|
|
NOAA's NWS Focus
March
17, 2003 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Lt. Col. David I. Knapp (Right),
Chief of the NWS AWC Aviation Support Branch, is
honored on his military reserves retirement. With
Knapp is Lt. Col. Eric McKinley. Read
the story below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOAA Center
for Atmospheric Sciences: Addressing Research and Diversity
Needs
By
Priti Brahma
NWS Office of Science and Technology
A partnership between
NOAA, NWS, and the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS)
based at Howard University in Washington, DC, is addressing
research and diversity needs for NOAA and helping students
pursue government careers.
NCAS is a consortium of four Minority Serving Institutions
(MSIs) including Howard University, University of Puerto Rico
at Mayagüez (UPRM), Jackson State University (JSU), and
the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). In 2001, NOAA established
NCAS and three other Cooperative Science Centers to develop research
and offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in NOAA-related
disciplines.
"This is part of NOAA's and the DOC's commitment to expand
and strengthen its partnerships with MSIs," said NWS Deputy Director
John Jones.
At its annual Science Team Meeting on March 5-7, 2003, in Washington,
DC, NCAS hosted several NOAA experts, including Jones; David
Caldwell, Chief Operations Officer, National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP); Priti Brahma, NWS's Technical Monitor for
NCAS; Bruce Hicks, Director of NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory;
Henry Juang and Eugene Song of NCEP; Xin-Zhong Liang of the Illinois
State Water Survey; and representatives from NASA along with
NCAS faculty and students.
NCAS will collaborate with NOAA and NWS on several research
themes:
- Weather and Climate Modeling
- Atmospheric Chemistry
- Space Weather Research
- Climate and Public Health Research
Another key goal of NCAS is to establish a talent pipeline
of students for NOAA and the NWS.
Collectively, the four NCAS universities have a total of 26
undergraduate and 12 graduate students studying meteorology or
atmospheric sciences. The NOAA award of $2.5 million per year
is directly supporting 17 undergraduate and 10 graduate students.
In addition, Howard University hosts an annual two-week Weather
Camp to introduce meteorology and atmospheric science to high
school students.
One session of the recent meeting was devoted to enhancing
education, outreach, and training. Prior to NCAS, Howard University
offered a doctoral in atmospheric sciences and under NCAS, Howard
also established a 3+2 program in which after five years, students
receive a bachelor's degree in physics and master's degree in
atmospheric sciences. The partnership also enables students from
UTEP, JSU, and UPRM to pursue doctoral degrees at Howard University.
NCAS has developed summer workshops to train university students
in the areas of meteorology instrumentation, space weather, forecasting/modeling,
and remote sensing.
"An essential component of student training has been the mentoring
of students by NWS employees," said Jones. "NCEP employees including
Wassila Thiaw, Ralph Peterson, and Fedor Messinger have served
as adjunct faculty and thesis advisors to several Howard University
students."
The $15 million NOAA Educational Partnership Program initiative
is aimed at increasing programs and opportunities for individuals
in NOAA-related professions to pursue applied research and education
in atmospheric, oceanic and environmental sciences and remote
sensing programs, principally among MSIs. The NCAS award began
October 1, 2001, and continues through September 30, 2004, in
the amount of $2.5 million per year.
The meeting began with a student poster exhibit/reception and
welcome from Howard University's Associate Provost, Joseph Reidy,
and continued with technical workshops and panel sessions discussing
research progress and development.
Back
to Top |
|
|
WFO Develops
Online Spotter Training Alternative
The Memphis, TN, Weather
Forecast Office (WFO) recently started online spotter training.
Mark Frazier, Greg Garrett, and Jim Belles led the effort to create
the web-based Skywarn class.
The online
presentation has notes with each slide and an automated
test at the end. People who successfully complete the test
can print a certificate of completion and then submit their
addresses and phone numbers to be a part of the Skywarn program.
The information automatically comes to the WFO via e-mail.
"Our goal is to supplement our face-to-face training," said
Mark Frazier, Senior Meteorologist. Garrett is the office's information
technology expert, and Belles is Warning Coordination Meteorologist.
Back
to Top |
|
|
Spring Flood
Outlook News Conference Planned; 1993 Flood Anniversary Web
Site Created
On March 20, 2003, NOAA/NWS
hosts the Spring Flood Outlook News Conference to provide an outlook
for springtime floods and drought in the United States. As 2003
marks the tenth anniversary of the Great Flood of 1993, reporters
will be directed to several articles on the flood at a '93 Flood
Anniversary web page. Pat
Slattery, of Central Region Public Affairs, plans to coordinate
with field offices to provide local articles and links on the '93
flood through the course of the spring and summer. Check the NOAA/NWS
Public Affairs web page for information after March 20.
Back
to Top |
|
|
Aviation Services
Branch Announces Quarterly Award Winners
The Aviation Services
Branch (ASB), Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services,
recently announced the winners of its quarterly recognition
awards.
The individual category awardee is Ricky Hiltbrand from the
Chanhassen/Minneapolis Weather Forecast Office (WFO). The team
category winner is the Aviation Team at WFO Tulsa, OK. The ASB
Awards Program, which began in January 2002, rewards individuals
(aviation weather forecasters, program analysts, etc.) and teams
(aviation forecasting, computer programmers, budget and policy,
etc.) for superior performance supporting an aviation function,
both quarterly and annually.
Hiltbrand tracked station and individual verification of the
Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF), the expected meteorological
conditions at an airport during a specified period (usually 24
hours), for over a year and developed a method to improve verification
of the aviation forecast for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International
Airport. Hiltbrand reviewed the forecast verification monthly,
delivering timely feedback to all forecasters on the skill of
the office and the individual forecaster. Hiltbrand also posts
twelve-month running skill scores on the metrics viewing board
in the forecast office. He has been particularly insistent in
pointing out the office's very high false alarm on thunderstorms.
With his leadership, the WFO showed increases in accuracy ranging
from 20-67 percent over Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Low
IFR ceiling and visibility categories over the model output statistics.
The Aviation Team
at WFO Tulsa is comprised of Steve Amburn, Ray Sondag, Nicole
Kempf, Bruce Sherborn, and Mike Teague. The team implemented
in-house training, created and presented a winter weather seminar
at the Federal Aviation Administration WINGS safety program
at the Tulsa Technology center, began pre-production of a video
titled "Creating TAFs and TWEBs" (Transcribed Weather Enroute
Broadcast), a 20-to-30 minute video for the aviation community,
and created an aviation weather page for the WFO Tulsa Intranet
which includes presentations from the WFO Tulsa aviation workshop,
and links to the aviation directives and important aviation
sites.
Back
to Top |
|
AWC Branch
Chief Dave Knapp Retires From Air Force Reserves
Visitors to the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City,
MO, could have been excused if they thought they had found
themselves on an Air Force base March 6, 2003. Several U.S.
Air Force representatives were on hand for the official ceremony
to retire AWC Branch Chief David Knapp from the Air Force Reserves.
Several other AWC Reserve members and recent military retirees
were decked out in their own uniforms. Click
here to see photos of the ceremony.
Lt. Col. Eric McKinley, Director, Air & Space Science
at the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) at Offutt AFB, NE, officiated
the retirement ceremonies. Knapp retired from the Air Force
Reserve after 22 years of military service – 14 on active
duty.
Trained as a military meteorologist, Knapp ultimately reached
the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served as a meteorologist
during his active duty time and was an Air Force Individual
Mobilization Augmentee during his stint in the Reserves. Among
numerous honors and ribbons earned during his career, Knapp
was awarded the 2000 Spengler Award as the Air Force Individual
Mobilization Augmentee of the Year.
Knapp joined the AWC in October 2000. As Chief of the Aviation
Support Branch, he is the primary technical supervisor for
maintaining and improving meteorological and technological
support to AWC operational forecasting functions. He provides
leadership in the implementation of technological support and
improvements and in the implementation of applied meteorological
research into forecast operations.
“We are very proud of Dave and the contributions he
made in service to his country as an Air Force officer,” AWC
Director Jack May said. “And we are most definitely glad
to have him working with us. His expertise is a great asset
in support of the services we provide at the Aviation Weather
Center.”
In a bit of a surprise, following Knapp’s retirement
ceremony, May presented Col. McKinley with a plaque to certify: “the
appreciation of the Aviation Weather Center for the professional
and outstanding service provided to the AWC...” McKinley
promised to relay the plaque to Col. Benson, AFWA Commander.
Back
to Top |
|
|
SSMC Map Available
Online
The NWS Communications
Office has added a new document to its Resources
web page, where you can find copies of presentations, event
planning tools, biographies, economic statistics, and more.
The newest addition is a map of the NOAA/NWS Silver
Spring campus and surrounding area. The map includes
driving directions to the Silver Spring Metro Campus
(SSMC), a map of local restaurants in the area, and
the location of area parking.
The map may prove useful to those attending meetings
or conferences at SSMC who are unfamiliar with the
area.
The map is in Adobe Acrobat® format, and can
be viewed and printed by anyone using the free Acrobat
reader (available for most computer operating systems).
Download the map directly by clicking on this
link.
Back
to Top |
|
|
Also On the
Web...Customer Support Newsletter
Interested in customer
service support? Get on the distribution list for a newsletter
produced to foster front line customer support in the public sector.
Each newsletter provides news about training opportunities, conferences,
ideas, and links to online resources.
NOAA's own Daryl Covey, who manages the Next Generation Weather
Radar (NEXRAD) Hotline team at the Radar Operations Center (ROC)
in Norman, OK, distributes the monthly "e-letter" to about 500
people who work on and operate help desks and call centers at
all levels of Government in the United States, Canada, and the
United Kingdom. Covey said he started the newsletter in November
2000 with the support of ROC Director Jim Belville. Contact him
at Daryl.L.Covey@noaa.gov to
get on the distribution list.
Back
to Top |
|
Take
a look at other NWS news, as submitted for the NOAA
Weekly Report
|
Click
here to take a look at NOAA-wide employee news, as posted
in the latest issue of AccessNOAA
|
|
|
| Have news you'd like to spread using NOAA's NWS Focus? Have feedback on how we can improve NOAA's NWS Focus and
employee communications? We want to hear from you! E-mail us
at NWS.Focus@noaa.gov. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Send
questions and comments to NWS.Communications.Office@noaa.gov
or mail to:
National Weather
Service
Communications Office
ATTN: W/COM
1325 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3283
|
|
|
|
|
|