| • |
|
|
|
|||
|
||||
Have you checked the on line COMET Case Studies using the CODIAC Data Management System yet? See:
A short time ago, we solicited the Unidata and NWS Science Operations Officers (SOOs) communities to share how they are using the case studies in their classrooms and offices. We were happy to receive some interesting and diverse responses. The following information has been captured from the notes sent to us.
Be sure to contact us at <support@unidata.ucar.edu> if you have comments or questions regarding the COMET case studies.
This case study was acquired directly from the COMET staff in May 1996. (The CODIAC system was not available at that time.) The latest case available from COMET/CODIAC is the California flood of New Years, 1997, however, and is of interest to our office for a potential hydrology and meteorology training tool. Having visited the CODIAC Web site, I've found that acquiring this case study and future datasets from CODIAC would be convenient and relatively easy to use, and I will likely use this method for acquiring the California flood case datasets.
Dan St. Jean
NWS Boise ID
email:
Dan.Stjean@noaa.gov
Tampa was the last stop in a two week trip for the NGS team. They visited NWS offices in: New York, Washington, DC/Sterling, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Knoxville/Tri Cities, and Birmingham. In addition, they interviewed residents, local and state officials and others who had experienced the storm.
The NWS personnel interviewed or taped were:
This experience varied from the typical local news shoot. Instead of setting up in the operations area with bright lights, and "in your face" camera, they chose a much more subdued approach. They decided to tape interviews in our conference room. After a brief discussion, a Landsat image of Florida, unscrewed from our office entry hall and attached to ceiling panels with clamps and tape became a backdrop. The illumination was soft, using several smaller, dimmer, lighting devices to achieve a film look with video tape.
I had ordered the COMET Case Study for the Storm of the Century. The data came on 8mm Exabyte tape, and the data set was laid out in the standard GEMPAK directory structure. All that was needed to redirect GARP to the data was a quick change in the garp_defaults file. This was a tremendous success! The NGS crew didn't have any shots of satellite, radar or model data, but we were able to provide them with animated graphics from the storm! Ron set up colorful loops depicting the jet stream, satellite and radar. Our thanks for NWS funding of COMET and the work being done with the COMET Case Study archive with COMET, Unidata and JOSS.
Charlie Paxton
National Weather Service Tampa Bay
e:mail:
Charlie.Paxton@noaa.gov
The Blizzard of '93 case study data was first acquired from COMET on 8 mm tape in January 1996 for use in that semester's offering of MEA 444. Nearly 2 GB of sounding and surface data, model analyses and forecasts, satellite image loops, and NEXRAD images were downloaded, and the files were then organized for easy access by the students. Having been already instructed in the use of GEMPAK, the students quickly picked up on the meanings of the file names defining the various pre-generated model graphics metafiles in NTRANS, a component of N-AWIPS. A big advantage gained from the COMET case study was that the students needed to spend much less time preparing such graphics on GEMPAK, which emphasizes programming at the expense of scientific understanding. Previous classes had complained about the time required to generate model-based analyses compared to the interpretation of those analyses. Storm-relative isentropic analyses were created from the model metafiles, so that the adiabatic vertical motion field could be compared to that derived from the forcing terms to the quasi-geostrophic omega equation and to the NGM model vertical motion fields, all of which were readily available in the NTRANS metafiles. Another decided improvement made possible with the Blizzard case study was that the radar and satellite images could be easily manipulated in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment called NSAT. This allowed students to readily examine the cyclone's evolution in multispectral satellite imagery for comparison to the analyzed and forecast vertical motion and moisture fields, and to see from the Melbourne radar the detailed aspects of the severe squall line that ravaged Florida. The looping capability was highly advantageous for being able to relate the diagnostic analysis of the model fields to the patterns of cloudiness and water vapor. At the time that this course was offered, detailed radar image loops were not yet widely available on the Internet, so this was rather novel.
The second COMET Case Study which has been used in MEA 444 is a derecho (long-lived damaging windstorm) event. This dataset was acquired in January 1997 from 8 mm tape, though the CODIAC interface for ordering the COMET case studies had come on line by that time. The value of this case study is several-fold for a class in weather analysis and forecasting. Firstly, it offers the students a different perspective of the role played by quasi-geostrophic dynamics in the evolving weather from that which characterized the Blizzard of '93. In this case, the larger-scale dynamics played a rather modest role compared to the mesoscale forcing for convection associated with frontogenesis, mesolows, the low-level jet, and so forth. Secondly, the derecho event allowed the students to apply concepts taught in the lectures about the environment, forcing, and nature of convection - the satellite and radar images and software for manipulating them proved to be truly exceptional tools for this purpose. Thirdly, several of the pre-prepared NTRANS diagnostic fields directly related to the severe convection forecast problem without the need for the students to spend more time creating the fields than studying the results, just as in the Blizzard case. The Snellman funnel approach was used to study first the large-scale airflow patterns, and then smaller-scale analyses were employed to examine the instability and wind fields near the derecho and other mesoscale features. The pre-generated, color contour-filled graphics once again allowed the students to quickly manipulate through several scales of motion to study the various processes with ease. In fact, the number of graphics was overwhelming, requiring the instructor to carefully select for the student which analyses to study.
The experience at NCSU has been that having an essentially complete digital case study with previously generated model graphics and a flexible and powerful graphics manipulation system represents a remarkable aid to teaching weather analysis and forecasting. The COMET Case Studies truly offer a gold mine for teaching of synoptic- and meso-scale meteorology.
Professor Steven Koch
North Carolina State University
email:
Steve_Koch@ncsu.edu
Keep up the good work. The COMET case study base has been very useful for our courses here at UW.
Lynn McMurdie
INTERNET: mcmurdie@atmos.washington.edu
(206) 685-9405 UUCP: uw-beaver!atmos.washington.edu!mcmurdie
Dept of Atmospheric Sciences
University of Washington
Box 351640
Seattle, WA 98195
| Contact Us • Site Map • Search • Terms and Conditions • Privacy Policy • Participation Policy | |||||
|
|||||
