Palmetto Chapter of the AMS Newsletter
Fall 1999
Palmetto American Meteorological Society Newsletter
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The Palmetto Chapter of the American Meteorological Society held their first fall meeting on September 23 at the Savannah River Site (SRS), a Department of Energy facility located near Aiken, South Carolina. Onsite meteorological functions are performed by the Atmospheric Technologies Group, who hosted a mid-afternoon tour for a dozen participants from wide-ranging areas of the state including Columbia, Sumter, and Charleston.
The tour began in the SRS weather center, where Dr. Robert Addis discussed and displayed a wide variety of functions that ATG performs, including meteorological monitoring, advanced forecasting techniques using a prognostic mesoscale model, and emergency response and preparedness. Although much of the work supports onsite activities, an increasing emphasis is being placed on offsite customer needs with global interests.
Meteorologist Matt Parker then showed and discussed with the group the SRS wind tunnel, which is used in meteorological instrument calibrations for the local tower network. This network consists of nine meteorological towers (200 ft) located throughout the site near production facilities. Mutual-aid agreements with local counties have led to further instrumentation being installed near industrial centers in nearby Augusta, Georgia. This meso-network is important in providing meteorological information (i.e. winds, temperature, moisture) for atmospheric transport applications in the event of a hazardous release within the region. The tour ended with an examination of one of these towers, showing the data logging facilities, tower guy wires, and associated instrumentation. A dinner followed the tour at a local restaurant in Aiken.
Upcoming Meeting
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