The International Radio Occultation Working Group (IROWG) community has recently initiated a collaborative effort to explore the impact of Radio Occultation (RO) observations:
Radio Occultation Modeling Experiment (ROMEX)
ROMEX aims to quantify the benefits of increasing the volume of RO observations by incorporating additional data not currently available to weather centers for real-time operational systems. The IROWG community has secured approval from their respective institutions to conduct data assimilation experiments using these additional RO measurements over the designated period.
Dr. Richard Anthes first introduced the ROMEX concept in May 2022, in response to NOAA’s request for input on future RO needs. The ensuing discussions culminated in a formal proposal, which was endorsed by IROWG in September 2022 during its ninth meeting (IROWG-9).
The results of the experiment will help guide CGMS partners in addressing critical technical and programmatic challenges facing the numerical weather prediction (NWP) community. These insights will inform both near- and long-term strategies for RO mission planning and data acquisition across all CGMS partners.
ROMEX white paper
The ROMEX white paper (pdf) is available here.
ROMEX Reference
Anthes, R. A., C. Marquardt, B. Ruston, and H. Shao, 2024: Radio Occultation Modeling Experiment (ROMEX): Determining the impact of radio occultation observations on numerical weather prediction. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0326.1
ROMEX Data Terms and Conditions:
If you wish to participate in ROMEX, please sign this document and return it to the steering committee (see the contact below).
We accept signatures from both organizations and individuals. If an organization signs the document, please provide the name of a Point of Contact (POC) for the organization. This POC will be responsible for receiving the FTP password for data access and will be contacted if there are any violations of the Terms and Conditions (TnC) during ROMEX. If no POC is explicitly identified, we will default to the individual who submitted the signed document.
Due to the sensitivities that may arise when comparing data sets and model results, it is essential to handle the sharing of ROMEX results with care. ROMEX is not a contest or competition; it is a collaborative effort aimed at improving our data and modeling products. To maintain trust and collegiality, participants should share potentially sensitive results within the ROMEX community before presenting them publicly or to a broad audience. This is particularly important for publications, conference presentations, and content shared on websites.
All ROMEX participants are reminded to adhere to the Terms and Conditions, especially regarding the sharing of evaluation results. According to the ROMEX data use agreement:
“The Licensee is authorized to share/redistribute the original ROMEX Data and any ROMEX Derived Data only with ROMEX Participants and EUMETSAT ROM SAF Partners who have signed a ‘ROMEX Data and ROMEX Derived Data License Agreement.’ Redistribution of ROMEX Data and ROMEX Derived Data to any other third party is expressly prohibited.”
Finally, it is crucial to ensure that any publicly shared information is unbiased, objective, and accurately reflects the processes applied to the data, such as quality control.
ROMEX Data Providers and Users
The list will only include organizations that have signed the Data License Letter (for data providers) or the Terms and Conditions (for data users, as outlined above). If you wish to participate in this effort or have any questions, please contact the steering committee.
Participating organizations or affiliations (representing either an organization or an individual scientist):
AER, CMA (CEMC, NSMC), CWA (formerly CWB), DMI, DWD, ECCC, ECMWF, IEEC, ISRO, KMA, Meteo France, NASA/GMAO, NCEP/EMC, NESDIS/SAE/CDP, NOAA/OAR/QOSAP, NESDIS/STAR, NRL, NSSC/CAS, Tianmu, PlanetIQ, Spire, UCAR, UK MetOffice, UMD/CISESS, UW, Yunyao
Data Providers:
EUMETSAT, GeoOptics, NASA/Spire, NOAA, Tianmu, PlanetIQ, UCAR, Yunyao
ROMEX Data Server
ROMSAF provides a password-protected service for accessing ROMEX data. Once we receive your signed Terms and Conditions (T&C) agreement, you will be notified on how to access the data server. The password for this server has already been sent to existing users. If you have signed the T&C but have not received the password, please contact us at
- Christian Marquardt: christian.marquardt@eumetsat.int
Upcoming ROMEX events/meetings
The ROMEX schedule and planned meetings can be found here.
ROMEX Announcement
The ROMEX announcement can be found here.
Contact the ROMEX steering committee (RSC)
Questions or requests for information can be directed to any RSC members.
The members are:
- Richard Anthes: anthes@ucar.edu
- Hui Shao: huishao@ucar.edu
- Christian Marquardt: christian.marquardt@eumetsat.int
- Benjamin Ruston: benr@ucar.edu