Get a heads up on pop-up storms before there's rain to see on radar

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (June 10, 2013) — Using a tool developed at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), meteorologists in the continental U.S. now can get an advance warning of pop-up spring and summer storms before they pop up on radar.

Using data from weather satellites, the UAH program can predict which puffy clouds are most likely to produce rain and lightning in the next 30 minutes to two hours. Regional real-time, current satellite images showing these "nowcasts" are available online at nsstc.uah.edu/SATCAST/.

"We expect that many people in the industry might be interested in using this resource," said John Mecikalski, the SATCAST project director and an associate professor of atmospheric science in the Earth System Science Center at UAH. "It might be useful, for instance, to be able to provide this information to people in the construction industry, or to farmers thinking about spreading chemicals on their fields, or to people who organize and put on outdoor events and concerts.   read more....

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Feng wins NASA research fellowship

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Nan Feng, an atmospheric science graduate student at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, has won a prestigious NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) for the 2013-'14 academic year.

One of 56 fellows chosen from 330 applicants, Feng is the only student in Alabama to win a NASA Earth science fellowship this year. The one-year, $30,000 fellowship can be extended for two additional years. Feng is the eighth UAH atmospheric science graduate student to win a NASA fellowship.

A native of Wuhan in central China, Feng found UAH for his doctoral studies after doing a literatures survey for terms related to his research interests: "atmospheric aerosols" and "satellite remote sensing." His search found Dr. Sundar Christopher, chair of UAH's Atmospheric Science Department and the author of more than 100 research publications relating to using satellite sensors to study aerosols ‹ small particles floating in the atmosphere.
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Knupp named UAH's top researcher

This spring, you would want Kevin Knupp in your office PowerBall pool. It has been that kind of spring.

Earlier this spring the UA System trustees approved preliminary design specs for Knupp's new $7 million Severe Weather Institute and Radar and Lightning Laboratory (SWIRLL), with final approval slated for June and groundbreaking soon after that.

In April, Knupp received the dean's service award from UAH's College of Science, in honor of his more than 25 years of contributions to the college's teaching, research and service programs. read more ...

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Huntsville's R&D Magazine Spring 2013 issue highlights ATS/ESSC interdiscplinary research and education using geospatial technologies

UAH researchers blend academics and research across a variety of scientific disciplines related to GIS to find that the real excitement lies between the silos. Using this integrated approach. Huntsville's National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) at UAH - along with the academic arm of the UAH Department of Atmospheric Sciences. and its research arm. the Earth Systems Science Center (ESSC) - is tackling some of Earth's most intriguing climate, cultural and planetary problems. (Click here for complete article)
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ATS students to provide research forecasts!

Two graduate students in UAH's atmospheric science program will provide weather forecasts for a summer research program looking at chemistry and pollutants in the southeastern sky.

Aaron Kaulfus and Geoffrey Heidelberger, both second year M.S. students, will each serve three-week terms as lead weather forecaster for the Southeast Atmosphere Study, a field campaign organized by the Universities Center for Atmospheric Research and bringing together scientists, resources and research programs from the National Science Foundation, NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Electric Power Research Institute.

Working from the program's headquarters in Smyrna, Tenn., they will be responsible for at least one daily weather briefing tailored to the program's research needs and flight operations for the campaigns aircraft.

A native of Gatesville, TX, (just west of Waco), Kaulfus received his B.S. in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. A Rutgers University graduate who also has a B.S. in meteorology, Heidelberger is from Edison, NJ, (in the NYC metro area).
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Knupp wins Distinguished Research Award!

Dr. Kevin Knupp (Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science), is the winner of the 2013 UAHuntsville Distinguished Research Award. This is the highest research award given by the University.

He will be recognized for this award on May 4, 2013 (10am) at the Von Braun Center, Propst Arena during the commencement ceremony.

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UAH scientists seek photos, video of storm

Scientists in UAHuntsville's Earth System Science Center are hoping the public can help them study the storm that dropped two small tornadoes over south Huntsville on Thursday afternoon.

The scientific team lead by Dr. Kevin Knupp hopes to marry amateur photos and video with the readouts of at least three Doppler radar units to learn more about how to recognize and provide warnings against fast forming tornadoes. They hope the photos and video will provide visual confirmation of what the storm was doing at each stage of development so they can look for radar clues and patterns they might use to identify the early stages of tornado formation in future storms.
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College honors 3 students and 2 faculty

The Atmospheric Science Department was well represented in the 2013 UAHuntsville College of Science honors program.

Emily Foshee, an MS student in atmospheric science, and Eric Anderson, an MS student in Earth system science, were named the top graduate research assistants in UAH's College of Science. Elinor Crook was the top undergraduate student in Earth system science.

Dr. Kevin Knupp, professor of atmospheric science, received the College of Science dean's service award, and Dr. Tom Sever, a professor in atmospheric science, won the college's teaching excellence award.
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Dr. Kevin Knupp took his Boundary Layer Meteorology Class (ATS 655) on the road this week, setting up several instruments at locations in Limestone County. In addition to measuring boundary layers (and apparently some pollen), the students had an opportunity to learn more about the technology and techniques used in research field campaigns. Additional photos are available at http://www.facebook.com/UAH.Earth.System.Science.
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SWIRLL -  Severe Weather Institute and Radar & Lightning Laboratories

Construction is expected to begin later this year on a new $7 million facility on the UAH campus that will bring new advances to severe weather research. SWIRLL stands for the Severe Weather Institute and Radar & Lightning Laboratories. The acronym was the creativity of Kevin Knupp, a leading severe weather research scientist at UAH and a professor of atmospheric science (Click here to read more from the 2012 UAH Annual Report).

For further information on SWIRLL contact Dr. Kevin Knupp, Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science.
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Dr. Richard McNider, distinguished professor emeritus in atmospheric and mathematical sciences, receives the 2013 AMS award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology from the organization's president, Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, at the AMS awards banquet on Wednesday, Jan. 9. He was recognized by the AMS for "innovative contributions to dealing with agricultural drought by improving monitoring and forecasting technology, and for promoting sustainable irrigation in the Southeast." McNider was largely responsible for founding UAHuntsville's remote sensing laboratory, which led to the creations of both the Earth System Science Center and the Atmospheric Science Department. To read about this award, click here.

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Students and faculty from the Department of Atmospheric Science had a chance to represent their research at the 93rd AMS meeting in Austin texas starting January 7th. For a list of presentations click here. To see photos from the meeting and presentations, click here.

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Two graduate students in UAHuntsville's atmospheric science program are lead authors on research papers published in the February edition of the Monthly Weather Review, an American Meteorological Society journal.

Research by Dr. Ken Leppert and Todd Murphy with UAH faculty (and one NASA scientist) may lay the groundwork for developing tools to give better predictions of both hurricanes and tornadoes.

Leppert, who has completed the requirements for his Ph.D. and is a postdoctoral fellow, found that certain traits that can be seen from space might help give earlier warnings of which low pressure systems coming out of Africa or South America are more likely to develop into tropical storms or hurricanes.
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