1997 Users Workshop-Summary

INTRODUCTION

(Wetzel)

Computer-based training technology offers great benefit to the earth and atmospheric sciences, through the ability to improve visualization and interactive analysis. One area in which this is particularly true is instruction related to satellite remote sensing, which requires image display and animation to fully demonstrate the physical processes and concepts revealed in the data. The Unidata Program of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) provides meteorological data to a broad group of university and affiliated educational and research groups, as well as computer-bases applications software for scientific analysis which is widely used in college-level instructions. As part of this mission, significant resources of satellite remote sensing data are made available to colleges and universities on a daily basis. To promote the effective use of computer-assisted instruction which utilize these data, the Unidata Program and the UCAR Cooperative Program for Meteorological Training and Education (COMET) conducted a faculty workshop during 22-27 June 1997 entitled "Using Satellite Data and Computing Technologies for Research and Education in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences". Unidata and COMET have a successful history of working together in the development of faculty workshops which blend advanced instructional methods with diverse observational data and meteorological forecast models (Wash et al., 1992; Ramamurthy et al., 1995), and the Summer 1997 continued this approach with an emphasis on satellite remote sensing and the use of web-based communication methods.

(Nilsson)

Discussions at the 1994 Unidata Workshop entitled Teaching Mesoscale Meteorology in the Age of the Modernized National Weather Service served as the motivation for the organization of the 1997 workshop. From the town hall discussions, a clear need emerged that the 1997 workshop should build upon the curriculum recommendations, scientific concepts, and teaching methods presented at the 1994 workshop. This workshop should specialize in the use of satellite data, availability of computer-based information, the need for information exchange, and the available meteorological interactive software tools. The overall goals for the 1997 workshop that emerged were:

  1. To communicate to university scientists how emerging analysis technology and computer-interactive training can improve college- and graduate-level education and research capability and
  2. To utilize the GOES and other new satellite data sources to enhance conceptual and practical training in the atmospheric and related sciences, while increasing student understanding of interdisciplinary environmental processes.

With goals developed and venue established, Unidata submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation and COMET. The National Science Foundation and National Weather Service jointly agreed to sponsor this Unidata Workshop. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Unidata, and COMET (Cooperative Program for Meteorology, Education and Training) jointly organized the workshop held at NCAR in Boulder from 22-27 June, 1997. Sixty-five participants and speakers attended the interactive, hands-on workshop; first attending lectures on Satellite Meteorology and then participating in pedagogical lab activities. The outcome clearly demonstrated the creativity and knowledge that can be shared among colleagues to enhance education and learning techniques in complimentary forums, such as institutions of higher learning, International educational institutions, and K-12 educational institutions. as well as K-12. Please refer to the following web site for examples of the presentations developed by the participants: Examples

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The co-chairs, Melanie Wetzel and David Dempsey, of the Summer Workshop in Satellite Meteorology wish to acknowledge the support of UCAR and the many people whose efforts combined to make it a success. In particular, it would not have been possible without the financial support of the National Science Foundation and the COMET Program. Sandra Nilsson provided the major organizational effort which insured that the many details necessary to carry out the workshop and the publication of this article were completed.

Thanks also to the Unidata Program and COMET staffs and especially David Himes and Mike Schmidt for the computer design set-up; and COMETs and Iowa States pedagogical instructors who took responsibility for the lab instructional format and education. Finally, thanks to the lecturers and participants, all of whom provided enthusiasm, ideas, and the time to make lectures, presentations, and activities a success. For a complete list of speakers and instructors refer to the workshop web site.

Wetzel

LATER SECTION : Plenary speakers on scientific content subjects -- [Will break this up into paragraphs. How about also having a small table with lecture titles?]

Don Johnson (University of Wisconsin-Madison) presented the keynote address, in which he challenged the faculty to develop new means of communicating a knowlege base from which students can visualize the complex interactions and principles of atmospheric phenomena. He used examples from ongoing educational outreach efforts to demonstrate the requirements and benefits of increasing the fundamental understanding of students in physical and dynamic processes. Jim Purdom, Chief of the NOAA/NESDIS Regional and Mesoscale Meteorolgy Branch in Fort Collins, Colorado provided an overview of radiative transfer concepts, satellite instrument channel selection, and spectral reflectance and emittance properties of atmospheric and land targets. He discussed several useful web sites for satellite data and technical documentation. An excellent summary on the use of microwave satellite observations to map global atmospheric temperature patterns was presented by John Christy of the University of Alabama-Hunstville. He described aspects of the radiative transfer retrieval process, the use of radiosonde data for intercomparison and issues related to instrument calibration, and presented results related to long-term global trends. Steve Ackerman (University of Wisconsin-Madison) provided valuable guidelines for the selection and implementation of instructional technology, in which he emphasized that these technologies must increase student-faculty communication, build cooperation among students, encourage exploration of a subject, accomodate different learning styles, and allow prompt feedback to student responses or inquiries. He also described a new web-based course for the subject of remote sensing instrument technology, which includes interactive exercises related to satellite sensor design on topics such as signal-to-noise ratio and image pixel resolution. The Director of the Unidata Program Center, David Fulker, presented a lecture on applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology. The lecture slides were prepared by John Snow (University of Oklahoma) who was not able to attend the Workshop. Dr. Fulker led an active discussion on the importance of practical training in meteorological applications, noting the increasing interplay of various environmental disciplines and the economic impacts of meteorological conditions and events. The data merging and analysis tools of GIS can be used to improve the utilization of meteorological data in teaching, environmental management, and economic development. John Merrill (University of Rhode Island) spoke on methods for mapping particulate aerosol over the ocean using satellite data, including application to styd of the role of aerosol in radiative forcing and the global energy balance. He gave a very useful review of radiative transfer principles which students should understand in order to use and evaluate the satellite-derived aerosol optical thickness parameters. Dr. Merrill also explained the use of multischannel satellite image data for screening cloudy pixels from the global dataset. Chris Velden (University of Wisconsin-Madison) described and demonstrated the use of satellite imagery which is sensitive to upper tropospheric water vapor and clouds to teach concepts in atmospheric dynamics and weather forecasting. He provided many very good links to image resources, including material on production of multi-level wind vectors from the satellite water vapor imagery.

REFERENCES:

Ramamurthy, M.K., C. Murphy, J. Moore, M. Wetzel, D. Knight, P. Ruscher, S. Mullen, R. DeSouza, D.S. Hawk, and D. Fulker, 1995: Teaching mesoscale meteorology in the age of the modernized National Weather Service: A report on the Unidata/COMET Workshop. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76, 2463-2473.

Wash, C.H., R.L. DeSouza, M. Ramamurthy, A. Anderson, G. Byrd, J. Justus, H. Edmon, and P. Samson, 1992: Teaching interactive computer systems: A report on the Unidata/COMET/STORM workshop on synoptic/mesoscale instruction. Bull., Amer. Meteor. Soc., 73, 1440-1447.