The University of Oklahoma is partnering with Kyoto University to present the International Symposium on Radar and Modeling Studies of the Atmosphere in Kyoto, Japan. The symposium began Tuesday and continues through Friday.

The symposium is being organized by OU's College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and Atmospheric Radar Research Center in collaboration with Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute and Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere under a 2008 cooperative agreement between OU and Kyoto University.

"This symposium represents one of several efforts to better link research and graduate study between OU and Kyoto University in the common areas of weather radar and numerical modeling research," said John Snow, OU College of A--GS dean. "Kyoto has world-famous programs in these areas that are synergistic and complementary with similar programs at OU. We can learn a great deal from each other. This also will be an exceptional international experience for our graduate students."

Snow and Robert Palmer, director of the ARRC, is leading a delegation of more than 20 members from OU's weather-research community to Japan to attend the symposium. Ten of the members are graduate students in the OU schools of Meteorology and Electrical and Computer Engineering. All will present papers at the symposium. Yoshi Sasaki, a founder of the OU meteorology programs 50 years ago, will deliver the keynote address.

During the four-day program, information will be exchanged on a wide range of ongoing and future research at both institutions, including the latest weather radar and lidar technologies and assimilation of radar data into high-precision numerical prediction models. Symposium participants also will discuss the use of these high-tech tools in investigating hazardous weather and water situations and appropriate policy responses. Visit http://www.rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ku-ou-sympo/agenda.pdf for a complete agenda of symposium discussions.