News Archive
July - September 2005
8/18/05 - U.S. Senators Visit the North Slope of Alaska to View the Effects of Climate Change
On August 16, Senators John McCain (Ariz.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Susan Collins (Maine), and Lindsey Graham (S.C.), visited Barrow, Alaska, on a bi-partisan trip to examine the effects of global climate change in cold latitudes. In addition to talking with community members, the senators observed numerous research facilities including the ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF) site, Barrow Environmental Observatory, NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Lab Barrow Station, and the former Naval Arctic Research Laboratory (NARL). On display at NARL were a number of posters, including two from ACRF that presented information about all the ACRF sites and the research underway at NSA. The group ended their trip with a helicopter tour of the area.
News articles resulting from the senatorial visit are available on many news websites, including the Anchorage Daily News, LA Times, Seattle Times, Tucson Citizen, and the Washington Post.
Scientists from around the world will meet in Darwin, Australia, next January to study cirrus clouds associated with tropical convection.
8/18/05 - Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment Makes News in Eos
This coming winter (or summer "Down Under"), ARM scientists are joining a host of international colleagues in Darwin, Australia, to conduct the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment. An article written by scientists involved in the experiment recently appeared in Eos (Vol 86, No 31, 2 Aug. 2005), a weekly newspaper published by the American Geophysical Union. The article provides a brief overview of the experiment, its science objectives, and the collaborators involved.
Taking place in January and February 2006, the experiment will focus on cirrus clouds associated with tropical convection, and is timed to coincide with maximum rainfall during monsoon season across northern Australia. The month-long field campaign involves a fleet of instrumented research aircraft, a ship off the coast, and a network of ground-based observation stations to collect atmospheric measurements in a 250-km area centered at the ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF) site in Darwin. Data from the experiment will be used to improve cloud retrievals from remote sensors at the ACRF site and to validate and improve cloud and global models used for climate research.
The article is also available online at http://www.agu.org/pubs/eos/eo0531.shtml with a valid AGU membership. For more information about AGU publications, subscriptions, and submissions, see http://www.agu.org/pubs/pubs.html.
8/9/05 - ARM Researchers Shine in New Book on 3D Radiative Transfer
New book, funded in part by ARM, hit the shelves this August.
In August, a new book called "3D Radiative Transfer in Cloudy Atmospheres" hit the shelves. Authored by leading 3D radiation scientists from around the world—more than half of whom receive research funding from the ARM Program—this 700-page volume contains expert information on the many aspects of this highly complex subject.
To try and approximate radiant energy exchange in climate simulations, for almost a century scientists relied on simple one-dimensional models; solar and thermal radiation were only allowed to move vertically, up and down. This somewhat crude representation of the atmosphere's radiant energy balance was the best approach science had to offer at the time. In this new publication, developments in 3D cloud radiation during the past few decades are assessed and distilled into a textbook-like tutorial, paving the way for a change in the "business as usual" attitude toward 1D approaches.
"It is time to think of 3D theory as the gold standard in atmospheric radiative transfer, rather than as a perturbation of standard 1D theory," write authors Alexander Marshak and Anthony Davis in the preface of the book, for which they also served as editors.
After two introductory chapters and a section on the fundamental physics and computational techniques, the book extensively treats two main application areas: the impact of clouds on the Earth's radiation budget, which is an essential aspect of climate modeling; and remote observation of clouds, especially with advanced sensors on current and future satellite missions. The book, funded in large part by the ARM Program, is written to satisfy a broad audience of graduate students, researchers, and others interested in cloud-radiation processes in the solar and infrared spectral regions. Published by Springer-Verlag (ISBN#3-540-23958-8), orders may be placed at www.springeronline.com or www.amazon.com for $89.95.
8/5/05 - New Chief Scientist for the ARM Program Announced
Dr. Wanda Ferrell, ARM Program Manager, announced the selection of Dr. Warren Wiscombe as the new Chief Scientist for the ARM Program on Thursday, August 4, 2005. His appointment, to begin October 1, 2005, will be supported through Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dr. Wiscombe was selected based on a peer review process that included several prominent scientists.
Dr. Warren Wiscombe begins his tenure as ARM Chief Scientist on October 1.
Dr. Wiscombe, a [civil servant] scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center since 1984, began collaborating officially with ARM in 1990. As a founding member of ARM, he helped write the very first ARM Science Plan. He can also be credited with contributing to the creation of ARM after he initiated a small field campaign, known as SPECTRE, with Dr. Robert Ellingson. He received his PhD in applied mathematics from the California Institute of Technology. His research has centered on remote sensing and radiative transfer of clouds, single scattering theory, and the development of new satellite system concepts. Research with ARM has included the following Science Team Proposals:
- "Studies of 3D-Cloud Optical Depth from Small to Very Large Values, and of the Radiation and Remote Sensing Impacts of Larger-Drop Clustering" with Alexander Marshak in 2005
- "Understanding and Coping with the Effect of 3D Cloud Structure on ARM Data" in 2002
- "Modeling of Cloud Liquid Water Structure and the Resultant Shortwave Radiation Field Using ARM and Landsat Data" in 1998
- "Modeling of Cloud Liquid Water Structure and the Resultant Radiation Field Based on Scale-by-Scale Statistical Analyses of ARM and Other Data" in 1995.
Dr. Wiscombe steps into the Chief Scientist role held by Dr. Tom Ackerman since 1999. Dr. Ackerman's accomplishments as Chief Scientist include advancing the use of remote sensing tools for measuring cloud properties and applying those measurements to improve understanding of the role of clouds in climate change. Notable advances made during Dr. Ackerman's tenure include the establishment of a third ARM site (Darwin, Australia) in the Tropical Western Pacific locale; testing of ARM parameterizations in climate and weather prediction models; development of stronger connections with the international atmospheric community; and publication of a new Science Plan to guide ARM into the next five years.
Currently, Dr. Wiscombe is planning trips and meetings to begin his dialogue with the ARM Science Team and infrastructure as well as with the general science community.
"Dr. Wiscombe is enthusiastic about his new role, and we are equally enthusiastic about his selection," said Dr. Ferrell.
7/29/05 - You're hired! Brad Orr selected SGP Assistant Site Manager
ARM welcomes Brad Orr to ACRF Operations.
On July 11, 2005, Brad Orr joined ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF) Operations as the assistant site manager for the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Brad previously worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA/ETL), most recently serving as the deputy division chief/research meteorologist in the Microwave Systems Development Division. He brings to ARM his extensive experience operating sophisticated remote sensors in the field and subsequent data processing, working with scanning precipitation and cloud radars, vertically profiling cloud radars, wind profilers, microwave radiometers, and lidars.
Brad is no stranger to the ARM Program. Brad participated in Nauru 99, an international research expedition in the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean, and worked on reanalysis of microwave radiometer data collected during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) field campaign, an experiment conducted on an icebreaker frozen in the Arctic ice pack near the ACRF North Slope of Alaska site. He has also collaborated and published with several ARM Science Team members and most recently played an important role in a high-visibility NOAA project designed to demonstrate the potential of unmanned aerospace vehicles as weather observation platforms. ARM is pleased to have Brad join the ACRF infrastructure team!
7/14/05 - The SGP is in the News!
On Tuesday, July 12, Oklahoma's Ponca City News published an article highlighting an ACRF field campaign that will take place at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in September. The Aerosol Lidar Validation Experiment (ALIVE) will involve the use of ground-based sensors and instrumented aircraft to obtain vertical profiles of tropospheric aerosol extinction. These data will be used to validate the integrity of the associated 10-year historical record of aerosol retrievals from lidars at the SGP, including the Raman Lidar which underwent a significant upgrade in 2004. (To read the article.)
7/7/05 - ACRF Presentation and PowerPoint Template Available for Download
We've done the work for you! Meetings and conferences can provide great opportunities to promote ACRF to the scientific community, which is essential to its success as a national user facility. To make that as easy as possible, we have developed a PowerPoint presentation about ACRF that can be downloaded off the ARM website. The presentation provides a comprehensive overview of ACRF, including background, site, data, and field campaign information. In addition, we are providing an ACRF PowerPoint template to allow you to develop your own presentations. The template features the same professional look as other ACRF communication products. Both products are free to use and download; the Overview Presentation and the PowerPoint Template are available in the ARM Image Library.
Events
7/8/05 - EarthStorm Weather Institute Set for July 18-21
The Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS) will host the EarthStorm Weather Institute July 18-21 at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. This free four-day workshop will give K-12 teachers an opportunity to investigate weather and improve their skills in preparing students to design and implement science fair projects.
For more information, see the EarthStorm website.
7/8/05 - AGU Will Begin Accepting Abstracts for Fall Meeting on July 26
On July 26, the 2005 American Geophysical Union (AGU) will begin accepting abstracts for its Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California. Abstracts will be accepted until September 8. The AGU Fall Meeting will be held December 5-9, 2005, and it is expected to draw a crowd of more than 11,000 geophysicists from around the world. The meeting will cover topics in all areas of Earth and space sciences.
For more information, see the AGU Fall Meeting website.
7/7/05 - 1st International AMMA Conference Announces Call for Abstracts
The African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) will hold its 1st International Conference at the Hotel N'GOR Diarama in Dakar, Senegal, Africa. The conference will take place November 28 - December 4, 2005, which is during the enhanced observing period and just ahead of the AMMA observing period for 2006. Focused on the West African monsoon, the conference aims to bring researchers together from around the world. Conference abstracts (250 words maximum) will be accepted by email until August 15, 2005. The conference will focus on the following themes:
- West African monsoon and global climate
- Water cycle
- Land surface-atmosphere feedbacks
- Prediction of climate impacts
- High impact weather predication and predictability.
For more information, see the AMMA website.
7/1/05 - ARM Kiosk Goes to Washington for Office of Science Exhibit
The ARM Program kiosk will be in the Forrestal Building Lobby June 27 through August 26.
Starting June 27, the ARM Program is participating in an exhibit about the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science in the Forrestal Building lobby. The exhibit was organized to reintroduce the Office of Science to the DOE community and includes posters, scientific artifacts, and interactive kiosks from the seven program offices and DOE national laboratories. The Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, Under Secretary David Garman, and the Secretary's Chief of Staff Eric Burgeson toured the exposition on opening day.
"We at the DOE Office of Science hope our colleagues throughout the DOE complex will make a point of visiting our exhibit in the Forrestal lobby if you are in the vicinity over the next two months," said Dr. Raymond L. Orbach in a DOE Forecast message.
An ARM radiometer joins several other scientific artifacts in the display cases.
In addition to the kiosk, an ARM radiometer is on view in the Forrestal lobby's display cases with the other scientific artifacts. Special notice is also being given to DOE's observance of the 2005 World Year of Physics with banners hanging in the lobby and outside the main entrance to the building. The exhibit runs through September 12.
Employment Opportunities
9/19/05 - DOE Announces Opening for ARM Science Program Manager
The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Climate Change Research Division is seeking applicants for a Physical Scientist, GS-1301-15. The incumbent will serve as the Program Manager for the basic science component of the ARM Program.
The position will be located at DOE Headquarters in Germantown, Maryland, and is a GS-15 grade level. For further information about this position and instructions on how to apply and submit your application, please go to: https://jobsonline.doe.gov/. Only online applications will be accepted until October 18, 2005.
9/16/05 - Physical Science Administrator Position Available in Asheville, North Carolina
The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), part of the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is filling a Physical Science Administrator/ZP-1301-V position in Asheville, North Carolina. The NCDC conducts extensive climate-based activities, including the collection, quality control, preservation and dissemination of in situ and remotely sensed environmental data.
None available at this time.
