Redeveloping a Multimedia Training Module as Part of a WWW-Based European Satellite Meteorology Course

The WWW is increasingly being used as a platform for the presentation of distance education courses. Such a medium has a number of important advantages, among them easy world-wide access to the courses, and ease and flexibility in updating course materials. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s Training Centre is participating in a European-based project known as EuroMET (the European Meteorological Education and Training project), the aim of which is to meet the training needs of professional meteorologists and tertiary students using Web-based training modules. This paper describes Australian involvement in EuroMET, in particular the development of a module for training meteorologists in interpreting satellite imagery. The design of this module is discussed, including a brief description of the various tools developed by the EuroMET consortium to assist in the rapid development of modules, and of procedures to ensure that modules developed by different partners have a common appearance and functionality. The advantages and disadvantages of conducting a course like satellite imagery interpretation – which requires extensive use of images and video files over the WWW are also described.