November 2006
| Chapter News November 2006 |
|
ASHEVILLE
MinuteS of Meeting
16 November 2006
---John D. Gray.
a. Primary radar network data and products archived at NCDC includes Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) and Next Generation Doppler Radar (NEXRAD) (S-Band) which includes 160 NEXRAD sites in the CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Korea.
b. Other radar network data and products available includes: NOAA regional & CONUS radar-based precipitation mosaic (multi-sensor product), the Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) radar network (X-band), the Environment Canada Radar Network (C-band), and the NOAA 3-D reflectivity and QPE mosaic product at 1km resolution.
c. Potential radar networks data and products in the future include the Department of Transportation Terminal Doppler Weather Radars (C-band), the Phase Array Radar networks, and other global distributed radar networks.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
On November 21, 2006 our organization held nominations for
its five executive board positions. One week later on
November 28, 2006, we elected a new group of officers to
take charge of our organization.
At the November 28, 2006 meeting our organization also made
updates to the club charter, our constitution, which had not
been updated since 2004.---David N. Hampton.
CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
Monthly Meeting Minutes
November 16, 2006
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM by President, Bebhinn Do.
Attendance: 24
Current events included the prior nights severe weather event.
Bebhinn read the treasurer's report in Wyat's absence.
As of 11/14/06 the balance is $5,121.1; of which $4,528.56 is operational and $592.61 is the Academic Achievement Fund. $6,096.17 resides in the CD to bring total chapter assets to $11,217.34.
George Bridgers, Ed chair, discussed this year's upcoming science fair. Franky agreed to be the Wilmington judge once again. The Central Regional Science Fair is coming up in late February and we'll be asking Marvin Maddox if he is interested in judging this fair for the third straight year. Also, Bruce Burleson, a physical scientist in Asheville, may be willing to judge the western NC science fair.
New business: The national meeting is in San Antonio in late Feb. If anyone is interested in attending the chapter breakfast please let Bebhinn know.
Colin Ramage wrote a letter to Janice to say that he would no longer be attending meetings due to his vision and night driving impairment. Bebhinn asked if there was anyone who comes from Durham who might be able to give him a ride.
It was suggested to have a hard copy or two of the monthly chapter newsletter available at the meetings.
Sign in sheet was passed around.
Jerry Watson wants suggestions on getting the word out about meetings. Mike suggested Jeff Orock as a potential source. Stormtrack and NC Storm Chasers websites were also possiblilities. The Division of Emergence Management employs 4-5 mets, according to John White, who may be interested in attending. We could possibly have two lists, member and guest. Meeting space could become and issue if we get too many new members.
Jerry Watson announced our guest speaker, Dr. Sandra Yuter, Asst Professor NC State. Dr. Yuter has been with NC State since Fall 2005. She attended Brown, as well as, University of Washington. Her main course of study is the physics of precipitation. She has led eleven field projects.
Her talk was entitled, "Drizzle. Weather Radar Research Applications - A Sample Platter. Dr. Yuter touched on a number of things her research group is doing to include looking at storms and examining seasonal precip climatology. They studied Portland because of the frequency of rain showers and the orographics of the surrounding area. They looked at three winter seasons. They studied the frequency of storms based on wind (near surface) direction and saw that most came from south to southwest. They looked at precip frequency and where precip falls as related to the direction from which the storm came. They developed a method for daily comparison of obs to forecast model predictions. They made comparisons of 3-D reflectivity and saw differences between obs and the model. Therefore, they concluded that there is a need for 3-D radar observation. They accumulated stats over the entire storm, for 36 storms, 590 hours, studying the cross section of radial velocities and made comparisons to the model. The model showed stronger winds aloft than were observed. A comparison of the frequency of precip above a certain threshold was made. The horizontal compared ok, but the vertical showed gravity waves in the model, which were not seen in the observations. It was important to look at situations where the model and obs had similarities.
One of the key things they looked at with the vertical radar was melting layers. Temperature changes were studied during warm and cold frontal passages. A probability analysis was performed to come up with a statistical analysis based on observed reflectivity aloft. Probability increases with height for a given dBZ threshold. Portable met stations were set up near the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. Droplet size versus "fall velocity" was studied.
Another study looked at tropical precip. Dr. Yuter showed how tropical precip can be very disorganized. They studied "blob sizes" (they disorganized radar reflectivities) versus frequency of tropical precip.
Additionally, the group evaluated precipitation from satellite data. They looked at a 23-year data set, determining its strengths and weaknesses. The TRMM satellite sensors were described. Yuter's group studied deep convection associated with Hurricane Ophelia and found that passive microwave has limitations due to discontinuities in the algorithms. Passive microwave can also show phantom precip. Additionally, passive microwave can incorrectly show cloud ice above the cloud top. The group studied stratocumulus clouds and observed there is more drizzle from broken SC and SC albedo is affected by open structure versus closed cellular structure. These studies were performed with C-band radar mounted on a NOAA ship. More often in closed cells, the drizzle in clouds was observed not to fall. Whereas the open cells showed more reflectivity and drizzle was observed to reach the surface. Data sets showed that the higher rain rate occurred in the transition region.
In summary, we learned that:
Radar data provides 3-D information on storm kinematics and microphysics.
Radar data also provides a wide variety of applications to basic science and operational forecasting.
As federal field project funding decreases, need to utilize microfield projects and US operational radar network data sets for research applications.
Need to work with operational agencies as opportunities present themselves.
Jerry Watson announced that the December 14th meeting would be co-hosted with Ed Schoenborn and would be entitled "Storm Chasers' Holiday, Hurricanes Jean & Katrina Upclose and Personal". Holiday treats will be on hand and it will be a fun event.
Jerry Watson adjourned the meeting at 8:45 PM.---Janice Godfrey.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
November 2006 Joint meeting of DC-AMS and the University of Maryland AMS chapter
After a light dinner and social hour, Jason Samenow and Megan Linkin opened the DC-AMS
meeting on November 16, 2006 in the Computer Science Auditorium of the University of Maryland. This
was the first joint meeting with Maryland’s student chapter, led and hosted by Megan Linkin.
Two Maryland graduate students presented their research findings. Scott Weaver focuses on the
low level jet of the US Great Plains, which transports about one-half of the moisture into the interior of
North America in the warm season, and which enhances instability there. He discussed relationships
among the Low Level jet, precipitation anomalies in the region, and the North Atlantic Oscillation. Modes
of variability of the jet are tied to large-scale circulation patterns, which influence the variations in precipitation
as well as wind speed, and are tied to episodes of floods or of drought in the Plains.
Wallace Hogsett studies the energetics of hurricanes with mesoscale models and visual displays
made possible by Vis5D software. He has found that vertical shear of the wind was vital to explaining
changes in structure and intensity of Hurricane Bonnie. Vertical shear was the cause of certain asymmetries,
notably the non-symmetric eyewalls of the storm.
Dr. Jeffrey Stehr, professor of atmospheric chemistry, considered the great electrical blackout of
August 2003 in eastern North America to be a grand opportunity for an air pollution experiment. Fifty
million people, including one third of the population of Canada, went without power for days. With so
many power plants shut down, what air pollutants were missing, and how was the atmosphere cleaner, if it
was cleaner? With no advance warning of the blackout, Stehr had to find and jump into a small aircraft to
get into the center of the blackout region, in northern Pennsylvania, to measure the air quality. It was
daunting to fly a small plane into a region where radio communications and radar were expected to be
“off.”
Stehr expected to see large reductions in aerosol pollution and improvements in clarity of the
atmosphere, as power plant emissions dominate the pollution by aerosols in the US. In fact the “visual
range,” a measure of visibility, increased by 40 km. But the reduction in ozone was much greater than
expected – measured ozone was in the lowest 5th percentile of all observed values of all time. Sulfur
dioxide (SO2) was also below the lowest 5th percentile.
The “take home” message was that fossil fuel power plants are an extremely important source of
ozone. It had been thought that vehicles were the important source of the precursors of ozone. During the
blackout, the concentrations of ozone were tens of parts-per-billion (ppb) below the “normal” expected
values. Why was ozone so much lower during the blackout? Ozone, being a form of oxygen, will oxidize
anything that can burn, so it gets “used up.” A city at night, when vehicles are not driven, uses up more
ozone than its power plants can supply. So during the blackout, the ozone generated by vehicles during the
day was largely eliminated during the night.
Jeffrey Stehr’s next quest is to figure out why ozone levels have been so low this past summer of
2006 – a rather warm summer, in which ozone should have been elevated.
The meeting concluded about 9:15 pm.---Michael Fortune
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
Meeting Minutes - November 28th, 2006
National AMS Membership
Treasurer Update - Lisa
Social Chair Update - Jesse
Academic Chair Update - Kaj
Cy's Eyes Update - Kaj and Scott
Mteor 342: Liz White and Jesse Wartman
Math 165: Jason Patton and Jesse Wartman
Wx Challenge - Jayson
Iowa Forecast Contest - Jon
Constitutional Amendments
Apparel
Addition of Sophomore Chair - Article IV, 3d.
Addition of Academic Chair - Article IV, 3e.
Addition of Vice President attending LAS Council meetings
Calendars
VEISHEA
Spring Break Trip - Oklahoma
CPR Training
Senior Thesis Symposium
Edwards Elementary Science Night
Pakistan Student Association
Next Meeting: January 23, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
---Rachel Butterworth.
LYNDON STATE COLLEGE
Minutes 11-15-2006
Ryan welcomed the club into the GBM at 7:06pm. There were 39 people in attendance. Ryan had then asked the club to fill out an evaluation form on the events we have had so far. Ryan reminded the club, that WSI is coming to LSC on Wednesday, November 29 @ 11am. Any Upperclassman who want to interview with WSI, please contact Linda Wacholder. Ryan also asked the club about a joint event with Plymouth State AMS. The majority of the club was interesting in bowling in Littleton, NH. Ryan said that there will be another mailing for the NESC after the Thanksgiving break. Ryan announced that we received student chapter honor roll for the 2005-2006 year.
Andrew talked about internship night. There were 32 people who attended and there were 8 presentations. Andrew also announced that Pete Bouchard and Eleanor Talbot are going to be panel speakers at the NESC. He also asked the club to send in pictures of events so he can put them on the website.
Laura had told the club that she had the updated list of attendance at events and that if anyone had any questions to come see her after the meeting. She also stated that the 8th person award will be given out at the next GBM in December.
Eric had announced that dues were already due. If any one still had dues they need to talk to Eric as soon as possible.
Rich had thanked the club for all the help at the talent show. Rich announced that there hasn't been an inch of snow yet so the first inch contest is still going on. Flag football game was fun. Chris Ransford's team won again. After break, there is going to be an events committee meeting to talk about the winter ball, which will be held January 27th. Rich held a vote for a genre of movies for the movie night which is going to be held on December 9th at 7pm. The actual movie will be discussed at the events committee meeting after break.
Joe described the photo contest for the cover of the booklet for the NESC. The science fair date will most likely be a Friday so that local schools can attend. The date for skywarn is still in the works. There will also be Community outreach meeting before Christmas break.
Jim said that he had sent out the Alumni newsletter earlier in the day and received one response. Jim will be updating Alumni emails as some were sent back. Jim also said that he is going to be making a PowerPoint presentation about the club to present to House.
Eric concluded the meeting with the raffle at 7:28pm.---Laura Ballard.
METROPOLITAN ATLANTA
Metro Atlanta AMS Meeting - 11/9/2006
Location: Georgia Tech
Our third meeting of the year was held at GA Tech's Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) Building. After a short business meeting, Dr. Judith Curry, Chair of GA Tech's EAS Department, gave us a presentation about the EAS Department, as well as an update on some of her recent hurricane research.
Business:
As another follow-up from previous meetings, Dr. Chip West (President) has sent off the letter to the NWA requesting to become a local chapter, but he has not yet heard a response. Hopefully, we'll have a joint chapter by the beginning of the year. We will need to vote on the bylaws at the next meeting, and per the constitution, we'll need a quorum with 50% of the paid membership to vote.
We currently have $2,202.48 in the bank after new members' dues.
Chip presented Dr. Curry with the 2005-2006 Best Presentation award for the presentation that she and Dr. Webster gave last year on their research about hurricanes and climate change.
We will not have a meeting in December, since most people will be busy with holiday activities. Thus, our next meeting will be the second Thursday in January. Chip has gotten the initial thumbs-up for us to meet at the ATL Air Traffic Control tower, and just has to finalize the plans. Up to 10 people can go up into the tower at a time (60-80 planes land/take off every 30 minutes, so we will be able to see any delays in progress).
Presentation:
Dr. Judith Curry (Chair, GA Tech Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science (since 2002))
GA Tech programs:
---Trisha Palmer.
o EAS research
o Climate variability and global change
o Environmental quality
o Natural hazardso These three overlap and are related in the different fields of research and study in the EAS department
o Contact Dr. Curry for information on this topic
MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY
November 1st 2006 General Chapter Meeting
-45 members in attendance
-Next meeting will be held 11/15/2006
First student speaker, Eric Meyers, Senior
Eric spoke about the summer internship he held (in summer of 2006). It was a 10 week program in which he received from the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship. Eric interned in Miami, Florida at the Hurricane Research Division.
Second Student Speaker, Brian Edwards, Junior
Brian spoke about the internship he held over the summer of 2006 at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, PA. Brian interned with Chief Meteorologist, Joe Murgo. Brian compiled almanac data and temperatures, looked at model runs, compiled his own forecast, updated graphics for the television forecast, and learned how to use each part of WSI graphics system.
Third Student Speaker, Daniel Eipper, Senior
Daniel spoke about his internship at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. It was a ten week program which involved a lot of research and computer programming. His research project was finding out how aerosols affect cloud properties. Daniel also spoke about how helpful and supportive his mentor was.
Fourth Student Speaker, Jim Kurdzo, Sophomore
Jim spoke about his internship held at WSI. Jim worked in Meteorological Operations for part of his internship. He also worked with the graphics system used by WSI. Jim created a portal to use for training of employees and worked with intellicast. Jim also worked with PDI which issued warning for power companies on the eastern seaboard.
Guest Speakers, Dave Dombek and John Feerick
Dave Dombek, the expert senior meteorologist and John Feerick, meteorologist, spoke about Accuweather and what an internship would entail. They spoke about the application process for the internship and job process. They also spoke about the development of the commercial market, Accuweather history, and products and services that are involved with Accuweather.---Jen Vogt.
NORTH FLORIDA
On Tuesday, November 28th, 2006, the North Florida Chapter held its November meeting. Jessica Fieux, president, opened the meeting. The North Florida AMS T-shirts were discussed followed by Officer Reports. Charlie Woodrum, treasurer, reported that the Chapter currently has $1,483.91 in its account and made $45.31 at its most recent bake sale. Charlie also mentioned that at his most recent membership committee meeting, the idea of a miniature-golf tournament in the spring arose. Vice President, Clark Evans, discussed the canned food drive, which will end December 8th. He also mentioned the Chapter's Holiday Event: The Tallahassee Winter Festival on Saturday, December 2nd. The 3 kilometer Jingle Bell Run opened the celebration and was followed by a parade. Lighting of downtown Tallahassee was included in the festival. Secretary Katie Walls followed Clark by talking about The Relay for Life that will be March 16-17, 2007. The event's proceeds benefit cancer research, a topic that is important to many. Katie then took a vote regarding the Chapter's paying the registration fees; the motion was passed to pay the registration fee of $100.
Michael Porter, Science and Education Chair, opened the Chapter's feature presentation: A Panel Discussion on Outreach Activities. Local Broadcast Meteorologist, Ray Hawthorne, Meteorology Professor, Dr. Paul Ruscher, and graduate student, Jessica Donnelly, participated in the panel, as well as our own Michael Porter. Dr. Ruscher focused on how Outreach Activities help broaden students' horizons beyond weather topics. Outreach's goal is to build better material for earth science teachers in the community. Dr. Ruscher also emphasized the importance of going into the community and proclaiming a love for all sciences, not just meteorology. Jessica learned about Outreach through Dr. Ruscher. She worked in Dr. Ruscher's Globe Program, which is used to broaden the geo-science realm. She said that informal educational techniques in museums and 4-H are the best way to promote our love for science. Kids love those who are passionate about what they do; they don't mind whether or not the speaker is the smartest person in the meteorology world. Our goal is to encourage kids' love for science and in turn education in its entirety. Agreeing with this statement was Ray Hawthorne, who has been a broadcast meteorologist for Tallahassee's WCTV channel for over two years. He has participated in school visits through his job and says that kids enjoy "cool" images, goodies, and fun facts. He also emphasized that teachers appreciate new knowledge as well!
In years past, the North Florida AMS chapter has been involved in local science fairs, the Science Olympiad, and Springtime Tallahassee. We plan to continue and embellish on these Outreach events.---Katie Walls.
PACKERLAND
Winter Chapter News---Peg Zenko.
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
In November, PSUBAMS held two meetings with professors from Penn State. Dr. Craig Bohren spoke about his two favorite topics: meteorology and dogs, while Dr. Ray Najjar spoke about his research in Antarctica.
On November 1, former Penn State Meteorology professor and author of Atmospheric Thermodynamics (with the help of Bruce Albrecht), Dr. Craig Bohren, showed us an application of the physics and thermodynamics that we have learned, to an everyday phenomenon, SMELLING. He educated those in attendance about olfactory training by bringing his prized dogs in for a demonstration. He also went onto explain how the weather may affect a dogs trail of scent.
November 29, Dr. Ray Najjar, professor in the departments of Meteorology and Geosciences, spoke at the final meeting of the semester about his research on dimethylsulfide (DMS) along with his other experiences in Antarctica.
Dr. Najjar, along with others, did fieldwork at the Palmer Peninsula area in Antarctica. He showed us an infrared image of ship tracks, created clouds due to the aerosol particles, which were sulfur based. Sulfur from the ocean comes from phytoplankton organisms. The research was geared to see if there was a DMS paradox, whether the phytoplankton were low and the DMS high. In order to understand DMS, sampled water from the area was tested. The results at this point are still unknown. After his discussion on research, Dr. Najjar went on to show two videos of the sights and sounds of the wildlife in the Antarctic.---Bryan T. Oshinski.
PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY
Executive Board Meeting
Date: November 6, 2006
Minutes: 5:15-5:30pm
Board Members in Attendance: Melissa P, Heather D, Katie P, Katie F, Norm S, Bridgett B
Other Member in Attendance: Chris W
Discussion:
Executive Board Meeting
Date: November 13, 2006
Minutes: 5:15-6:00pm
Board Members in Attendance: Melissa P, Heather D, Katie P, Katie F, Norm S, Bridgett B
Other Member in Attendance: Chris W
Discussion:
All Members Meeting Agenda
Date: November 14, 2006
Minutes: 6:00pm-6:30pm
Board Members in Attendance: Melissa P, Katie F, Katie P, Norm, Bridget, Heather
Attendance: 30
Discussion:
Executive Board Meeting
Date: November 20, 2006
Minutes: 5:15-5:45pm
Board Members in Attendance: Melissa P, Heather D, Katie P, Katie F, Norm S, Bridget B
Discussion:
Executive Board Meeting
Date: November 27, 2006
Minutes: 5:15-5:45pm
Board Members in Attendance: Melissa P., Heather D., Katie P., Katie F., Norm S., Bridget B.
Other Members in Attendance: Chris W.
Discussion:
---Heather Dinon.
RENO-LAKE TAHOE
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006
The meeting was called to order by chapter president Brian O'Hara at 5:30 pm PST.
Evening's program:
Chapter member Lupita Paredes-Miranda, and chapter advisor Dr. Pat Arnott, gave the evening's presentation. They discussed their research on atmospheric aerosols in Mexico City. The title of their presentation was "Mexico City: Confluence of complex meteorology and air pollution - Photoacoustic measurements of aerosol light absorption and scattering at four sites in and near Mexico City".
Weather briefing:
Phillip Marzette, chapter vice president, gave the evening's weather briefing.
Officer reports:
There were no officer reports this meeting.
Committee Reports:
Brian O'Hara (of the weather calendar committee) discussed possible funding of the proposed weather calendar projects. There are currently three possible ways of funding the projects:
New business:
There was no new business.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 pm PST.---Serena Chew.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
Meeting 3: November 28th
There were 22 people in attendance.
John Cifelli gave a presentation on his internship at NBC Atlantic City from over the past summer and fall. We discussed plans to sell snowflake ornaments to raise money for the Club, as well as plans to enter the Big Chill, a 5km run benefiting kids in New Brunswick. Sign up sheets for both were handed out, with a sizable number of people taking part. Also discussed were the plans to take part in a dinner conference on Climate change Wed. December 6th. This is a joint meeting between the Meteorology club, as well as the Environmental Engineering club. Meteorology professor Dr. Robock will present on climate change and its impacts, as well as other speakers. Brian Cerruti and Meghan Liegh signed up to make a poster for AMS. Steph Matheson and Nick Mangiereri rounded it out with weather Trivia.---Joshua Cuzzone.
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
The November meeting was held in O’Neil Hall room 301.
Adam Wallace, Secretary, discussed ordering T-Shirts and
passed out order forms. Professor Abell announced
opportunities for undergraduates to tutor students taking
meteorology courses. Dr. Pasken presented pictures of the
field campaign he participated in during August in Cape
Verde Islands. Chapter member Pete Kozich presented a
review of the 2006 hurricane season. Emily Eisenacher,
President, announced the winner of the Hurricane Contest and
introduced the Snowfall Contest that will carry into next
semester.---Emily Eisenacher.
SMOKY MOUNTAIN
The November meeting of the Smoky Mountain Chapter of the American
Meteorological Society was held on the 20th, with everyone (around ten
people) meeting first for dinner at Barley's Taproom in the Old City of
Knoxville. The meeting then reconvened at our usual room on the UT Ag
campus for a talk by Dr. Mac Post of the Oak Ride National
Laboratories. Dr. Post spoke about "Stalking the Wild North America
Terrestrial Carbon Sink". The following was an abstract of his
presentation: "Several lines of evidence indicate that North American
terrestrial natural ecosystems are removing 600 (plus or minus 300)
million tons of carbon per year as CO2 from the atmosphere. The entire
northern hemisphere may be removing as much as 1,500 million tons of
carbon. These estimates are derived from indirect analyses of
atmospheric CO2 concentration measurements (top-down analyses) or from
extrapolation of relatively sparse ground based measurements (bottom-up
analyses). One approach to improving bottom-up analyses is to utilize
process based ecosystem carbon cycle models in combination with
experiments, monitoring, and remote sensing. This approach has the
potential to determine the underlying factors that regulate the past,
present, and future magnitude of terrestrial carbon uptake. An analysis
of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange with the atmosphere over
the period 1930-2100 was constructed using a high performance computer
model. The major uncertainties that need to be addressed were also
discussed.---David Gaffin
SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
http://www.ametsoc.org/chapters/cup/
November 2006
The California University TIMES newspaper offered the chapter a spot in their weekly publication. Chapter members Michael Allen, Carrieanne Carstater, Chad Meehan, and Nicole Persons compile the weekly edition entitled “Cal Cast”. The back page features multi-colored graphics, a climate corner section, and a weather fact for each week. Besides the back portion, the front page includes a small forecast for the local region.
Dr. Cary Mock, associate professor at the University of South Carolina, visited California University of Pennsylvania on November 3, 2006 as the second Colloquium Series speaker for Fall 2006. His presentation entitled was “Reconstructing Meteorological Hazards, Climate, and Societal Impacts from Historical Archives”, and 106 people gathered in Eberly 110 to hear Dr. Mock’s discussion. Dr. Mock graduated from the University of Oregon (1994) and is currently working with the National Science Foundation to study climatic extremes which occurred in the 19th century.
During the November 16 meeting, December 2005 Graduate of California University of Pennsylvania and current Honorary Member of the SW PA Chapter, Guy Nestor paid a surprise visit. He recently accepted a job with the Mobile Weather Team, Inc. in Peoria, IL (https://webmail.cup.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.mobileweather.com). The private company is expanding, and recently hired two new meteorologists. Forecasting for the European PGA/LPGA Tours, Champions Tour in the U.S., and local radio, Guy Nestor will be moving to Illinois this month. Previously, Guy worked at HSTV 19 in Uniontown as Chief Meteorologist. Telling stories of his days at CAL, he reminded students of his grades in the classroom yet present-time successes in the real world. Guy told the chapter members to “Get out and get involved; take every class that you can”.
During the November 16 meeting, chapter members elected a new vice president. Although the ballots will be kept confidential until the Winter Social in December, four deserving candidates: Carrieanne Carstater, Chris Gilson, Brian Hutton Jr., Kyle Olmstead, and Brandon Todd all accepted nominations for the position.
Two weeks following Dr. Mock, Dr. Walker Ashley from Northern Illinois University traveled to the campus. The Southwest Pennsylvania Chapter hosted the final speaker in the Fall 2006 Colloquium Series as nearly 100 people gathered in Eberly Science and Technology. Earning his Ph. D. from University of Georgia, Dr. Ashley now emphasizes on meteorology, climatology, and GIS. Dr. Ashley’s presentation was entitled “Derechos and Tornado Fatalities: Associated with Nature’s Most Intense Windstorms”, but he also discussed graduate school possibilities. His presentation featured a question and answer session afterwards.
Educational Outreach has sent a proposal concerning our Weather Fest 2007. This educational outreach event will enable students from around the Tri-State area to gather and learn about weather, forecasting skills, and talk with professionals. Although the plans are still in the initial stages, goals for this event are high as the chapter attempts to contact 100 local school districts concerning the program. Also, five chapter members visited Bethel Park Senior High School on November 9, 2006 for a career fair. Other local districts gathered at this event, learned more about our program, and furthered their understanding of weather phenomenon. The Tornado Maker was an interest to many who attended.
On November 30, the Southwest Pennsylvania Chapter organized a movie night as a way to get together before finals week. “Office Space” premiered in the Weather Center (Eberly 270). Food and pop was provided by the chapter as well. It was a great night of fun for the twenty attendees.---Michael J. Allen.
SUNY OSWEGO
November 2006
Piez Hall
---Meredith Mandel.
TWIN CITIES
The November meeting of the Twin Cities chapter of the American Meteorological Society was held on November 21, 2006. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by President Chris Bovitz. Vice President Shelby McQuay, Secretary/Treasurer Lori Bovitz, and newsletter editor Kurt Scholz were also in attendance. About 20 members and potential members were also present.
The secretary and treasurer reports were read and approved.
Old business focused on numerous items:
New business focused on a few items:
Upcoming Events:
The meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
After the meeting, John Wetter discussed experiences working as a Skywarn volunteer and storm chasing. John is the Skywarn coordinator for the local NWS office and does training for some counties in the area. He works with the office to help improve the coverage and the storm spotting process to get the best information into the office as quickly as possible during severe weather events. He also chases extensively and shared experiences, video, and toys from those chases. John is also a storm chaser for KSTP-TV, and he described how chasing for a TV station was different than not. Finally, John shared some of the "toys" used by storm chasers including equipment and software. GRLevel3 is used extensively to video radar data along with warnings and lightning. He also shared the new GRLevel2 that provides volumetric displays of the radar data. New information about storms is being learned now that real-time volumetric displays are available. It was noted in storms producing tornadoes have a reflectivity finger reaching down from the top of the storm at the time of the tornado. John mentioned that additional research is being done on how this is connected to tornado formation.---Lori Bovitz.
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA - HUNTSVILLE
UAH AMS Meeting Notes
November 6, 2006
The UAH AMS has decided to collect dues this year of $5.00 per semester. Other fundraising ideas include the bake sale that took place on November 17, 2006 where ~$175 dollars were raised.
Elise Johnson brought up an idea of giving school talks at local elementary schools about severe weather. Also, she came up with the idea of doing a poster contest about severe weather awareness.
Throughout this year the UAH AMS has been celebrating students' birthdays each month. We have been celebrating them on the 2nd Friday of each month.
We are in the process of creating a poster for the AMS Conference in San Antonio, TX. We will have several pictures with captions.
Finally, we will be having a Christmas party the first week in December before everyone goes home. We have rented a place, so we need everyone to bring food and drinks.---Holly Searcy.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Clifford Hall, Rm. 264
5:00 p.m.
Call to Order:
President Kira Dordal called the AMS meeting to order at 5:02.
Past Minutes:
Last meeting:
-We discussed some issues with paying back the AtSc Dept. for last year's banquet, although we have been working on this, so there hopefully should not be any problems with banquet tickets for this year; we voted to get short-sleeved t-shirts and an email has gone out about signing up for these; we discussed going rock climbing sometime this semester, and an email will be going out trying to get a time figured out for all who are interested; decided to send out a letter to Belinda Jensen to invite her to be our banquet speaker
Officer Reports:
Advisor:
-Registration for spring classes is beginning!! All Atmospheric Science majors have a hold on their PeopleSoft accounts and must meet with their advisor before being allowed to register.
Vice President:
-The national AMS chapter has scholarships posted on their website. Check it out at http://www.ametsoc.org/amsstudentinfo/scholfeldocs/index.html.
Treasurer:
-Current balance is $406.53
Old Business:
-We had 12 people go trick-or-treating on Halloween; we went to five professors' houses, and a fun time was had by all.
New Business:
Committees:
Fundraising:
-We will be selling hot chocolate in the link. This will probably be the week before finals; either Dec. 4 or Dec. 6
T-Shirts:
-We are getting a 50% discount on the shirts because we already have a screenprint drawn up for our design. We also needed to pick out the final shade of electric blue that we want - a catalog and tally sheet went around at the meeting to decide. Email Kelsey.watkins@und.nodak.edu if you want to sign up to buy one!
Activities:
-Don't forget about the photo contest!! "Fall Colors" is the category until November 15. Feel free to send in whatever sort of picture you have relating to fall; even if you're not an expert photographer! Hopefully we can get more than six entries this month…
-We are still planning on going bowling and/or curling next semester.
-There is still a group that wants to go rock climbing at the Wellness Center this semester. An email should be sent out to get feedback on interest and times that will work.
Banquet:
-We are working on the letter to send to Ms. Jensen regarding being our speaker
Holiday Party:
-The annual AtSc Department Holiday Party will be on December 7 over lunchtime. Watch for more details as the time approaches.
Outstanding Faculty:
-You can nominate any professor(s) for an Outstanding Faculty Award. Please nominate our Atmospheric Science professors!! The deadline for this is November 17, and you can find the nomination form at www.und.edu/awards.
Announcements:
-The National AMS conference is in San Antonio, TX on Jan 14-18, 2007. December 1 is the early rate deadline; December 22 is the higher rate deadline; online registrations are accepted through January 16. (We had a meeting for all those planning on attending following the normal AMS meeting on Tuesday.)
-Studio One shows are every Thursday at 5:00pm. If you want to sit in at a live show and get a tour, tickets are free. Just talk to Kira or Dan if you'd like to come!
Adjournment:
Meeting was adjourned without objection at 5:14.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Clifford Hall, Rm. 264
5:00 p.m.
Call to Order:
President Kira Dordal called the AMS meeting to order at 5:00.
Past Minutes:
Last meeting:
Officer Reports:
Advisor:
Treasurer:
Old Business:
New Business:
Committees:
Fundraising:
T-Shirts:
Activities:
Banquet:
Holiday Party:
List-Serv:
Announcements:
Adjournment:
---Katy Olson.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
On Nov. 16th, we had a departmental and club meeting. So here is a run-down of what was happened:
---Reba Redd.
WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA
November 14, 2006
The Collonade Restaurant
Tampa, FL
Our 2nd convergence of the season was held at the beautiful Collondae Restaurant, located right on the bay in Tampa with a beautiful view of the bay and city. For this meeting we were fortunate to have as our guest speaker Fellow AMS member Dave Anderson. Dave is an electrical engineer by trade, and he has owned his own ISP for 13 years. He is also an amateur radio operator and is active in the NWS skywarn spotter program.
Dave's topic was PC based radar systems and how his ISP system takes full advantage of some of the latest 3-D renderings of radar images. Dave's knowledge and participation in amateur radio operations led him to the technology called "APRS" which allows them to send real time weather data from personal weather stations through the internet where it can be absorbed by other websites and disseminated. He discussed how he set up his own radar data server and the software he uses to display 3-D radar images with the capability to rotate at any angle.
He began his presentation with an overview of his website (www.aprsfl.net) explaining in detail, using charts and graphs, on how information is obtained and distributed. He also gave an overview of Doppler Radar systems, showing graphs of beam size and indicating how the images get more distorted the farther out from the radar source they are. He discussed the Doppler shift and how the movement of a target moving toward or away from the radar can be measured.
He went into detail about different (NIDS) data levels (level III and II) and the advantages and disadvantages of each. He used graphics and tables to show the differences between the two, for instance II is superior in detail with more colors, but a much larger file size is needed. Level III is most commonly used, but somewhat limited in color and tilt of images. Level II has the ability to show phenomena like gust fronts and how this data can easily be missed in other levels. Gust fronts are important in our area when we get sea breeze boundary collisions during summer thunderstorms, and with level II much more detail can be observed.
The real fun began when he started showing 3-D radar images. His web sight has the capability of rotating these images while maintaining amazing clarity. As there were storms in Louisiana the night of his presentation, he used this real time radar data to zoom into particular storm cells and tilt the 3-D images so you could see the actual cell (and the heaviest precipitation) from all angles: above and from all sides. He can rotate the images so it appears that you're 'flying' around the cell at any level. The images show the cells extending to higher level of the atmosphere, showing cloud tops and where the heaviest precipitation is within the cell.
He also presented a case study of the Moore Ok tornado in 1999, one of the strongest storms ever recorded with the Doppler on wheels (winds 318 mph) He explained the software he used, called GR Level X. (GR stands for Gibson Ridge - named for the man who developed it). He again compared the differences in the data levels (II versus III). He zoomed in to the images, showed all the tilts of the radar and the different stepping sweeps of the radar. The radar image even picks up the debris being drawn into the tornado!
The software he uses for his website (www.aprsfl.net) is a very reasonable $250 and he explained the requirements to bring these images to life on one's own home computer system. It was a fascinating meeting and considering Dave is not even a meteorologist, this made his presentation all the more impressive.
Andy Johnson conducted a brief business meeting to start the evening off. Various topics were discussed, including last meeting minutes, the treasurers report, website discussion, the annual upcoming AMS meeting, and local upcoming meetings including our annual banquet plans.---Andy Johnson.
WRIGHT MEMORIAL
November Newsletter------Mary Bedrick.
[ About the AMS
| Policy Program
| Conferences, Meetings, and Symposia ]
[ Education Programs and Resources ]
[ History of Earth Sciences
| Journals and Publications
| Local Chapter Information
| Member Services ]
[ News and Information
| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ]
[ Disclaimer
| Contacts at AMS
| Email AMS Web Administrator ]
 |
Click on Logo to Return to AMS Home Page © 2000 American Meteorological Society Headquarters: 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-3693 Email: amsinfo@ametsoc.org Phone: 617-227-2425; Fax: 617-742-8718 |