In an effort to improve the MM5 modeling system’s portability to workstation platforms and data environments other than that at NCAR, several components of the MM5 modeling system underwent significant development in FY 98 by Yong-Run Guo, Kevin Manning, David Gill, Wei Wang, and Jimy Dudhia. Program Terrain can now access the new USGS global 30-sec terrain elevation data. This effort improved MM5’s capability for carrying out simulations outside the U.S. at high resolution. The program is also capable of processing other terrestrial data such as vegetation and soil types, in preparation for the release of the land-surface module in MM5 Version 3. A new program, REGRID, was developed to separate data from an external user-dependent source from the simple task of interpolation to MM5 grid. This program is planned to replace DATAGRID in the Version 3 release. This effort should greatly improve MM5’s portability to places outside the academic community and outside the U.S., which usually do not have access to NCAR’s data archives. A similar effort has been ongoing in the last two years to improve the capability of the objective analysis package. All of these developments are paving the way for the new modeling system release, Version 3, scheduled for Spring 1999.
Collaboration between Dudhia and Fei Chen (RAP) led to the incorporation of the Oregon State University Land-Surface Model, which is used operationally in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction's (NCEP) Eta model, into MM5. This allows prediction of soil moisture and vegetation effects with a sophisticated multi-layer land-surface model. Initial testing using MM5 and comparisons with FIFE 1987 (First ISLSCP Field Experiment) data has shown that the scheme works well. Soil moisture data is initialized from either the NCEP/NCAR re-analysis dataset or the NCEP 40 km AWIPS (Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System) Eta data. Land-surface soil and vegetation properties for North America at resolutions as high as 1 km resolution were implemented in the MM5 pre-processor, Terrain, by Guo, and the REGRID preprocessor was adapted by Manning and Gill to handle all the additional input required for the land-surface scheme. The land-surface module is planned for release to MM5 users in MM5 Version 3.
John Michalakes (Argonne National Laboratory, DOE) collaborated with Dudhia and Daniel Hansen to incorporate changes enabling MM5 to run on distributed-memory parallel (DMP) computers such as the IBM SP2, Cray T3E, and Fujitsu VPP. The primary achievement is that the code shares the same Fortran routines used by the standard supported MM5, so new changes in physics and dynamics will automatically apply to the DMP code. The combined code, with pre-processors developed by Michalakes, was released as MM5 Version 2.8 in Spring 1998, allowing MM5 to be formally supported by our User Support on a wider range of computing platforms.
MM5 Modeling System Tutorial classes were held in January and June, 1998, with 27 participants in each class from 21 and 26 institutions, respectively.
The Second MM5 Adjoint Tutorial was held on 28-31 July 1998, with participants from 15 institutions.
The Eighth Annual Users’ Workshop was held 15-16 June 1998 with 75 participants from 50 institutions. Thirty-seven presentations were given at the workshop, with topics ranging from model development to studies of various meteorological events around the world. The user base has expanded to approximately 450 in the last two years, from 145 institutions worldwide.
Sherrie Fredrick and L. Jay Miller continued their effort to organize divisional development and maintenance of observational data analysis software packages and to improve access mechanisms to these packages. Frederick and Miller modified the radar data gridding and analysis packages Sorted position Radar INTerpolator (SPRINT) and Custom Editing and Display of Reduced Information in Cartesian space (CEDRIC) to better utilize National Weather Service WSR-88D radar data sets for research.
Fredrick added the capability to ingest the Level II format data provided by the National Climatic Data Center directly into SPRINT with no further format conversions such as those required in the past. These operational radar data sets can then be gridded into horizontally projected locations within constant elevation scan surfaces (XYE grid), thereby preserving their original sampling resolution. Scientists have access to the powerful tools in CEDRIC that were developed for analysis and display of research radar data sets. Miller added the capability in CEDRIC to further grid these XYE data to conventional Cartesian locations (XYZ grid).
Each year hundreds of scientists, students, and computer professionals visit the MMM Division. The purpose of these visits vary, ranging from learning one of the models or the skills of analyzing data, to collaborating with the MMM scientific staff on research. Over the last few years the number of visits in the MMM Visitor Program has increased steadily, and the affiliations have changed to reflect the role that private industry is playing in atmospheric science.
MMM Visitor Statistics |
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FY98 |
FY97 |
FY96 |
FY95 |
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Total visitors |
313 |
295 |
252 |
215 |
|||
Total of visits (several visits by one visitor) |
359 |
318 |
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Domestic affiliations |
249 |
206 |
178 |
153 |
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Foreign affiliations |
64 |
89 |
74 |
62 |
|||
Short-term visits (1 day to 6 months) |
320 |
273 |
217 |
159 |
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Long-term visits (more than 6 months) |
39 |
45 |
35 |
56 |
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US Universities represented |
47 |
47 |
41 |
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US Agencies represented |
25 |
25 |
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Foreign countries represented |
21 |
21 |
18 |
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Private Sector represented |
14 |
7 |
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Visitors from foreign countries and the U.S. representing government agencies, universities, and private industry, come to MMM with new ideas and help invigorate the science. Many visitors come with their own funding, while some request assistance from the division. A Visitor Advisory Committee and the division's science group heads coordinate all visits within the division. The division was the host for two Affiliate Scientists during FY 98: Larry Mahrt (Oregon State University) and Richard Reed (University of Washington). For a complete list of MMM visitors and collaborators, please refer to the Visitor and Collaborator Section.
MMM social activities are often scheduled during the periods when many visitors are here,
such as during the summer time.
Not only does the meteorological community come to visit NCAR, but many of the MMM staff visit other institutions and agencies during the year. MMM's more extensive collaborative visits during FY 98 are mentioned here.
| Jielun Sun (below and right) visited Risoe National Laboratory in Denmark from 12 August 1997 until 15 October 1997. Her host was Dr. Niels Otto Jensen. She participated in the Euro-flux Experiment in Beech Forest, Denmark during her visit. |  |
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Morris Weisman was a faculty member at the University of Washington during the Fall of 1997.
From 1 September 1997 to 1 August 1998, Terry Clark collaborated with faculty in the Mathematics Department at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He was a principal investigator in the Northwest Territories Crown Fire Experiment during this visit.
Mary Barth served as an organizer of the Geophysical Turbulence Program's Observations, Experiments, and LES Workshop, 13-15 August 1998, sponsored by NCAR with 70 participants.
Richard Carbone organized the World Weather Research Program Steering Committee (Cairnes, Australia) in October 1997; USWRP Hurricane Landfall Workshop (Miami) with 55 participants in November 1997; USWRP Data Assimilation Workshop (Monterey) with 75 participants in December 1997; USWRP Prospectus Development Team Workshop #9 (Honolulu) with 20 participants in January 1998; USWRP Science Steering Committee Meeting (Boulder) with 30 participants in April 1998; USWRP Prospectus Development Team Workshop #10 (UCLA, Los Angeles) with 20 participants in July 1998; and USWRP Science Steering Committee Meeting (Arlington, VA) with 40 participants in September 1998.
Christopher Davis was a session chair for the MM5 Workshop, sponsored by MMM, 15-16 June 1998. Davis, along with Frederick Carr (University of Oklahoma) organized the first Mesoscale Model Verification Workshop, 18-19 June 1998 at NCAR.
Jimy Dudhia served as an organizer for two MM5 New User Tutorials, sponsored by MMM on 6-9 January 1998 and 9-12 June 1998. These workshops hosted 30 and 27 participants, respectively.
James Dye organized the STERAO Science Workshop, 11-12 June 1998 (NCAR) with 40 participants; ICE Initiative Planning Group (NCAR) 9-10 July 1998 with 10 participants; and ICE Initiative Planning Group (Everett, WA) in August 1998 with 18 participants.
Robert Gall was the coordinator of the Hurricanes at Landfall Colloquium, July 1998, with 70 participants sponsored by ASP in collaboration with the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA, and organized an USWRP Symposium in Phoenix on 12-15 January 1998, sponsored by AMS with 100 participants.
Wei Huang helped organize the Second MM5 Adjoint Tutorial sponsored by MMM, 28-31 July 1998, with 18 participants.
Margaret LeMone organized the CASES 97 Workshop at NCAR on 20-21 May 1998 with 20 participants.
Donald Lenschow organized the Observations, Experiments, and LES Workshop: A Triad for Geophysical Turbulence Research, sponsored by NCAR/ASP (GTP), 13-16 August 1998, with 70 participants.
Morris Weisman helped organize the first VORTEX Workshop, 1-3 December 1997, in Monterey, and also served as a Session Chairman.
Field campaigns are an important aspect of MMM science. Staff involved in planning for future campaigns or participating in field campaigns during FY 98 included:
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Jielun Sun (below, left) was the
principal investigator of the ONR Shoaling Experiment in Duck, North Carolina in November
1997. For more information on this experiment, click here. 
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Robert Gall (right, and below, 2nd
from right) and Melvin Shapiro (below, right) participated in NORPEX-98
(North Pacific Experiment) in January 1998. For more information on the experiment, click here.
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Steven Aulenbach, James Dye (co-PI), and Gregory McFarquhar participated in TEFLUN-A (Texas Florida Underpass) in Texas in April and May 1998. | |
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James Bresch
participated in Sub-VORTEX-98 in June 1998. In Darwin, Australia, Terry Clark (PI) participated in the NT (Northwest Territories) Grass Fire Experiment in June 1998. |
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Charles Knight
participated in PRECIP 98 in July and August 1998.
Robert Gall participated in observations of Hurricane Danielle in the Caribbean area in August 1998.
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Steven Aulenbach and
James Dye participated in TEFLUN-B (Texas Florida Underpass) in Florida
during August and September 1998 Terry Clark and Janice Coen (Co-PIs) participated in the WiFE (Wildfire Experiment) in Colorado during August through October 1998.
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| LOOKING AHEAD…... |
TIMEX in 2000/2001. Morris Weisman contributed to the planning for the Thunderstorm Initiation Mobile Experiment (TIMEX), an interagency effort including NCAR, NOAA, and university collaborators. The purpose will be to apply recent improvements in mesoscale observing capabilities (profilers, Eldora, Dows, mobile mesonets, DIAL) to improve our understanding of the convective initiation process for a wide range of mesoscale and synoptic scale scenarios.
LPEX in 1999. Weisman and Charles Knight submitted plans for a proposed Low Precipitation Storm Experiment (LPEX) in eastern Colorado. This experiment is designed to use S Pol multiparameter data and T28 in situ microphysical observations to improve understanding of the range of precipitation efficiencies observed in supercell storms. Of particular interest during LPEX will be a class of supercells referred to as LP storms, which are composed of a single strong, long-lived rotating updraft, large anvil, but very little precipitation reaching the ground.
MAP in 1999. Richard Rotunno and Christopher Davis contributed to the planning of the Mesoscale Alpine Program (MAP) to take place in the Alps. Two operation centers have been established, one at Innsbruck, Austria, and the other in Milan, Italy, to cover the two main themes of the project. These are the study of mountain wakes, filamentation of potential vorticity in the lee of mountains and gap flows, and the study of orographic precipitation with emphasis on heavy rain cases and flooding.
MMM continued to host the USWRP Office of the Lead Scientist (OLS) in FY 98. The principle activities of this office were related to development of Program science plans and definition of incremental resources required for the FY 2000 to 2004 period. The Office, through the leadership of Richard Carbone, coordinated programmatic discussions through Prospectus Development Teams (PDTs) and workshops. Ten Teams have met thus far and three workshops have been conducted. Written and oral reports from each of these PDTs have been used by the USWRP Science Advisory Committee (SAC), chaired by Carbone, to further refine the objectives and methods to be implemented in the Program. PDT #9 met in February 1998 to discuss hydrological aspects of weather and flood prediction. PDT #10, Nowcast and Forecast Issues in the Urban Zone, met in August 1998. The Hurricane Landfall (November 1997) and Data Assimilation (December 1997) Workshops developed program priorities and methods of attack that constitute science plans at the detailed conceptual level.
Also in FY 98, Carbone, as a WMO/CAS Working Group Chair and US Delegate, formally proposed the creation of a World Weather Research Programme (WWRP). This proposal was unanimously adopted by the CAS XII Congress in Skopje, Macedonia of the former Yugoslavia. The WWRP Science Steering Committee was appointed for the 1998-2002 period.
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Richard Carbone, Associate Editor, Journal of Applied Meteorology, 1987-present. |
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Christopher Davis, Associate Editor, Monthly Weather Review, 1994-present. |
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Andrew Heymsfield, Co-Editor, Atmospheric Research, 1990-present. |
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Donald Lenschow, Editorial Board, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 1996-1999; Editorial Board, Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 1994-present. |
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Chin-Hoh Moeng, Associate Editor, Journal of Atmospheric Science, 1992-present. |
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Mitchell Moncrieff, Associate Editor, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 1994-present. |
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Piotr Smolarkiewicz, Associate Editor, Journal of Computational Physics, 1997-present; Editorial Board, Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, 1997-present. |
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Stanley Trier, Associate Editor, Monthly Weather Review, 1998-present. |
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Morris Weisman, Associate Editor, Monthly Weather Review, 1998-present. |
2. External Scientific, Policy or Educational Committees or Advisory Panels
Richard Carbone, convenor, Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting, IUGG, ICCP, UK, 1998-1999; chairman, WMO Commission on Atmospheric Sciences World Weather, 1998 - present; delegate, USA, WMO CAS, XII Session, Skopje, Macedonia, 1998; member, AMS Committee on Weather and Forecasting, 1998; member, National Academy of Sciences, NRC GEWEX Panel, 1997 - present; chairman, WMO CAS WWRP Interim Science Steering Committee, 1996 - 1998; member, USWRP Interagency Working Group, 1996 - present; member, NOAA/NAOS Test and Evaluation Working Group, 1996 - present; vice-chairman, NCEP Advisory Panel, 1996 - present; member, NOAA GCIP Core Project Review Panel, 1995 - present; chairman, USWRP Science Steering Committee, 1995 - present; chairman, WMO Commission for Atmospheric Science (CAS) Working Group on Short Range Prediction, 1994 - 1998.
James Dye, member, Committee on Atmospheric and Space Electricity, 1996-2000; member, Science Team - NASA Marshall Lightning Measurements from Satellite, 1997- present.
Robert Gall, member, External Review Panel, University of Oklahoma, 1998.
Wojciech Grabowski, member, AMS Committee on Cloud Physics, 1995-1998.
Vanda Grubisic, member, AMS Committee on Mountain Meteorology, 1998.
Andrew Heymsfield, member, Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Working Group 2, 1996-1998; member, Indian Ocean field Experiment (INDOEX) U.S. Scientific Steering Committee, 1996-1998; member, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Science Team, 1998.
Joseph Klemp, member, AMS Publications Committee, 1986-present; chair, AMS Information Systems Committee, 1995-present; member, Comparison of Mesoscale Prediction and Research Experiment (COMPARE) Planning Committee, 1990-1997.
Margaret LeMone, member, Review Panel for Environmental Research Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 1998; member, U.S. Weather Research Program Scientific Steering Committee, 1997 to present.
Donald Lenschow, member, AMS Committee on Laser Atmospheric Studies, 1997 to present.
Mitchell Moncrieff, External Review Panel for Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS), University of Oklahoma, October 1997; member, Climate Variability Program of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (CLIVAR/GEWEX) - COARE 98 Scientific Steering Committee; member, GEWEX Radiation Panel, St. Andrews, Scotland, August 1998; Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Tropical Western Pacific Advisory Panel, 1993 to present; Maritime Continent Thunderstorm Experiment (MCTEX) Science Panel, 1993 to present; World Climate Research Program (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Science Steering Group, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 1998.
Jielun Sun, member, AMS Committee on Boundary Layers and Turbulence, 1998-2000.
Morris Weisman, member, AMS Committee on Severe Local Storms, 1998-2000.
The following awards were bestowed upon MMM staff during FY 98:
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James Bresch, MMM Division Incentive Award. |
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Martine Bunting, MMM Division Incentive Award. |
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Robert Gall, Invited Speaker, Special Session Honoring the Centennial of the Birth of Carl-Gustaf A. Rossby, 78th AMS Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ. |
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Teresa Harris (now with UOP, Visiting Scientist Program) MMM Division Incentive Award. |
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Sudie Kelly, MMM Incentive Award. |
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Ying-Hwa (Bill) Kuo, UCAR Outstanding Performance Awards: Technology Advancement Award, Nomination. |
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Ingrid Moore (now with COMET), MMM Incentive Award. |
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Kathy Morgan, MMM Incentive Award. |
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Morris Weisman, Faculty Teaching Award, University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences. |
NCAR places a high priority on educational outreach and supports a wide variety of projects and programs geared to educate students and teachers, as well as the general public. Educational outreach activities contribute to personal development and to new ideas, foster creativity in approaches to education, and enlighten the general public as well as the next generation of scientists.
This section documents some of the ways that MMM scientists contribute to the educational mission of UCAR.
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Christopher Davis, Adjunct Professor, North Carolina State University |
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James Dye, Affiliate Professor, Colorado State University |
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Charles Knight, Affiliate Professor, University of Oklahoma |
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Margaret LeMone, Affiliate Professor, Colorado State University and University of Colorado |
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Donald Lenschow, Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado |
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Chin-Hoh Moeng, Affiliate Professor, Colorado State University |
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Peter Sullivan, Affiliate Professor, Colorado State University |
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Jielun Sun, Affiliate Professor, University of Colorado and Oregon State University |
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Richard Carbone, University of California; University of Illinois |
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Terry Clark, University of Colorado |
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Andrew Heymsfield, University of Colorado |
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Charles Knight, University of Oklahoma |
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Piotr Smolarkiewicz, University of Warsaw |
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Peter Sullivan, Colorado State University |
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Wei Wang, Saint Louis University |
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Terry Clark, University of Colorado |
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Christopher Davis, North Carolina State University |
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James Dye, Colorado State University |
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Wojciech Grabowski, McGill University |
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Charles Knight, University of Wyoming; University of Oklahoma |
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Margaret LeMone, University of Colorado |
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Donald Lenschow, University of Colorado |
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Morris Weisman, University of Oklahoma |
b. Participation in UCAR/NCAR/UOP Programs
1. Project LEARN (Laboratory Experience in Atmospheric Research)
Project LEARN provides atmospheric science training for teachers throughout the United States. Teams of teachers attend summer workshops at NCAR, where they work hands-on with NCAR and UCAR scientists. These teachers then take home the knowledge that they have acquired during this experience and share it with other teachers. MMM scientists who contributed to Project LEARN in FY 98 as mentors for internships include:
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Mary Barth |
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Charles Knight |
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Gregory McFarquhar |
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Jordan Powers |
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John Tuttle |
2. SOARS (Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science)
SOARS’ mission is to encourage more ethnic diversity in the atmospheric and related sciences. Students from minority groups that are under-represented in the atmospheric sciences are teamed with scientific and technical mentors in NCAR and UOP in a ten-week program in which they participate in a research project. MMM had a part in the success of this program through sponsoring the following students:
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Sharon Abbas, Pennsylvania State University |
Research Project: The Relationship in Position of Cold Cloud Tops and Maximum Radar Return in Three Different Mesoscale Convective Systems
Science Mentor: Rajul Pandya (MMM Long-Term Visitor)
Scientific Writing Mentor: Joan Chiszar
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Andrew Church, University of New Mexico |
Research Project: The Regional and Global Influence of Sulfate and Black Carbon Aerosols from Mexico City and Southeast China
Science Mentors: Mary Barth, Wojciech Grabowski
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Ismael Rodriguez, University of Puerto Rico |
Research Project: Scattering of Light by an Atmospheric Ice Crystal
Science Mentor: Gregory McFarquhar
3. COMET (Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training)
The COMET Program provides training to weather forecasters around the world, both on-site and through distance learning technology. MMM staff contributing to COMET during FY 98 include:
Morris Weisman continued to serve as a subject matter expert for a COMET educational module on mesoscale convective systems (MCS). Such modules bring the latest results from observational, theoretical, and modeling studies to the educational and forecast communities in a novel, highly interactive manner. The first two sections of the MCS module, which cover conceptual models of convective systems as well as the physical processes important to their structure and evolution, were published on the Web. A third section was recently completed, representing a matrix of 19 numerical simulations of squall-line type convective systems for various strengths and geometries of vertical wind shear, demonstrating the evolutionary character of both quasi-two-dimensional and fully three-dimensional squall lines. These simulations depict the development of front-to-rear ascending and rear-to-front descending air currents, line-end vortices, bow echoes, and asymmetric convective systems with mesoscale convective vortices. All of the sections of the module, along with an additional section including detailed case studies, will be published in CD format this fall.
Weisman also continued to serve as an invited lecturer and mentor for the COMET Mesoscale Analysis and Prediction (COMAP) course for the National Weather Service Science Operations Officers (SOO’s). Jordan Powers also contributed to the COMAP course, in supporting one of the visiting lecturers and serving as a guest authority.
Often MMM scientific staff volunteer their time and expertise to non-technical and educational activities. Staff contributing to non-technical and educational outreach during FY 98 include:
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Andrew Crook delivered two presentations at Alfredton Primary School in Victoria, Australia in October 1997. Dr. Crook also presented a seminar on fluid dynamics to middle school teachers at the University of Colorado in July 1998. |
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Richard Carbone worked with Professor Janet Gutmann at Wesleyan University on the meteorology curricula for the Environmental Science Department. |
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Gregory McFarquhar served as a member of the UCAR Educational Exhibits Committee during FY98. |
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Morris Weisman was the keynote speaker on "How Computers Help Us Forecast Tornadoes" at the NCAR Computational Science Fair in May 1998. |
| Table of Contents | Director's Message |
| Significant Accomplishments | FY 98 Publications |
| Community and Educational Activities | Staff, Vistors & Collaborators |
