Gravity waves are an important part of the momentum budget of the atmosphere. Despite this, parameterizations of gravity wave spectra in atmospheric models are poorly constrained. Gravity waves are formed by jet streams, flow over topography, and convection, all of which produce pressure perturbations as they propagate over the Earth's surface, detectable by microbarometer arrays used for sensing infrasound. In this study, observations of gravity waves between 2007 and 2011 at an infrasound station in the Ivory Coast, West Africa, are combined with meteorological data to calculate parameters such as intrinsic phase speed and wavenumber. Through spectral analysis, the seasonal and daily variations in all gravity wave parameters are examined. The gravity wave back azimuth varies with the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of intense convection, supporting previous studies. Daily variations in gravity wave arrivals at the station can be linked to two distinct convective cycles over the land and ocean. This was achieved by combining the gravity wave parameters with lightning strikes detected by the Met Office's Arrival Time Difference lightning detection system. Noise generated by turbulence in the middle of the day was found to attenuate smaller pressure amplitude gravity waves, artificially amplifying the daily variations in some gravity wave parameters. Detection of daily and seasonal variations in gravity wave parameters has the potential be used to improve the representation of gravity wave spectra in atmospheric models.

This paper reviews recent progress toward understanding the dynamics of the middle atmosphere in the framework of the Atmospheric Dynamics Research InfraStructure in Europe (ARISE) initiative. The middle atmosphere, integrating the stratosphere and mesosphere, is a crucial region which influences tropospheric weather and climate. Enhancing the understanding of middle atmosphere dynamics requires improved measurement of the propagation and breaking of planetary and gravity waves originating in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. Inter-comparison studies have shown large discrepancies between observations and models, especially during unresolved disturbances such as sudden stratospheric warmings for which model accuracy is poorer due to a lack of observational constraints. Correctly predicting the variability of the middle atmosphere can lead to improvements in tropospheric weather forecasts on timescales of weeks to season. The ARISE project integrates different station networks providing observations from ground to the lower thermosphere, including the infrasound system developed for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty verification, the Lidar Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change, complementary meteor radars, wind radiometers, ionospheric sounders and satellites. This paper presents several examples which show how multi-instrument observations can provide a better description of the vertical dynamics structure of the middle atmosphere, especially during large disturbances such as gravity waves activity and stratospheric warming events. The paper then demonstrates the interest of ARISE data in data assimilation for weather forecasting and re-analyzes the determination of dynamics evolution with climate change and the monitoring of atmospheric extreme events which have an atmospheric signature, such as thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions.

The European metrology programme for innovation and research (EMPIR) is the current main programme for European research on metrology. In 2016, within the EMPIR call, the project 'Metrology for inductive charging of electric vehicles' (MICEV) was approved and it started in September 2017. Inductive charging is a wireless charging technology that will be widely used with electric vehicles (EVs) in the near future, offering many advantages over traditionally fuelled and current EVs. The project aims to advance inductive power transfer (IPT) for EV charging by developing metrology techniques for measuring power transfer efficiency and reliable demonstration of compliance with existing safety standards for human exposure. The main research topics are: measurement of the power transmitted on-board, transmission efficiency, requirements for measurements in the dynamic charging, assessment of magnetic field exposure.

Accurate prediction of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events is important for the performance of numerical weather prediction due to significant stratosphere-Troposphere coupling. In this study, for the first time middle atmospheric numerical weather forecasts are evaluated using infrasound. A year of near-continuous infrasound from the volcano Mount Tolbachik (Kamchatka, Russian Federation) is compared with simulations using high-resolution deterministic forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). For the entire time span the nowcast generally performs best, indicated by a higher continuity of the predicted wavefront characteristics with a minimal back azimuth difference. Best performance for all forecasts is obtained in summer. The difference between the infrasound observations and the predictions based on the forecasts is significantly larger during the 2013 SSW period for all forecasts. Simulations show that the SSW onset is better captured by the 10 day forecast while the recovery is better captured by the nowcast.