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The Unidata Program Center is a member of the UCAR Community Programs, is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and is funded by the National Science Foundation.
UCAR Proposal 96-34
Submitted 15 July 1996
Recent improvements in meteorological and other environmental observations via the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) have made possible an enhanced utilization of Unidata software and systems for multiparameter data analysis. At the same time, computer interactive training is being designed and adopted for numerous natural science degree programs. An opportunity exists now to significantly extend Unidata capabilities to classroom and research training in atmospheric and related scientific fields. Unidata, in conjunction with the UCAR Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET), proposes to design and conduct a one-week faculty workshop on these topics in Boulder, Colorado during June 22-27, 1997. This workshop will follow a two-week Faculty Course in Satellite Meteorology to be held by COMET. The Faculty Course will provide theoretical background and hands-on training in satellite remote sensing.
The GOES-8 and GOES-9 satellites launched in the previous two years are providing multispectral imagery routinely at 15 minute intervals, and multispectral atmospheric sounding profiles hourly. The radiance sensitivity and image pixel field of view are also significantly improved from past weather satellites. Dramatic improvements in mesoscale weather nowcasting and the visualization of atmospheric processes are already noted by operational weather forecasters and in the research community. In addition, the data can be applied to numerous other scientific studies in related fields such as oceanography, ecology, air pollution, and water resources. Adaptation of the data sets themselves in conjunction with other information sources (radar, lidar, ground-based profilers, instrumented aircraft, point measurements and other satellites) requires interactive, quantitative analysis capabilities, and animation of graphics or multichannel imagery for monitoring parameter distributions and extrapolating to future conditions. The analytical techniques can best be taught and explored through the use of computer-interactive information exchange and visualization, another area of emerging technology and methodology. A Unidata workshop held in 1994 provided meteorology faculty with guidelines and techniques for teaching weather analysis relevant to the National Weather Service (NWS) Modernization. 1 The proposed 1997 workshop will build upon the curriculum recommendations, scientific concepts, and teaching methods presented at the previous workshop, and provide more specialized background for the attendees in the use of satellite data, computer-based information exchange and interactive software tools for meteorology as well as related sciences.
The Unidata community, including those in scientific fields related to atmospheric sciences who use Unidata software and systems, will benefit directly from enhanced interdisciplinary analysis capabilities that utilize satellite and multiinstrument data interpretation.
1 NSF funded the UCAR/Unidata Proposal 93-U2 for a workshop entitled: Teaching Mesoscale Meteorology in the Age of AWIPS. The workshop was held in 1994 and resulted in a publication in 1995 (Volume 76) of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, page 2463. The 1991 workshop on Teaching with Interactive Computer Systems resulted in a publication by C.H. Wash et al in 1992 (Volume 73) of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, page 1140.
The goals of the proposed 1997 Unidata Workshop are to:
The program outline has been discussed by the Unidata Users' Committee and will be fully developed by the Workshop Program Committee.
Presentation topics and discussions will address the two primary goals of the workshop :
The morning sessions will be lecture presentations by invited speakers on the topics listed above. Breakout sessions will be scheduled for the afternoons, to provide discussion and demonstration of the concepts and methods introduced during the morning presentations. Examples of breakout session topics are:
On one afternoon, group visits will be made to three or four technology sites, to provide the attendees with first-hand knowledge of instrument design and implementation. Sites under consideration for these visits are:
The subsequent use and distribution of the workshop content will be augmented by providing the presentation materials on the Web. Presenters will be asked to give a significant portion of their outline, text, and graphical materials to Unidata. These will be formatted in HTML documents, and links to other appropriate materials, images, and animations will be made. In this way, both the objectives and the techniques promoted in the workshop will be demonstrated and utilized by the attendees and others following the conference itself.
The Program Committee will be composed of the Unidata Users Committee and representatives from Unidata and COMET. The workshop is being co-chaired by Dr. Melanie Wetzel of the Desert Research Institute and Dr. Jennie Moody of the University of Virginia.
Other Group Members:
The workshop will be held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Foothills Laboratory. This location provides easy assess to the COMET classroom facilities and Unidata. The available computer equipment will enhance the educational experience for the attendees by providing some hands-on experience.
This workshop is scheduled to follow a two-week COMET Satellite Meteorology course for approximately 20 university faculty. The proposed workshop will be held for a larger audience of about 85 people and would provide a forum for discussing acquisition methods, image analysis, and forecasting techniques of satellite meteorology.
Approximately 85 people (1-2 attendees per institution) will be accepted as participants. Lodging is available on the University of Colorado (CU) campus, with two daily meals provided at CU and one at UCAR. A budget page outlining the required funding is attached. The budget assumes that $20,000 in COMET funding for the workshop will be provided by NOAA/NWS as promised.