News Archive
October - December 2007
11/14/2007 - Field Campaigns Generate Interest from Aviation Aficionados in Oklahoma
Dr. Pete Lamb
On November 13, Dr. Pete Lamb attended a meeting of the Norman Chamber of Commerce to talk about the field campaigns that occurred at the ACRF Southern Great Plains site in June 2007. Pete was invited to address the chamber's Aviation Committee, which was particularly intrigued by the use of nine airplanes operating simultaneously during the CLASIC and CHAPS field campaigns. The meeting took place at Max Westheimer Airport Terminal in Norman, Oklahoma.
Joining Pete at the meeting was Mr. Chuck Greenwood, manager of Greenwood Aviation in Ponca City, which provided aircraft hangar space and logistics support for six of the airplanes throughout the campaign. Pete explained how the airplanes were used to make the scientific measurements, while Chuck talked about the different airplanes and their capabilities from a technical standpoint. All the aircraft were coordinated by the ARM Aerial Vehicles Program.
10/19/2007 - Field Campaigns Selected for Fiscal Year 2009
The U.S. Department of Energy program directors for the ARM Climate Research Facility and ARM Aerial Vehicles Program announced the following field campaign selections for fiscal year 2009:
The ARM Mobile Facility will be deployed in the Azores to support the Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CLAP-MBL) field campaign. From April through December, the AMF will be located on Graciosa Island in the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago located about 3,900 km from the east coast of North America. The Azores are ideally located to sample the transition from the overcast stratocumulus regime in the spring to the broken trade cumulus regime in the summer. Led by principal investigator Robert Wood, scientists involved in the campaign will use data from the AMF to study processes controlling the radiative properties and microphysics of marine boundary layer clouds, a high priority science question.
The ARM Aerial Vehicles Program (AVP) will support the Routine AVP Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths (CLOWD) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) field campaign, led by principal investigator Andrew Vogelmann. During this long-term campaign, the AVP will conduct routine flights at the ACRF Southern Great Plains site to sample low-altitude liquid-water clouds in the boundary layer. The purpose is to obtain representative statistics of cloud microphysical properties needed to validate retrieval algorithms and support process studies and model simulations of boundary layer clouds and, in particular, CLOWD-type clouds.
The Radiative Heating in Underexplored Bands Campaign (RHUBC-II) was selected for support by ACRF as an off-site campaign. Led by principal investigators David Turner and Eli Mlawer, RHUBC-II will take place from August to October 2009 at a location near Cerro Chajnantor in Chile, at an altitude of more than 5,000 m. This effort is a follow-on to RHUBC-I, conducted from February 22 to March 14, 2007, at the ACRF North Slope of Alaska site in Barrow. During RHUBC-II, the same spectral band will be explored; however this absorption bands is much more transparent in the dry, low pressure conditions at Chajnantor. These conditions represent the upper troposphere that is poorly observed but important for climate studies. Therefore, significant fundamental advances that are pertinent to reducing uncertainties in the radiation calculation of global climate models will be gained.
For more information, see the ACRF Operations Update for October 15.
10/16/2007 - ACRF Education and Outreach Program Awarded Funding by National Science Foundation
Andrea Maestas, ACRF Education and Outreach Coordinator, was part of a team awarded National Science Foundation funding to engage Native Alaskans in the geosciences through the WGBH Teachers' Domain website.
In July 2007, the National Science Foundation awarded funding to a proposal developed by ACRF Education and Outreach and WGBH Boston—public television's pre-eminent production house. The winning project, titled "Engaging Alaska Natives with the Geosciences," will add digital media and teacher professional development resources related to the Arctic geoscience to the WGBH Teachers' Domain website and use them to engage Native Alaskans in the geosciences.
Andrea Maestas, ACRF Education and Outreach Coordinator, will serve on the project's management team. ARM will offer ongoing access to researchers and scientists engaged in atmospheric sciences, especially those involved with the program's North Slope of Alaska research site. ACRF Education and Outreach will also assist with the development of a series of live training and support sessions led by project partners in collaboration with local Native service providers.
Many of the multi-media resources collected by ACRF Education and Outreach for the development of its interactive kiosk series called "Climate Change: Science and Traditional Knowledge" will be used throughout the project. For more information, see the complete article on the Education news page.
10/16/2007 - The Southern Great Plains Site Welcomes Keith Richardson
Keith Richardson was hired as a Computer Network Manager at the SGP site.
On October 1, Keith Richardson joined the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site as a Computer Network Manager. He came to us from a position with the State of Oklahoma, where he was a network and telecommunications manager. His background includes experience with UNIX and Windows system management, network management, and software and hardware troubleshooting.
Keith's initial tasks will be to learn the systems architectures at the SGP with an emphasis on data transfer from remote sites, then he will then branch out to responsibilities across the ARM Climate Research Facility. Please join us in welcoming Keith!
10/15/2007 - ACRF Joins National Science Foundation Remote Sensing Collaboration
In September, the ARM Climate Research Facility became an official member of the National Science Foundation's Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere, or CASA. Initial discussions for partnering began nearly a year ago. After a series of informative visits and presentations, the decision was made to move forward with membership process. The transfer of interagency funds was completed on September 18, 2007, solidifying the partnership. In the meantime, CASA dedicated a significant effort to support the CLASIC field campaign in June 2007 by providing a network of four scanning X-band radars.
CASA is a multi-sector partnership among academia, industry, and government dedicated to engineering revolutionary weather-sensing networks for the region of the lower atmosphere currently below conventional radar range. For more information about CASA, see http://www.casa.umass.edu.
10/15/2007 - Kelle Smith replaces Jan Gunter as ExtraView Administrator
Kelle Smith assumed the duties of ExtraView administrator after Jan Gunter's retirement in October. ExtraView, an application published by Sesame Technologies, provides the necessary tools for management of the Engineering Change Order (ECO) and the Engineering Work Order (EWO) System. ACRF Engineering uses this tool to accept and track required engineering work for changes, problems, or other issues. ExtraView can be used by the entire ARM community to interface with ACRF Engineering. Information for navigating the ACRF Engineering process can be found at www.arm.gov/publications/brochures/doe-sc-arm-p-06-005.pdf. For assistance in using the system, contact Kelle Smith at kelle.smith@pnl.gov.
Events
11/30/2007 - First U.S.-China Symposium on Meteorology: Mesoscale Meteorology and Data Assimilation
The firs U.S.-China Symposium on Meteorology will be held February 26-28, 2008, at the National Weather Center, Norman, Oklahoma. The goals of this meeting are to define the state of knowledge in the two countries for mesoscale meteorology and data assimilation and identify the most important challenges for the next decade.
See the meeting website or download the announcement (PDF, 74KB) for more information.
11/30/2007 - 4th PAN-GCSS Meeting on: Advances in Modeling and Observing Clouds and Convection
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's ARM Program, NASA, NOAA, and the World Climate Research Program and Meteo France, the 4th PAN-GCSS meeting will be held June 2-6, 2008, at Meteo-France, in Toulouse, France. The GEWEX Cloud System Study (GCSS) investigates cloud systems, their role in the climate system and their representation in models with a view to improving our capability to predict weather and climate using state-of the-art modeling and data assimilation systems. GCSS will hold a meeting to review and discuss "Advances in Modeling and observing Clouds and Convection." Key areas to be discussed at this meeting are:
- New observations and recent field campaigns
- Tropical Convection
- High Resolution Modeling on Large Domains
- Cloud Climate Feedbacks
A list of confirmed keynote speakers and additional info can be found at The 4th PAN-GCSS meeting website. Contributions to the meeting are sought in these key areas as well as in all other areas of cloud research.
Download the meeting announcement (PDF, 68KB) for more details.
10/17/2007 - Announcing the International Radiation Symposium (IRS2008): Current Problems in Atmospheric Radiation
Organized every 4 years by the International Radiation Commission, the International Radiation Symposium (IRS2008) on Current Problems in Atmospheric Radiation will be held during August 3-8, 2008, at Mabu Thermas & Resort-Congress and Exposition Center, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. This will be the first IRS symposium in South America, and it will be hosted jointly by the Instituto de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas (IAG) and Instituto de Fisica (IF) from Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climaticos from Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (CPTEC/INPE), Centro de Tecnologia from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (CT/UFRJ) and Instituto de Recursos Naturais from Universidade Federal de Itajuba (IRN/UNIFEI). The IRS2009 is an opportunity to share ideas and experiences on the current problems in atmospheric radiation from theory and modeling to measurements and applications on weather and climate.
See the first circular for details and deadlines. For more information, news, and updates, watch the official website at http://www.irs2008.org.br.
10/15/2007 - 17th Conference on Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification Set for April
The 17th Conference on Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification, co-sponsored by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the Weather Modification Association (WMA), and organized by the AMS Committee on Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification, will be held April 21-25, 2008 in Westminster, Colorado (between Boulder and Denver). Preliminary programs, registration, hotel, and general information will be posted shortly on the AMS and WMA websites (www.ametsoc.org, www.weathermodification.org). The Conference will run for approximately 4-1/2 days. In addition to invited keynote speakers, there will be a joint AMS/WMA banquet, a panel discussion, and first-ever joint sessions with the AMS Committee on Hydrology and the AMS Board on Societal Impacts.
Employment Opportunities
11/30/2007 - The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego Invites Applications to Fill Positions
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego invites applications to fill one or more positions at the Assistant Professor (tenure-track) level in one or more of the fields listed below. We seek motivated, broad-thinking scientist-educators to establish vigorous research programs and provide intellectual leadership in their fields while complementing existing expertise at Scripps, other UCSD departments, and nearby research institutions.
Review of applications will begin on November 15, 2007, and will continue until positions are filled.
For more information about the position, see the Scripps website.
10/16/2007 - Faculty Position in Climate Science at Florida State University
The Meteorology Department at the Florida State University (FSU) invites applications for a tenure-earning Assistant Professor in Climate Science. The Department seeks candidates with research interests focusing on understanding climate predictability using numerical models and observations. Specific research issues could include, but are not limited to, seasonal to decadal prediction, downscaling, global climate change and its feedback on regional climates, and climate scale interactions of the atmosphere with terrestrial, oceanic and/or cryospheric processes. The successful candidate will be expected to a) conduct state of the art research, b) assist in developing applications based on the above mentioned climate research activities, and c) interact with a team of interdisciplinary scientists. The candidate will also be expected to teach at both the graduate and undergraduate level in meteorology and to help focus interdisciplinary earth science training.
The successful candidate will be associated with the FSU Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS). COAPS is a member of the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC) which is composed of research scientists from FSU, University of Miami, University of Florida, University of Georgia, Auburn University, and University of Alabama at Huntsville who actively perform research on the impact of climate variability in the southeastern United States.
Inquiries about the position may be emailed to the director of COAPS, Dr. Eric Chassignet. Salary and start-up costs are nationally competitive. A Ph.D. is required.
The Florida State University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination for the university community on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran's or marital status, or any other protected group status. Please send by December 7, 2007, a comprehensive C.V., a statement of research interest, and the names and addresses of at least three scientific references by email to mslaton@coaps.fsu.edu.
10/5/2007 - ARM Fellow Position Established at NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)
The ARM Program has established an ARM Fellow position at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton, New Jersey. The purpose of this fellowship is to enhance the use of ARM data in the development, evaluation, and improvement of physical process parameterizations in climate models. The GFDL position will focus on convection and cloud parameterizations in the GFDL climate models. The duration of the position is up to 3 years and is open to postdoctoral candidates or more experienced Ph.D. level research scientists.
More information about this position may be obtained by writing to Dr. Leo Donner (Leo.J.Donner@noaa.gov). The appointment will be made through the UCAR Visiting Scientist Programs. To apply, see the posting on their web site at http://www.vsp.ucar.edu/07gfdl_DOEarm1Dec_open.html. Applications are due December 1, 2007.
