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Understanding
cloud systems:
Are researchers closing in on a general theory of convective
cloud systems?
We’ve all had the experience of getting rained on from
one small cloud even though blue sky is plainly visible all
around. The reason is that rain can come from an individual
cumulus cloud just as easily as from a massive cloud system
that hangs over an entire region. more
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Mentoring
talk offers tips for nonscientists
When it comes to thriving as a nonscientist at this scientific
institution, Harriet Barker knows a thing or two. more
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Random
Profile: Pete Siemsen
Love at first byte: Pete took his first computer science
class about 20
years ago as an undergraduate student at the University of
Southern California. He was hooked immediately. “I fell
in love with it. I never looked back,” he says. “I
loved the programming and the technology.” more
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A
SOARS pacesetter
UCAR’s Tom Windham has won a Boulder Daily
Camera Pacesetter Award for his landmark work on the Significant
Opportunities in Atmospheric Research program. more
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From
Asia and Africa
Qian Ye of China, a visiting scientist
in the Environmental and Societal Impacts Group, and Cindy
Bruyère of South Africa, a visiting scientist in the
Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Division, are just two
of dozens of staffers who came here from overseas.
more
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Delphi
Question: Salaries
for cleaning crew
Delphi Question #498 (received 20 November):
This question concerns the cleaning staff. I’ve gotten
to know several of the cleaning crew and was disappointed
to hear recently that one of them is leaving NCAR/UCAR. I
asked him why, and his reply was that he could not support
his family with the salary he received while working here
full time. more
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Joach Kuettner (Joint Office for Science Support)
has been selected by UCAR to give the fifth Walter Orr Roberts
Distinguished Lecture.
A 64-year veteran of the atmospheric sciences, Joach is
an explorer-scientist whose high-flying exploits in unmotorized
aircraft have earned him a place in the Soaring Hall of Fame.
His doctoral thesis at the University of Hamburg in 1939 provided
the first scientific description and explanation of so-called
mountain waves, which glider pilots had known about for some
time. more
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Philip Arter, an Atmospheric Chemistry Division visitor from
CU working on the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder instrument,
gives the thumbs up after making sure that HIRDLS is firmly secured
to NASA’s Aura spacecraft. The mounting operation was completed
in December at a Northrop Grumman (formerly TRW) plant in Redondo
Beach, California. HIRDLS, which will take daily readings of chemicals
in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, is scheduled for launch
next January aboard Aura (a Delta II launcher will lift the spacecraft
into orbit). The mission is a major ACD priority because the little-explored
tropopause—the transition zone between the troposphere and
the stratosphere, ranging from 5 to 10 miles (8 –16 kilometers)
in altitude—can play an important role in weather and climate.
The region contains vital trace species (sparsely distributed
chemicals) such as ozone and greenhouse gases. ACD’s John
Gille, a principal investigator on the project, says he’s
thrilled that HIRDLS has been successfully mounted on Aura. “A
lot needs to be done and tested before we are ready for launch,”
he says, “but this is a major milestone.” (Photo courtesy
of Northrup Grumman Space Technologies.)
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