On 17 April 2000 there was a big celebration going on at the Suriname Met Office (MDS), namely:

the inauguration of Paramaribo ozone observation station!

Here is how things went; before, during and after this big event:

The idea to have an inauguration party for Paramaribo station came quite early - just after the approval of the RADCHIS project around March 1998. However, a lot had to be done first; starting with an orientation visit June 1998 to select a good observation site and prepare it for housing the equipment. In the course of 1999 the equipment were installed, starting with the Brewer in March and the Vaisala sounding station (along with a web-camera) in September. After this, with a fully operational observation program the date could be set for the inauguration. As the Brewer needed a UV calibration around March, it was decided to combine these two events.

A preliminary schedule was made for the party. We had the honour that Prof. Paul Crutzen, Nobel laureate in atmospheric chemistry and co-PI on the RADCHIS project, offered to give an inaugural lecture on this day. The busy schedule of Paul took care of which day to pick: he could only come on April 17. A monday, but for celibrities you gladly make an exception. We then drew up an invitation, for which a special RADCHIS logo was designed, this one:

A cocos palm leaf (found everywhere in Suriname) with the shape resembling the convergence of the trade winds at the ITCZ, shown in the circle with Suriname on the background. This was a joint design, with input from Cor Becker and myself, but the main artistic work was done by Birgit van Diemen, a colleague from the KNMI studio. She had a very original and thorough approach and I would like to thank her on behalf of the many people who reacted enthusiastically to her beautiful design.

We were further fortunate that the Minister of Public Works of Suriname, Mr. R. Mangal, as well as the Nehterlands Amassador in Suriname, Mr. R. Treffers, agreed to contribute with talks to the official opening. The other speakers would come from the organisers of the event: Cor Becker, head of MDS, and Hennie Kelder, PI and leader of the RADCHIS project and Professor at the Technical University of Eindhoven. Invitations were sent to all the people we thought were related in some way or the other to this event. Also Albert Maione from the company SCI-TEC in Canada (where the Brewer comes from) was invited, as he was the person who first installed the Brewer and agreed to perform the UV-calibration the week before the inauguration.

In the week just before my departure I got the unfortunate message from Paul Crutzen that he had unexpectedly taken ill and was not sure whether he could make it to Paramaribo.There was still a remote chance that he might recover, so we left the Dutch press release as it was ("Nobel laureate opens Paramaribo station", or something along this line). However, Hennie and me decided to take along overhead sheats so that we could present an alternative lecture if need be.

On arrival in Suriname, I was happy to find things ready for the events to come: Cor Becker had done his utmost to get the Brewer calibration equipment through customs, and the operator team had cleared al the undergrowth and shrubs around the MDS building and the filling hut. The latter job should have been done by municipal workers, but as they were on strike then, the operators worked hard for two weeks hard to get the site in good shape (see picture above!). This dedication beyond the normal call of duty has become typical for this team and has been the key to the success of the obervation program so far. Hennie Kelder arrived the thursday in Suriname. He first met with Cor Becker and the operator team at the observation site, and further had talks with staff from the Suriname University Anton de Kom, on cooperation with KNMI and TU Eindhoven.

Around this time we got the definite message from Paul Crutzen that he couldn't make it. His health has improved somewhat, but a far away trip to the Tropics was too much of a risk. This was disappointing news indeed, but everyone had understanding for this and still appreciated his good intentions for lending his name to this event. For the Dutch press it was too late to change things, but as the Suriname press would report only after the event to which they were invited, they were quickly sent an altered schedule. The UV-calibration that week went along as planned:

Fig. 1. Albert Maione with the gear to perform a UV-response calibration

and by the end of the week all was ready for the big event the coming Monday:

during the inauguration..

The celebration started at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. On arrival at the MDS building, the guests signed two reception books (one for KNMI, one for MDS) and were handed a RADCHIS conference bag along with some brochures and the first paper written on Paramaribo station (WMO-Bulletin, April 2000). In the celebration hall microphones were set up by the Netherlands World broadcasting service and the Suriname Ministry of Public WOrks to record the event. Earlier that day, I had an interview with a Radio 1 reporter from the Netherlands. A strong northeast trade wind provided pleasant cooling when Cor Becker started the ceremony in front of a capacity audience.

He welcomed all the visitors and mentioned the congratulations he recieved from all over the world, amongst others from Paul Crutzen, Jos Lelieveld (Professor at IMAU and RADCHIS PI), Joost de Jong (Director KNMI) and Fons Baede (Head Climate Research at KNMI). Cor then gave a brief overview of the history of the station and stressed its importance for atmospheric research - on a global scale, but also hopefully within Suriname self.

Fig. 2. Cor Becker, Head of the Suriname Meteorological Service, starting the inaugural celebration

After this the Dutch Ambassador in Suriname, Mr. Treffers, gave an overview of the national and international cooperations involved in this project. The mentioned the sponsors of the project (NWO, SRON, NIVR and KNMI), the research partners (IMAU, MPI-Mainz) and the relation with other inerantional oragnizations (WMO , NDSC), projects ( LBA-CLAIRE, SHADOZ and INDOEX) and satellite validation groups (for the current GOME and future SCIAMACHY and OMI instruments). Mr Treffers stressed the important role of Cor Becker and his operator team in the RADCHIS project and praised their dedication and achievements so far.

Fig. 3. Mr R. Treffers, Ambassador of the Netherlands for Suriname

The official part of the ceremony was closed by Mr. Mangal, Minister of Public Works in Suriname. He emphasized the unique location of Paramaribo station, the only of its kind between the equator and 10 degrees North, and gave an overview of the history of Paramaribo station, from the very first idea to its implementation in 1999. He mentioned the positive role the Suriname Government plays in the world-wide ecology consciousness, as can be seen from the support for a new national Nature Reserve in Suriname and for projects like RADCHIS and LBA-CLAIRE (performed in 1998 in Suriname). The importance of long observation records in the Tropics was stressed by Mr. Mangal and he concluded with the hope that Paramaribo station would coninue to be operational, also after the end of the RADCHIS project in 2002.

Fig. 4. Mr R. Mangal, Minister of Public Works in Suriname

Just before the break I had the opportunity to thank each of the speakers for their excellent contributions to the inaugural ceremony. For this occasion we had a RADCHIS imprint made on a little desk-top weather station, which I then gave to the speakers as a small token of appreciation. With great pleasure I also handed one of these to each of the operators, to thank them for the enormous dedication they have shown to keep the observation program running. The last to be thanked was Cor Becker (he almost got insulted), the man most instrumental to the succes of Paramaribo station and without whom none of this would have happened.

Fig. 5. Time to thank the speakers and (below) the friendly operator team of Paramaribo station.
L->r: Walter Brewster, Etto Zerp, Cheryll Ashruf, Ronaldo Lansdorf and Dennis Rodrigues

take a break...

After the break the scientific part of the ceremony started. Prof. Kelder first read the absence message of Prof. Crutzen, in which he apologized for his abscence and congratulated Cor and the operator team on their great achievement. A short summary of the important role of the Tropics on atmosperic chemistry and composition. His message ended with the hope that other countries in the Tropics would follow the good example of Suriname, as population growth and industrialization here is delivering an ever larger contribution to global atmospheric polution and hence atmospheric chemistry.

Fig. 7. Scientific lectures presented by Prof. Kelder (left) and myself

Hennie Kelder then continued with his own lecture on atmospheric research in the Tropics. He gave an overview of earlier cooperations between MDS and KNMI, in the fivties, sixties and seventies, to perform geophysical experiments and establish a nation-wide observation network. The diverse scientific applications of Paramaribo station observations were named, from climate research to the validation of satellite instruments, and the need to maintain a long and reliable observation record. Apart from performing the observations, it is also of importance that Suriname scientists become involved in the research around RADCHIS. The talks with the dean and staff of the Faculty of Technical Sciences (FTW) at the Anton de Kom University were mentioned in this respect. Prof. Kelder concluded by wishing Paramribo station and its personnel lots of luck and a long life and handed a gift to Cor Becker, from KNMI to MDS, to commemorate this day.

Fig. 8. A gift (thermometer with KNMI engraving) from KNMI to MDS, to commemorate the inauguration

It then was my turn to present an overview of the RADCHIS observations up till then, and some first scientific interpretations. I made a poster at an earlier stage summarizing this all, of which copies were given to MDS and University Anton de Kom.

The ceremony was closed with a guided tour through the station culminating in a balloon sonde release. Alas, the strong trade wind that brought refreshment during the ceremony, caused the balloon to go mostly horizontal instead of vertical up. The unwinding sonde (a Vaisala gadget for GPS sondes) therefore crashed into the earth surface and broke off, leaving the balloon to float away all on its own.

This sounds like the end but there was still a dinner that evening to which all attendees were invited. This was at hotel Residence, in a pleasant evironment outside under a thatched roof next to the swimming pool.

Fig. 9. Dinner after the inauguration. L->r: Mr. Wangsawirana, Mr. Plantinga, Ms. Becker, Mr. Kelder, Mr. Becker, Ms. Blinker, Mr. Fortuin and Mr. Blinker.

Life goes on, also after an inauguration. In response to our invitation, Mr. Treffers of the Netherlands Embassy not only agreed to give a talk during the inauguration, but also invited us and a select group to have a dinner at his home. The next evening, on his terrace overlooking the Suriname river by full moon, we were offered the very best food in very good company. Present were Mr. Treffers and his wife, Mr. Plantinga (theme expert at the Netherlands Emabssy) and his wife, Mr Udenhout (Ambassador for Suriname and Ececutive Director of Conservation International Suriname), Mr. van Wijngaarden (Dean of the Faculty of Technical Sciences), Mr. Becker, Hennie Kelder and me.

Apart from this, Hennie and me still had more talks with the dean and staff of the Faculty of Technical Sciences, on possible ways of cooperation. On April 18, Hennie and me gave a joint lecture to students of the Faculty. The interest and enthusiasm of the students was so high, that the lecture hall was filled to capacity and took 2 hours (around lunch time!). Then, to conclude the visit in style, we had a third dinner with the dean and his staff in a very pleasant pub environment.

And this then, really is...

the end of the inauguration.