The UCAR Board of Trustees appointed three new
senior scientists in May. Senior scientists provide
NCAR with long-term scientific leadership. The position
is analogous to that of full professor at a tenure-granting
university. Selections are based on individual competence
in research and activities that enhance NCAR’s
interaction with scientists in the broader community.
Following are brief profiles of the
new senior scientists.
Yuhong Fan (ESSL/HAO)
Yuhong Fan is a solar physicist focused on helioseismology
and the magnetohydrodynamics of the solar interior
and corona. Using theoretical and numerical modeling,
she studies the emergence of flux tubes in solar
active regions and the evolution of the large-scale
magnetic fields in the solar corona that result
in coronal mass ejections.
Yuhong’s research on the rise of active-region
flux tubes in the solar interior has led to important
insights into the origin of a well-known asymmetric
property of solar active regions. Her numerical
modeling of the evolution of the coronal magnetic
field in response to the emergence of twisted active-region
flux tubes has also contributed significantly to
understanding the sigmoid-shaped X-ray brightening
observed in regions where coronal mass ejections
originate.
Yuhong holds a bachelor’s degree in space
physics from China’s Peking University and
a doctorate in astronomy from the University of
Hawaii. Before coming to NCAR in 1998, she did postdoctoral
research at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson
and was a research associate at CU’s Joint
Institute of Laboratory Astrophysics. She currently
heads HAO’s Corona and Heliosphere section.
Alan Fried (EOL)
A chemist by training, Alan manages EOL’s
Technology Development Facility, where he identifies
and explores new opportunities for developing state-of-the-art
instruments for atmospheric research. As part of
this effort, he maintains a research program dedicated
to developing new spectroscopic instruments for
airborne platforms and associated measurements of
trace gases, with the goal of improving our understanding
of atmospheric processes and transformations related
to hydrocarbon oxidation.
Alan and his group, in collaboration
with atmospheric modelers, have been studying formaldehyde,
an important trace gas and radical source, throughout
the troposphere and lower stratosphere (see cover
story). The studies are uncovering new processes
and unexplained results as well as providing key
model constraints in hydrocarbon oxidation studies.
Most recently, Alan and colleagues have documented
the importance of convective transport of formaldehyde
and its precursors during summer months in forming
radicals and ozone in the upper troposphere and
lower stratosphere.
Alan has a doctorate in physical chemistry
from Ohio State University. He first came to NCAR
in 1977 as a postdoctoral researcher, returning
in 1986 as part of ESSL/ACD. He headed the Analytical
Photonics and Optoelectronics Laboratory (APOL)
group, a joint effort between EOL and ACD, before
moving into his current position.
Scientists
III
Eight NCAR researchers have been promoted
to the scientist III level, which is one step
below senior scientist.
Aiguo Dai (ESSL/CGD)
Gokhan Danabasoglu (ESSL/CGD)
Mausumi Dikpati (ESSL/HAO)
Joan Kleypas (RAL/ISSE)
Dan Marsh (ESSL/ACD)
Brian O’Neill (RAL/ISSE)
Laura Pan (ESSL/ACD)
Junhong Wang (EOL)
Steven Tomczyk (ESSL/HAO)
Steve is an astronomer whose main interests are
observing solar oscillations and developing instrumentation
and techniques for studying magnetic fields in the
Sun’s photosphere and corona.
He leads the development of CoMP, a
coronal multichannel polarimeter that has captured
landmark imagery of magnetic structures in the solar
atmosphere. The instrument is expected to provide
the next generation of data on magnetic structures
in the solar corona.
Using CoMP last year, Steve and colleagues
became the first scientists to observe elusive oscillations
in the solar corona known as Alfvén waves.
The discovery will give researchers more insight
into the fundamental behavior of solar magnetic
fields, eventually leading to a fuller understanding
of how the Sun affects Earth and the solar system.
Steve has a doctorate from the University
of California, Los Angeles. He came to NCAR in 1988
as a visiting scientist.
