News Archive
October - December 2006
12/18/2006 - ARM External Data Center Celebrates Ten Years of Service
External Data Center was recognized for 10 years of service (click for larger version).
In celebration of its tenth year of operation, the ARM External Data Center (XDC), which is managed by Brookhaven National Laboratory, was recently recognized for its outstanding contribution to the scientific user community. The XDC collects and processes data from other climate monitoring and research programs to supplement the data collected at the ACRF sites. ARM provides these data from external sources because they are usually not easily accessible from their original source.
ACRF Program Director Wanda Ferrell presented XDC manager Richard Wagener with a plaque on November 10.
XDC staff celebrated their milestone during their annual Winter Solstice Celebration. Left to right, standing: Rick Wagener, Kathy Doty, Alice Cialella, Min Liang, Laurie Gregory, Graham Campbell. Left to right, sitting: Lynn Ma, Bill Behrens, Alison Tilp.
12/4/2006 - Arctic Research on Senator's Screen
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) recently visited the North Slope of Alaska site in Barrow.
In late October, U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), his staff, and executive staff from the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) visited the ACRF North Slope of Alaska (NSA) site in Barrow. Site operations staff showed the visitors around the site's instrument shelter and explained how scientists use data from the site for research on climate change. During a weather balloon launch, the senator proved he is no stranger to atmospheric science as he reminisced about how weather balloons used to be tracked with optical theodolites. Mounted on a tripod with two perpendicular axes for following the path of the balloon, the theodolite was a much more difficult sonde tracking procedure than today's antennae and telemetry technologies.
The main purpose of the senator's trip to the area was to look at the science programs currently in place in Barrow, and to tour a proposed hospital site and the new Barrow Global Climate Change Research Facility currently under construction. He was interested in hearing about the types of Arctic studies underway, why Arctic research is useful, and any recent findings, particularly with respect to erosion and climate change issues. The upcoming International Polar Year (2007-2008) is expected to bring additional visiting dignitaries to the North Slope area.
11/13/2006 - Dr. Steve Ghan Appointed to Journal of Geophysical Research Editorial Board
Dr. Steve Ghan was recently appointed as an editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Congratulations to Dr. Steve Ghan, recently appointed to a 4-year term as editor for the Atmospheres section of the Journal of Geophysical Research, published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). In his role as editor, Steve has the authority to accept or reject papers, as well as the responsibility for attracting new and interesting research to the journal. Along with fellow editors, Steve will play a critical role in assuring the journal continues to be the most important in its field, and serve the needs of both authors and readers.
In his congratulatory letter, AGU President Tim Killeen stated that the search committee spoke highly of Ghan's commitment to improve the journal, notably by promoting additional special sections devoted to specific research areas. They also noted that Ghan's broad research interests and ties to the international research community made him especially qualified to enhance the interdisciplinary aspects of the journal.
The AGU is a worldwide scientific community that, through cooperative research, advances the understanding of Earth and space for the benefit of humanity. It publishes more than a dozen peer-reviewed journals ranging from earth and oceans to atmosphere, space, and planets.
10/4/2006 - Harvard Student Awarded ARM Fellowship
Maryann Racine was awarded the ARM Program Fellowship.
Maryann Racine was recently awarded the U.S. Department of Energy's ARM Program Fellowship. The fellowship is offered annually through the American Meteorological Society's Industry/Government/Graduate Fellowship and Undergraduate Scholarship program to help qualified students achieve educational goals in the atmospheric sciences and climate studies.
Maryann is planning to pursue her Ph.D. in environmental science and engineering at Harvard University. There, she will study atmospheric chemical processes to gain a better understanding of factors involved in climate change. Maryann graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a Bachelor's of Science degree in chemistry, and she plans to use chemistry and atmospheric science to study how the chemistry of the atmosphere influences climate.
10/4/2006 - GEWEX Touts ARM Data Sets for Climate Assessment Activities
ARM data sets are featured in the latest issue of GEWEX News.
In the latest newsletter of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), the opening commentary features the use of data acquired from the ARM Climate Research Facility's Southern Great Plains site. The detailed data sets are described as a "benchmark against which [global climate model] GCM developers can compare their model codes for cloud-free, liquid cloud and ice cloud conditions."
GEWEX is a program initiated by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) to observe, understand, and model the hydrological cycle and energy fluxes in the atmosphere, at land surface, and in the upper oceans. GEWEX activities in the climate change area can be broadly classified as: (1) studying climate processes and feedbacks that account for changes in climate; (2) developing and distributing data sets to facilitate the identification of variability and trends in water cycle variables and to improve process representation in global and regional climate models; and (3) carrying out model studies to assess the relative importance of factors that could contribute to climate change.
For more information, read the August 2006 issue of GEWEX News (Volume 16, No.3).
10/2/2006 - New NSA Site Manager Named; Science Liaison Joins the Team
Dr. Mark Ivey to be NSA Site Manager beginning October 1.
As of October 1, Dr. Mark Ivey officially became the ARM Climate Research Facility's (ACRF) North Slope of Alaska (NSA) Site Manager. From 1993 to 2000, Mark worked for the ARM Program as manager of the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) Atmospheric Radiation and Cloud Station (ARCS) engineering team and ARCS integration site at Sandia National Laboratories. In 2000, Mark took an unofficial sabbatical and spent four years at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman. During this time, he was a senior research engineer at MSU's Spectrum Lab, taught as an adjunct professor in the electrical and computer engineering department, and served as a program manager for the Scientific Materials Corporation, a technology-transfer partner to MSU. In 2004, he returned to Sandia Labs, and traded MSU Bobcats for Alaskan polar bears and arctic-grade parkas when he accepted a position as the NSA Operations Manager.
Mark has a B.S. in environmental engineering from New Mexico Tech and a M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico. Legendary trout streams and fly-fishing drew Mark to Montana, but the unparalleled blue skies of New Mexico and fresh-roasted green chili brought him home. Mark finds the great open spaces of the North Slope, the challenges of the arctic environment, and an opportunity to work with the wonderful, independent people of Alaska added benefits of his new position. Please welcome Mark and support him in his new role as NSA Site Manager.
Dr. Bernie Zak begins new role as NSA Science Liaison starting October 1.
On October 1, Dr. Bernie Zak moved into the new and challenging role of NSA Science Liaison. Bernie was manager for the NSA site since the early planning and implementation phases of ARM's NSA site, and he has more than a decade of experience working on the North Slope of Alaska. As a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, Bernie is using his extensive knowledge of the North Slope to connect wide-ranging technical capabilities at Sandia to issues of national importance, especially relevant for the International Polar Year 2007-2008. After October 1, Bernie will split his time between work for Sandia and ACRF-related work. Bernie will report to the ACRF Operations Manager in his new position.
As NSA Science Liaison, Bernie will promote the use of the ACRF NSA facilities for the DOE ARM Program and will assist with coordination of NSA activities with local, state, and federal organizations and agencies. He will provide information and make recommendations on activities associated with the new Barrow Global Climate Change Research Facility. Bernie will continue to serve as the principal point of contact for the NSA with the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC), the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS), and continue to coordinate activities with the interagency SEARCH (Study of Environmental Arctic Change) program through the ACRF Program Manager. In his new role, Bernie will also assist the NSA Site Manager with the coordination of field campaigns at the NSA as needed. Please congratulate Bernie and support him in his new role as NSA Science Liaison.
Events
10/10/2006 - Workshop on Systematic Errors in Climate and Numerical Weather Prediction Models (NWP) Deadlines Approaching
The JSC/CAS Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (WGNE) and the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) will host a Workshop on Systematic Errors in Climate and NWP Models. The workshop will be held in San Francisco, California, February 12-16. The workshop will be held at the newly renovated financial district Hilton and will address a broad spectrum of systematic errors in climate and numerical weather prediction models.
Registration and abstract deadlines are October 31. For more information, please see the workshop website.
10/2/2006 - 10th Conference on Electromagnetic and Light Scattering by Nonspherical Particles (ELS10) Will Take Place in Turkey
The 10th Conference on Electromagnetic and Light Scattering by Nonspherical Particles (ELS10) is set for June 17 - 23, 2007, in Bodrum, Turkey, it is collocated with the 5th International Symposium on Radiative Transfer.
This internationally recognized conference will cover all aspects of single and multiple light scattering with special emphasis on scattering by nonspherical and heterogeneous particles and various applications. The main objective is to bring together experts in theory, computations, and experiments as well as those working on specific applications (geophysical, environmental, biomedical, astrophysical, etc.) to foster collaborations.
ELS10 will have both oral and poster presentations. As always, the contributors will be invited to submit full-size paper versions of their presentations to a special issue of the Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer.
More details, further information, and important deadlines are available on the following website: http://www.engr.uky.edu/~menguc/ELSX.
Employment Opportunities
11/27/2006 - Postdoctoral Research Position Open at the University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is currently seeking highly motivated individuals for a postdoctoral research position with the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences. Housed on the North Campus of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, the department has excellent facilities, including computer networks, engineering and technical support, research equipment and laboratory space.
The position involves using a cloud-resolving model to examine the response of clouds to increases in aerosol concentrations and using data gathered by the ARM Program to validate the model. The candidate will be expected to interpret satellite and global model data to determine the conditions that will be important for a global assessment of the effects of aerosols on clouds and to carry out this assessment using a cloud-resolving model. Familiarity with cloud-resolving models and atmospheric radiation transport are required. The successful candidate will join a team in the process of adding the capability to treat aerosol-cloud interactions in the NCAR climate model and help in evaluation of that model.
Interested applicants should send a resume and the names of three references to
Prof. Joyce E. Penner
Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences
The University of Michigan
2455 Hayward Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2143
10/30/2006 - Stony Brook University Seeks Six Faculty Members
Stony Brook University is acquiring a large (100 Teraflops class) supercomputer to serve the core hardware for a newly formed New York Center for Computational Science (NYCCS). Therefore, Stony Brook University is seeking six tenure-track or tenured positions in the area of large-scale computational science that aims to study physical, biological and social science problems. Scientists in atmospheric sciences and oceanography who can demonstrate expertise of high-performance computing are encouraged to apply. Examples of focus areas include climate modeling, numerical weather prediction, geophysical fluid dynamics modeling, biogeochemical and ecosystem modeling. Successful candidates will hold a nine-month academic calendar year faculty position in the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres and the Marine Sciences Research Center, and will be affiliated with the NYCCS.
A Ph.D. with outstanding research and teaching potential and experience in large-scale computing is required. Review of applications will begin December 15, 2006, and continue until the six positions are filled. More information about NYCCS can be found at www.stonybrook.edu/nyccs. More information about the atmospheric and marine sciences programs at Stony Brook can be found at http://atmos.msrc.sunysb.edu and http://www.msrc.sunysb.edu.
To apply, please send a resume, a statement of research and career goals, a statement of teaching goals, the proposed Stony Brook departmental affiliation, and the name, institutional address, and email address of three references to Ms. Faith Mirabile, NYCCS Search Committee, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-1401. Please request each of these three references to send a letter. Please arrange for electronic copies (as pdf files) of all submitted information to be sent to Faith.Mirabile@stonybrook.edu. If you have questions about this advertisement, please contact Ms. Regina Gartin at 631-632-8009 or at ggartin@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
10/2/2006 - Bureau of Meteorology Centre Seeks Senior Research Scientist
The Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) is seeking a Senior Research Scientist to join the Weather Forecasting group and play a lead role in the study of tropical cloud systems and their impacts in collaboration with the ARM Program. The three-year assignment will focus on the analysis of data collected during the Tropical Warm Pool - International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) including polarimetric radar, cloud radar and other observations. Analysis of long-term data sets to put the TWP-ICE data into long term context will also be a prime area of research. The position closes on September 29, 2006.
For a complete description and information about how to apply, see the announcement.
