b), the Federal Aviation Act, which authorizes
the Department of Commerce to promote safety and efficiency in
air navigation; and
E.An agreement between AIT and the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), which
authorizes AIT to provide technical assistance from a
designated agency to an agency designated by TECRO. AIT has
designated NOAA to provide technical assistance in meteorology
and forecast systems development. TECRO has designated the
Central Weather Bureau (CWB) of Taiwan to receive such
technical assistance.
This Implementing Arrangement is hereby attached to that
Agreement and becomes part of the Agreement.

Article III - Services
During the period of Implementing Arrangement #18 the
ESRL/GSD-CWB joint team will focus on two tasks: (1) the
development of a High-resolution Quantitative Precipitation
Estimation and Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (HRQ2)
System, and (2) continuing integration on earlier cooperative
projects. Tasks under this Agreement range from full scale
developmental collaboration to system upgrades and support that
allow systems to operate with the latest technical and
scientific capabilities and specifications. These ongoing
activities, described in more detail in the Statement of Work,
will include the following two tasks:
Task #1 - High-Resolution Quantitative Precipitation Estimation
and Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (HRQ2) System
During Implementing Arrangement #17, GSD and CWB
continued to improve the LAPS data ingest of radar
data and the cloud scheme. GSD and CWB added WRF
(Weather Research and Forecast) to the modeling suite
and established a LAPS/MM5-WRF hot start shadowing
system at GSD. The state variable verification system
for point verification of precipitation and for
gridded verification of model QPF with LAPS QPE was
also improved. In addition, the computer resources and
technical guidance to one CWB visiting scientist to do
his cases study of LAPS analysis with different
background models was provided.
During Implementing Arrangement #18, GSD and CWB will
focus on the Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF)
for water accumulation and debris flow based on a new
advanced 3D variational (3DVAR) data assimilation
scheme as GSD's part of the HRQ2 task. This new task
will support the operational needs from threats from
flash flood, debris flow and landslide. One candidate
is to adopt the STMAS (Space and Time Mesoscale
Analysis System) for surface observations and other
remote sensing data such as radar data. STMAS is an
extended 3DVAR and provides multiscale analysis using
inhomogeneous observation distribution. Another
candidate is the GSI (Gridpoint Statistical
Interpolation) analysis system used operationally by
NOAA/NCEP (National Centers for Environmental
Prediction). GSD and CWB will upgrade the LAPS
analysis to LAPS III to improve cloud scheme and
microphysical recovery. A 1D version of the host
model's microphysics scheme will be used instead of
the current one. LAPS III utilizes situational error
covariances from an ensemble with the 3DVAR analysis
driver. GSD and CWB will adopt full WRF (NMM and ARW)
for hot start. This will mean adding the WRF-NMM to
the CWB modeling suite. NMM and ARW are different
versions of WRF, the NMM was developed by NOAA's NCEP
and NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research)
respectively. GSD and CWB will continue to upgrade the
state variable verification system for the HRQ2
system.
During Implementing Arrangement #18, the National
Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) will continue research
towards the refinement and development of applications
and algorithms required for the CWB and the WRA (Water
Resources Agency) and the Soil and Water Conservation
Bureau (SWCB) operations as NSSL's part of the HRQ2
task. The NSSL research is directed towards improving
the monitoring and prediction of flash floods and
severe storm identification and short-term forecasting
for the Taiwan environment. The NSSL research and
development for IA#18 will focus on three core areas:
1) quality control, 2) 0-1 hour Quantitative
Precipitation Forecast (QPF) and its application
toward debris and flash floods, and 3) verification
and assessment of application performance. During
IA#18, NSSL will conduct research and present
findings, algorithm documentation and source code
where appropriate for system maintenance.
Task #2 - Continuing Interaction on Earlier Cooperative Projects
Several earlier cooperative tasks have been completed.
Technology has been transferred successfully and is
beginning to be used operationally at CWB. ESRL/GSD's
development activities in these areas continue, and
further ESRL/GSD-CWB interaction is important to keep
CWB staff up-to-date on current developments. This
task will allow continuing interaction at an
appropriate level, including new software releases of
the forecast information system including the
internet-based forecast workstation (FX-C) with
advanced drawing capability, NOAA data support,
visitors training, exchange of visits, copying papers
and reports, and e-mail interaction.

Article IV - Responsibilities of NOAA/ESRL/GSD
In addition to participation in the joint project team,
NOAA/ESRL/GSD shall:
A.Provide overall coordination of the joint project activities
at the GSD facility in Boulder, Colorado;
B.Provide administrative support for preparing reports for
delivery to AIT, in accordance with this Implementing
Arrangement;
C.Work under the guidance of AIT and consult with
representatives of the CWB and other agencies designated by
AIT;
D.Assign appropriate staff to perform the activities defined in
this Implementing Arrangement and provide support in
accordance with the terms of the umbrella agreement; and
E.Fulfill its responsibilities under the Statement of Work for
Implementing Arrangement #18.

Article V - Responsibilities of AIT
The AIT shall:
A.Provide guidance to NOAA/ESRL/GSD regarding consultations with
representatives of TECRO, CWB, and other agencies as
necessary;
B.Coordinate the appropriate transfer of funds to NOAA for
reimbursable activities, as mutually agreed; and
C.Accept the delivery of reports and specifications from
NOAA/ESRL/GSD and make distribution as appropriate.

Article VI - Financial Provisions
In accordance with the Agreement, NOAA/ESRL/GSD is undertaking
this work as the designated representative of AIT. TECRO is
required to reimburse AIT for all costs incurred by AIT's
designated representative, NOAA/ESRL/GSD, in association with
the project covered by this Implementing Arrangement. AIT shall
transfer to NOAA/ESRL/GSD all payments made by TECRO to AIT for
costs incurred by NOAA/ESRL/GSD in association with this
Implementing Arrangement.
The total cost for activities described in this Implementing
Arrangement is mutually agreed to be U.S. $740,000.00. AIT
agrees to transfer fifty percent of the funds to NOAA in
advance, with the remaining fifty percent to be transferred upon
completion of the year's activities, to the extent that funds
for this purpose have been provided by TECRO.
The funding arrangement represents an equitable apportionment of
project costs. NOAA's performance of activities under this
Implementing Arrangement is subject to the availability of
funds.

Article VII - Intellectual Property Considerations
No intellectual property considerations are expected to arise in
conjunction with activities described in this Implementing
Arrangement. Existing system designs and computer software of
the ESRL/GSD Forecast System are in the public domain. Reports,
specifications, and computer software prepared under this
Implementing Arrangement also will be in the public domain once
NOAA and CWB have approved them in final form.

Article VIII - Effective Date, Amendment, and Termination
This Implementing Arrangement is effective on the date of the
last signature hereto. This Implementing Arrangement may be
amended and/or terminated in accordance with the terms of the
Agreement. The estimated completion date for the activities
described in this Implementing Arrangement is June 30, 2007.

Additionally, this approval of this Implementing Arrangement
extends the termination date of the underlying agreement to
September 30, 2007. The underlying agreement titled, Agreement
between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
in the United States, and the American Institute in Taiwan for
Technical Cooperation in Meteorology and Forecast Systems
Development, signed by the parties June 20, 2001.


FOR THE TAIPEI ECONOMIC AND FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE
CULTURAL REPRESENTATIVE IN TAIWAN
OFFICE IN THE UNITED STATES


___________________________ ________________________________
Barbara Schrage
Managing Director
___________________________ ________________________________
Date Date