Australia Brazil The Brazilian Space Agency - AEB is a branch of the Ministry of Science and Technology in charge of developing space activities of national interest. It coordinates the GPM activities in Brazil. AEB is the main Brazilian portal for the ground validation sites. Canada The Canadian CloudSat/CALIPSO Validation Programme (C3VP) is a contribution by the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) to the international CloudSat program. C3VP is conducting a ground validation campaign during the winter of 2006-2007 with the goal of providing independent verification of CloudSat data products. Other goals of C3VP include verification of the physical basis of the CloudSat data products and contribution to the development of snow retrieval products for mid/high latitude satellite observations. European Union Voltaire is supported by the European Commission 5th Framework Programme with the objective of ground validation for TRMM radar data to improve the accuracy of surface-radar-derived precipitation fields in Mediterranean test sites and to gain in experience and prepare for European participation in GPM Finland The Helsinki Testbed is a research project supported mainly by the Technology Agency of Finland and coordinated under management provided by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Real-time mesoscale meteorological data are provided to the public during measurement campaigns that take place during 2006 and 2007. France Germany India Isreal Italy Japan AMeDAS, the Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System, is a high-resolution surface observation network developed by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) used for gathering regional weather data and verifying forecast performance. Beginning with operations on November 1, 1974, the system consists of about 1,300 stations with automatic observation equipment. These stations, of which more than 1,100 are unmanned, are located at an average interval of 17 km throughout Japan. Netherlands The CESAR Observatory is consists of a large set of instruments to study the atmosphere and its interaction with the land surface. Three universities and five major research institutes collaborate in CESAR. It is the focal point of experimental atmospheric research in The Netherlands. The CESAR site is used for Monitoring of long term tendencies in atmospheric changes Studies of atmospheric and land surface processes for climate modeling Validation of space-borne observations The development and implementation of new measurement techniques Training of young scientists at post-doc, PhD and master level. South Africa Spain A national, GPM-oriented project aiming to improve the forecast of hydrometeorological extremes using microwave satellite information ( ASPRES project) has been approved by the Ministry of Science and Education. The Spanish GPM-GV network will met in Toledo in late October 2008 to devise a national strategy on satellite precipitation validation. The meeting is organized by the national core team comprising the Universities of Castilla-La Mancha, Valladolid (Castilla y León) and Lleida (Catalonia), and by the Meteorology and Climate group of the Spanish Remote Sensing Society. Scientists from other universities and research centers, and regional weather services are expected to join [contact point: francisco.tapiador@uclm.es]. Regional initiatives such as EHIMI in Catalonia (see below), and the project HIDROSAT in Castilla-La Mancha are being developed. The CEDEX is also involved in GPM-GV related research through the PROHIMET network for Latin-America. The EHIMI (Integrated Hydrometeorological Forecasting Tool) is a research and development collaborative project between the GRAHI research group (Technical University of Catalonia, UPC), the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) and the Catalan Weather Service (SMC). The main purposes of the project are to advance in radar precipitation estimation and to implement a real-time hydrometeorological forecasting system. The resulting flooding guidance and warning system will support catalonian decision makers, especially in typical mediterranean Flash Flood events. Taiwan The 2nd International GPM Ground Validation Meeting was hosted by the National Taiwan University at the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) in Taipei, Taiwan. Other co-hosting agencies included the National Central University, the National Space Organization, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. United Kingdom The Chilbolton Facility for Atmospheric & Radio Research (CFARR) at the Chilbolton Observatory is equipped with a wide range of advanced meteorological radars, lidars and radiometers to study atmospheric processes in the United Kingdom. Present activities include studies of: Rainfall characteristics Clear air turbulence and refractivity Cloud composition and characteristics Water Vapour Aerosol composition Measurements made at the CFARR are used to calibrate and validate Earth Observation data from a wide range of Earth Observation satellites including, MODIS, MERIS, MISR, AATSR, CLOUDSAT, CALYPSO, & SSM/R. In recent years Chilbolton has been the focus for a series of international research campaigns that have involved the deployment of more than one research aircraft. Staff associated with the facility regularly collaborate with teams from ESA, Met Services, and University groups across Europe. United States PEHRPP, the Pilot Evaluation of High Resolution Precipitation Products is designed to fulfill two needs: 1) To act as a web portal for the high-resolution satellite-derived precipitation products. 2) To provide a central resource for the high resolution precipitation products so that project collaborators can access data from a single common source. The focus of PEHRPP is on merged, relatively high-spatial resolution satellite data products, which mostly do not include gauge data.