Tag: Issue: November/December 2011

NSSL scientist represents NSSL/OAR at American Indian Science and Engineering Society Conference

Posted in Outreach News on by Susan Cobb.

AISESNSSL scientist Bob Rabin recently returned from the 33rd annual American Indian Science and Engineering Society Conference held in Minneapolis, Minn. November 10-12, 2011.  The conference highlighted the academic excellence of high school, undergraduate and graduate American Indian and Alaska Native students, and offered opportunities for career networking.

The conference featured a career fair with exhibitors from industry, universities and federal agencies.  The NOAA booth was staffed by Rabin, sponsored by OAR EEO office, along with folks from the National Ocean Service.   Students expressed interest in internship opportunities within NOAA labs.  Tribal colleges were interested in connecting with NOAA scientists to mentor students in their programs.

Rabin also gave a presentation titled, “Monitoring rainfall and severe weather on native lands:  Scientific and social challenges.”  The talk highlighted the importance of including inter-connectivity in science, the role of Native American culture, and what it offers to the advancement of science and society as a whole.

The 34th AISES conference will be held in Anchorage, Ala. November 1-3, 2012.

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NSSL researcher deployed to the Indian Ocean to study climate

Posted in Forecast Research News, Research News on by Susan Cobb.

NSSL researcher Dave Jorgensen will deploy to Diego Garcia, an atoll south of the Equator in the Indian Ocean from November 1 to December 15 2011.  Jorgensen will be Chief Scientist for convective storm studies using the NOAA P-3 research aircraft in the upcoming research experiment called Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO). The data collected will enable studies of convective systems similar to his previous work done in the west Pacific during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) in 1993.

The Indian Ocean is one of the Earth’s most sensitive regions where ocean and atmosphere interact to affect the global climate. These interactions send impulses out over much of the globe via the phenomenon called the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO).

The results of DYNAMO will help researchers better understand and forecast the weather and climate of the equatorial Indian Ocean and around the world.  An improvement in the climate prediction will have local benefits, such as better projection of sea-level changes and will form a scientific base useful for decision- making on climate adaptation and mitigation locally and globally.

DYNAMO teams will operate five radars, a balloon sounding unit, two research aircraft, three research ships, and will take advantage of surface radiation measurement instruments already in place.

DYNAMO is planned to operate until April 1, 2012. DYNAMO is the U.S. contribution to a larger international effort named the “Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability in Year 2011,” or CINDY 2011.

The project is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Office of Naval Research, NOAA and NASA.  International support comes from Japan, India, France, the Maldives, and other countries.

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NSSL researcher elected AMS Fellow

Posted in People News on by Susan Cobb.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS)  has announced the election of NSSL’s Don MacGorman to AMS Fellow.  Awardees will be honored at the AMS Annual Meeting on January 22-26, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

MacGorman is a lightning researcher, author, numerical modeler, and academician.  His more than 30 year career in storm electrification includes work with early cloud-to-ground lightning detection networks, installation and research from the Oklahoma Lighting Mapping Array (OK-LMA), co-authorship of the book “The Electrical Nature of Storms,” and advocating use of lightning in forecasting, as well as leadership in field campaigns.

Those eligible for election to Fellow have made outstanding contributions to the atmospheric or related oceanic or hydrologic sciences or their application during a substantial period of years.

MacGorman joins seven current NSSL scientists (Brooks, Doviak, Jorgensen, Koch, Lewis, Stensrud and Zrnic), and seven retired scientists (Burgess, Davis-Jones, Holle, Kessler, Kimpel, Maddox and Rust).

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NSSL establishes research partnership with the U.K.

Posted in Collaboration, Outreach News, Warning Research News on by Susan Cobb.

NSSL has established a three-year joint research effort with the United Kingdom’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) to focus on hazardous and severe weather forecasts and warnings, and the design, development and use of weather radar systems.

NSSL and NCAS share a common vision of developing measurement and modeling tools and educational programs that support improved understanding of the interactions of the atmosphere.

The new Memorandum of Agreement defines a framework for collaborative research that includes yearly meetings to exchange information about research plans and priorities, discuss opportunities for cooperation, and review progress on projects.

The U.K. Natural Environment Research Council primarily supports NCAS at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

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