Collaborative Meteorological Research and Professional Exchange Between CIMMS and Direction de la Meteorologie Nationale (DMN) - The Kingdom of Morocco

A three year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between CIMMS and DMN took effect in June 1994.

During the initial three-year period of this collaboration, the MOA provided the framework within which the two organizations jointly undertook the meteorological training program described in a proposal entitled "Collaborative Research on 'El Moubarak' and Moroccan Precipitation".

This effort was jointly funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development-Morocco, the Moroccan DMN, and the University of Oklahoma, totaling $917,000 over the first three years.

Those funds have supported application-oriented training activities related to (a) the characterization and seasonal behavior of El Moubarak (North Atlantic Oscillation) and (b) the relation of Atlantic weather systems and Moroccan precipitation patterns to El Moubarak.

During the initial three-years, a framework was established for ongoing and open-ended collaborations between CIMMS and the Moroccan DMN in the areas of mesoscale and radar meteorology, climate dynamics, and the role of weather and climate variations for agricultural production and water resources. Visiting scientists from Morocco have been in residence at CIMMS performing portions of this research.