DOCSLIB.ORG

American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on November 08, 2017. eng Describing Archives: A Content Standard National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Archives American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Biographical or Historical Information ......................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 4 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 5 - Page 2 - American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP Summary Information Repository: National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Archives Title: American Meteorological Society Oral History Project ID: - AMSOHP Date [inclusive]: 1983-2013 Date [bulk]: 1983-2013 Date [inclusive]: Date acquired: 2009-11-02 Physical Description: 107.00 Items Language of the English Material: Abstract: The collection is arranged alphabetically by the name of the individual being interviewed. Preferred Citation [Interivew], American Meteorological Society Oral History Project, Archives, National Center for Atmospheric Research. ^ Return to Table of Contents Biographical or Historical Information The American Meteorological Society Oral History Project (AMSOHP) was created as a joint program between the American Meteorological Society and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ^ Return to Table of Contents - Page 3- American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP Scope and Contents The American Meteorological Society Oral History Project (AMSOHP) aims to capture the history of the atmospheric sciences as told by scientists, administrators, and others working in field. The collection is especially rich in interviews that capture the memories of scientists who launched much of the innovative meteorological research in post-war America. ^ Return to Table of Contents Administrative Information Publication Statement National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Archives Conditions Governing Access Some access restrictions apply to the interviews within this collection, and all are not open for access. Please contact the Archives for more information. Access to interviews in this collection is provided through OpenSky, the NCAR Library's digital repository. Conditions Governing Use Copyright for items in this collection is held by the American Meteorological Society, all rights reserved. Interviews cannot be reproduced without permission in writing from the AMS. For further information, please email [email protected] or write Librarian, American Meteorological Society, 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108. ^ Return to Table of Contents Controlled Access Headings • Meteorology--History • World War, 1939-1945 • Oral histories - Page 4- American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP • Addresses • American Meteorological Society. Collection Inventory Title/Description Instances Abrams, Irwin, 1999-04-23, 1999-05-21 Date [inclusive]: 1999-04-23, 1999-05-21 Digital Object: Oral History Interview with Irwin Abrams: 1999-04-23- Scope and Contents Oral history interview with Irwin Abrams, 1999. Interviewed by Laura Cochrane. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 2 hrs., tapes 1 and 2, side B blank) : analog, mono. AMS 154-155; two physical versions (one master, one copy). Forms part of American Meteorological Society Oral History Project. Anderson, Charles, 1992-06-24 Date [inclusive]: 1992-06-24 Digital Object: Oral History Interview with Charles E. Anderson Digital Object: Transcript of Oral History Interview with Charles E. Anderson: 1992-06-24- Scope and Contents Oral history interview with Charles E. Anderson, 1992. Interviewed by Earl Droessler. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 2 hrs.) : analog, mono + transcript (34 pgs.). AMS 82-83; two physical versions (one master, one copy). Forms part of American Meteorological Society Oral History Project. Charles E. Anderson begins by recalling his entry into the Army Air Corps at the University of Chicago, and his work there under Byers, Wolf, Rossby, Reed and Starr. He then covers the Black Army Air Corps group based at Tuskegee and his service as squadron weather officer. He comments on studying high polymer chemistry at Brooklyn Poly, and his assignment to Watson Labs in the Atmospheric Analysis group, overseeing the work of German scientists including [Randolph] Pendorff, Heinz Lettau and [E.W.] Wahl. He then discusses his work with the [AFCRC] Geophysics Research Directorate [aka GRD]. He mentions work with Kappa, Kellogg, and Landsberg at GRD, and notes C. Yunge's work on composition of aerosols as well as Japanese scientists‚ work on vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy. Anderson reflects on his publication of Cumulus Dynamics "Proceedings of the ... Conference on Cumulus Convection," and his work with Betty Iliff on gravity wave type pulsations using pressure transducers. He comments on Lowly's work with - Page 5- American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP balloons for gathering stratospheric data and describes cloud seeding experiments. He talks about his service as cloud physics project officer in Project [Operation] Greenhouse, the forerunner of H-bomb experiments. He notes his work with Pendar on suppressing jet contrails, his PhD work at MIT, and move to head the atmospheric analysis group at Douglas Aircraft, where he worked on interplanetary exploration and moist cloud models. He mentions his work at ESSA under Bob White, setting up the first World Weather Watch program. He then describes his work as a professor at the University of Wisconsin with Vern Suomi, and studies of tornadic thunderstorms, detailing the use of satellite and computer technology. He discusses his tenure at North Carolina State, working on the move from orlarian to Lagrangian schemes and improving on statistical interpretation of data. He ends by reflecting on his family background, the scarcity of Black PhDs in meteorology, and his thoughts of the future. Controlled Access Headings: • World War, 1939-1945 • African American scientists Anthes, Richard, 2004-08-05, 2004-08-06 Date [inclusive]: 2004-08-05, 2004-08-06 Scope and Contents Oral history interview with Richard Anthes, 2004. Interviewed by Donald R. Johnson, William Kuo, Akira Kasahara, Thomas Warner, and Warren Washington. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 3 hrs.): analog, mono + Transcript (57 pgs.). 3 mini- dv video cassettes (ca. 3 hrs.): digital, color, sound. AMS 183-184; sound cassettes, two versions (one master, one copy). AMS 185-188; video cassettes, one version (one master). Access restrictions; AMS approval required to examine interview; written permission required to quote, cite, or reproduce any portion of the material. Forms part of American Meteorological Society Oral History Project. Topics include: early life and growing up in the South; education; first job; hurricanes; graduate school; 3D modeling; computing; coming to NCAR; other scientists; work at Penn State; time as an administrator at NCAR; NCAR research and projects; international relations; UCAR and the university community; and family life. Atlas, David, 1987-09-30 Date [inclusive]: 1987-09-30 Digital Object: Oral History Interview with Dave Atlas: 1987-09-30- Digital Object: Transcript of Oral history interview with David Atlas: 1987-09-30- - Page 6- American Meteorological Society Oral History Project - AMSOHP Scope and Contents Oral history interview with David Atlas, 1987. Interviewed by Robert Serafin. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 2 hrs., tape 2 side B blank) : analog, mono + transcript (29 pgs.). AMS 17-18; two versions (one master, one copy). Forms part of American Meteorological Society Oral History Project. Dr. David Atlas recounts his early aspirations to science; the graduate education he received at the City College of New York, the New York University Air Force Meteorology Program, Harvard and MIT; and his preliminary involvement in meteorology during World War II, including his contributions to radar technology while assigned to the All-Weather Flying Division (AWFD) at Wright Field, Ohio. He describes his work and colleagues at the Air Force Cambridge Research Labs, now the Air Force Geophysics Lab; the formation of the Joint Laboratory for Atmospheric Probing during his tenure at the University of Chicago; his role and that of colleagues in the progress of Doppler Radar research in the 1960s; and his decision to join NCAR in 1972. Dr. Atlas also details his directorship of the National Hail Research Experiment (NHRE) during hail suppression and seeding experiments. Finally he discusses his accomplishments at NASA Goddard. "Eye of the Storm: A Weatherman's Story" by David Atlas, unpublished autobiographical monograph, available in David Atlas subject file at the NCAR Archives. Controlled Access Headings:
Recommended publications
  • Cumulated Bibliography of Biographies of Ocean Scientists Deborah Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Archives Revised December 3, 2001

    Cumulated Bibliography of Biographies of Ocean Scientists Deborah Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Archives Revised December 3, 2001

    Cumulated Bibliography of Biographies of Ocean Scientists Deborah Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Archives Revised December 3, 2001. Preface This bibliography attempts to list all substantial autobiographies, biographies, festschrifts and obituaries of prominent oceanographers, marine biologists, fisheries scientists, and other scientists who worked in the marine environment published in journals and books after 1922, the publication date of Herdman’s Founders of Oceanography. The bibliography does not include newspaper obituaries, government documents, or citations to brief entries in general biographical sources. Items are listed alphabetically by author, and then chronologically by date of publication under a legend that includes the full name of the individual, his/her date of birth in European style(day, month in roman numeral, year), followed by his/her place of birth, then his date of death and place of death. Entries are in author-editor style following the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 14th ed., 1993). Citations are annotated to list the language if it is not obvious from the text. Annotations will also indicate if the citation includes a list of the scientist’s papers, if there is a relationship between the author of the citation and the scientist, or if the citation is written for a particular audience. This bibliography of biographies of scientists of the sea is based on Jacqueline Carpine-Lancre’s bibliography of biographies first published annually beginning with issue 4 of the History of Oceanography Newsletter (September 1992). It was supplemented by a bibliography maintained by Eric L. Mills and citations in the biographical files of the Archives of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.
  • Roots of Ensemble Forecasting

    Roots of Ensemble Forecasting

    JULY 2005 L E W I S 1865 Roots of Ensemble Forecasting JOHN M. LEWIS National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma, and Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada (Manuscript received 19 August 2004, in final form 10 December 2004) ABSTRACT The generation of a probabilistic view of dynamical weather prediction is traced back to the early 1950s, to that point in time when deterministic short-range numerical weather prediction (NWP) achieved its earliest success. Eric Eady was the first meteorologist to voice concern over strict determinism—that is, a future determined by the initial state without account for uncertainties in that state. By the end of the decade, Philip Thompson and Edward Lorenz explored the predictability limits of deterministic forecasting and set the stage for an alternate view—a stochastic–dynamic view that was enunciated by Edward Epstein. The steps in both operational short-range NWP and extended-range forecasting that justified a coupling between probability and dynamical law are followed. A discussion of the bridge from theory to practice follows, and the study ends with a genealogy of ensemble forecasting as an outgrowth of traditions in the history of science. 1. Introduction assumption). And with guidance and institutional sup- port from John von Neumann at Princeton’s Institute Determinism was the basic tenet of physics from the for Advanced Study, Charney and his team of research- time of Newton (late 1600s) until the late 1800s. Simply ers used this principle to make two successful 24-h fore- stated, the future state of a system is completely deter- casts of the transient features of the large-scale flow mined by the present state of the system.
  • Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010)

    Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010)

    Complete bibliography of all items cited in A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010) Paul N. Edwards Caveat: this bibliography contains occasional typographical errors and incomplete citations. Abbate, Janet. Inventing the Internet. Inside Technology. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999. Abbe, Cleveland. “The Weather Map on the Polar Projection.” Monthly Weather Review 42, no. 1 (1914): 36-38. Abelson, P. H. “Scientific Communication.” Science 209, no. 4452 (1980): 60-62. Aber, John D. “Terrestrial Ecosystems.” In Climate System Modeling, edited by Kevin E. Trenberth, 173- 200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Ad Hoc Study Group on Carbon Dioxide and Climate. “Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment.” (1979): Air Force Data Control Unit. Machine Methods of Weather Statistics. New Orleans: Air Weather Service, 1948. Air Force Data Control Unit. Machine Methods of Weather Statistics. New Orleans: Air Weather Service, 1949. Alaka, MA, and RC Elvander. “Optimum Interpolation From Observations of Mixed Quality.” Monthly Weather Review 100, no. 8 (1972): 612-24. Edwards, A Vast Machine Bibliography 1 Alder, Ken. The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World. New York: Free Press, 2002. Allen, MR, and DJ Frame. “Call Off the Quest.” Science 318, no. 5850 (2007): 582. Alvarez, LW, W Alvarez, F Asaro, and HV Michel. “Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction.” Science 208, no. 4448 (1980): 1095-108. American Meteorological Society. 2000. Glossary of Meteorology. http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/ Anderson, E. C., and W. F. Libby. “World-Wide Distribution of Natural Radiocarbon.” Physical Review 81, no.
  • Contrails to Cirrus—Morphology, Microphysics, and Radiative Properties

    Contrails to Cirrus—Morphology, Microphysics, and Radiative Properties

    JANUARY 2006 ATLAS ET AL. 5 Contrails to Cirrus—Morphology, Microphysics, and Radiative Properties DAVID ATLAS Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland ZHIEN WANG* Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland DAVID P. DUDA National Institute of Aerospace, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (Manuscript received 27 December 2004, in final form 30 June 2005) ABSTRACT This work is two pronged, discussing 1) the morphology of contrails and their transition to cirrus uncinus, and 2) their microphysical and radiative properties. It is based upon the fortuitous occurrence of an unusual set of essentially parallel contrails and the unanticipated availability of nearly simultaneous observations by photography, satellite, automated ground-based lidar, and a newly available database of aircraft flight tracks. The contrails, oriented from the northeast to southwest, are carried to the southeast with a com- ponent of the wind so that they are spread from the northwest to southeast. Convective turrets form along each contrail to form the cirrus uncinus with fallstreaks of ice crystals that are oriented essentially normal to the contrail length. Each contrail is observed sequentially by the lidar and tracked backward to the time and position of the originating aircraft track with the appropriate component of the wind. The correlation coefficient between predicted and actual time of arrival at the lidar is 0.99, so that one may identify both visually and satellite-observed contrails exactly. Contrails generated earlier in the westernmost flight cor- ridor occasionally arrive simultaneously with those formed later closer to the lidar to produce broader cirrus fallstreaks and overlapping contrails on the satellite image.
  • Radar Calibration Some Simple Approaches

    Radar Calibration Some Simple Approaches

    RADAR CALIBRATION SOME SIMPLE APPROACHES BY DAVID ATLAS I - « In considering new and promising methods to calibrate radar, it is worth remembering some of the old and perhaps forgotten methods that were used over the last half century. uring the Radar Calibration Workshop at the shop. While formalizing these remarks in writing I 81st Annual Meeting of the American Meteo- thought it would be useful to elaborate upon them and Drological Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico, discuss some newer approaches. Thus this paper at- in January 2001,1 was surprised at the relatively little tempts to synthesize a range of techniques. A com- attention given to some of the simplest and proven mon thread that runs throughout is the calibration of methods. This stimulated some extemporaneous re- the overall system by use of standard or well-defined marks that I presented toward the end of the work- targets external to the radar. In part, I was troubled by the apparent lack of fa- miliarity of some of the younger generation with early AFFILIATION: ATLAS—NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, activities in this realm. I was also reacting to the re- Greenbelt, Maryland cent findings of the variability in the calibrations of CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: David Atlas, Distinguished Visiting Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 910, the Weather Surveillance Radars-1988 Doppler Greenbelt, MD 20771 (WSR-88Ds) around the nation that have been uncov- E-mail: [email protected] In final form 22 May 2002 Above: In the early 1970s, Atlas used BBs to cali- ©2002 American Meteorological Society brate the vertically pointing frequency modulated- continuous wave (FM-CW) radar.
  • Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate Change

    Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate Change

    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 324 229 SE 051 620 TITLE Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gaaes, and Climate Change. Proceedings of a Joint Symposium by theBoard on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate andthe Committee on Global Change, National ResearchCouncil (Washington, D.C., March 23, 1988). INSTITUTION National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO ISBN-0-309-03945-2 PUB DATE 90 NOTE 137p. AVAILABLE FROMNational Academy of Scences, National AcademyPress, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20418 ($20.00). PUB TYPE Collected Works Conference Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Air Pollution; *Climate; *Conservation(Environment); Depleted Resources; Earth Science; Ecology; *Environmental Education; *Environmental Influences; Global Approach; *Natural Resources; Science Education; Thermal Environment; World Affairs; World Problems IDENTIFIERS *Global Climate Change ABSTRACT The motivation for the organization of thissymposium was the accumulation of evidence from manysources, both short- and longterm,_that the global climate is in a state of change. Data which defy integrated explanation including temperature, ozone, methane, precipitation and other climate-related trendshave presented troubling problems for atmospheric sciencesince the 1980's. Ten papers from this symposium are presentedhere: (1) "Global Change and the Changing Atmosphere"(William C. Clark); (2) "Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: Global Processes"(Daniel L. Albritton); (3) "Stratospheric Czone Depletion: AntarcticProcesses" (Robert T. Watson); (4) "The Role of Halocarbons in Stratospheric Ozone Depletion" (F. Sherwood Rowland);(5) "Heterogenous Chemical Processes in Ozone Depletion" (Mario J. Molina);(6) "Free Radicals in the Earth's Atmosphere: Measurement andInterpretation" (James G. Anderson); (7) "Theoretical Projections of StratosphericChange Due to Increasing Greenhouse Gases and Changing OzoneConcentrations" (Jerry D.
  • Rewards and Penalties of Monitoring the Earth

    Rewards and Penalties of Monitoring the Earth

    rg o me 23 (c)1998 by Annual Reviews. u September 11, 1998P1: H 13:40 Annual Reviews AR064-00 AR64-FrontisP-II Annu. Rev. Energy. Environ. 1998.23:25-82. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews. Reprinted, with permission, from the Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, Vol Reprinted, with permission, from the Annual Review of Energy and Environment, P1: PSA/spd P2: PSA/plb QC: PSA/KKK/tkj T1: PSA September 29, 1998 10:3 Annual Reviews AR064-02 Annu. Rev. Energy Environ. 1998. 23:25–82 Copyright c 1998 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved rg o REWARDS AND PENALTIES OF MONITORING THE EARTH Charles D. Keeling me 23 (c)1998 by Annual Reviews. u Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92093-0220 KEY WORDS: monitoring carbon dioxide, global warming ABSTRACT When I began my professional career, the pursuit of science was in a transition from a pursuit by individuals motivated by personal curiosity to a worldwide enterprise with powerful strategic and materialistic purposes. The studies of the Earth’s environment that I have engaged in for over forty years, and describe in this essay, could not have been realized by the old kind of science. Associated with the new kind of science, however, was a loss of ease to pursue, unfettered, one’s personal approaches to scientific discovery. Human society, embracing science for its tangible benefits, inevitably has grown dependent on scientific discoveries. It now seeks direct deliverable results, often on a timetable, as compensation for public sponsorship. Perhaps my experience in studying the Earth, initially with few restrictions and later with increasingly sophisticated interaction with government sponsors and various planning committees, will provide a perspective on this great transition from science being primarily an intellectual pastime of private persons to its present status as a major contributor to the quality of human life and the prosperity of nations.
  • An Abstract of the Dissertation Of

    An Abstract of the Dissertation Of

    AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Kristine C. Harper for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History of Science presented on April 25, 2003. Title: Boundaries of Research: Civilian Leadership, Military Funding, and the International Network Surrounding the Development of Numerical Weather Prediction in the United States. Redacted for privacy Abstract approved: E. Doel American meteorology was synonymous with subjective weather forecasting in the early twentieth century. Controlled by the Weather Bureau and with no academic programs of its own, the few hundred extant meteorologists had no standing in the scientific community. Until the American Meteorological Society was founded in 1919, meteorologists had no professional society. The post-World War I rise of aeronautics spurred demands for increased meteorological education and training. The Navy arranged the first graduate program in meteorology in 1928 at MIT. It was followed by four additional programs in the interwar years. When the U.S. military found itself short of meteorological support for World War II, a massive training program created thousands of new mathematics- and physics-savvy meteorologists. Those remaining in the field after the war had three goals: to create a mathematics-based theory for meteorology, to create a method for objectively forecasting the weather, and to professionalize the field. Contemporaneously, mathematician John von Neumann was preparing to create a new electronic digital computer which could solve, via numerical analysis, the equations that defmed the atmosphere. Weather Bureau Chief Francis W. Reichelderfer encouraged von Neumann, with Office of Naval Research funding, to attack the weather forecasting problem. Assisting with the proposal was eminent Swedish-born meteorologist Carl-Gustav Rossby.
  • American Meteorological Society University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

    American Meteorological Society University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

    American Meteorological Society University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Tape R ecorded Interview Project Interview of Jerry D. Mahlman November, 2005-January 2006 Interviewer: Robert Chervin CHERVIN: This is the 9th of N ovem ber 2005; this is an interview w ith Dr. Jerry M ahlm an, and w e are interview ing at the Foothills Lab of N CA R. I am the interview er, R obert Chervin. I've know n Jerry for at least three decades, and w e often ran into each other at airports. W e don't travel as m uch anym ore for a variety of reasons. B ut the purpose of this interview is to go over Jerry's long, scientific history and find out how it began and how it evolved. First of all, can you m ake som e com m ents on the various influences on you, either in fam ily or school or hom e life that caused you to becom e involved in science in the first p l a c e ? M A HLM AN: I think m y first influence w as m y m other, closely follow ed by m y second oldest brother, w ho w as a physics m ajor in college and w as a physics teacher in high school for m any years. I have four siblings, all m ale, all college-educated, the oldest w ith a B achelor of Science degree, the next tw o w ith m aster's degrees. I w as the fourth, w ith a PhD ., and m y younger brother has a doctorate in education.
  • NOAAJESRL GLOBAL MONITORING DIVISION - EARLY Mstory

    NOAAJESRL GLOBAL MONITORING DIVISION - EARLY Mstory

    ---------------- ------------ ------------- -- -- ------ (.'\.. v Abstract NOAAJESRL GLOBAL MONITORING DIVISION - EARLY mSTORY W.D.Komhyr EN-SCI Corporation, 200 S. 68 St., Boulder, CO 80303* *Formerly ofthe NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, GMCC Division, Boulder, Colorado 80305 The mission of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)-Global Monitoring Division (GMD), formed in 2005, is "to observe and understand through accurate long-term records of atmospheric gases, aerosol particles, and solar radiation, the Earth's atmospheric systems that control climate forcing, ozone depletion, and baseline air quality, for the purpose of developing products that will advance global and regional environmental information and services." Predecessors of ESRL-GMD were: the U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau, Special Projects Section (WB/SPS) 1956-1965; Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) 1965-1966; ESSA, Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, 1966-1970; NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Geophysical Monitoring for Climatic Change (GMCC) Division, 1970-1990; and the NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) 1990-2005. The roots and legacy of ESRL­ GMD date back to the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY). The goal ofthe 1957­ 1958 IGY, overseen by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), was to encourage scientists from around the world to take part in a series of coordinated observations of various geophysical phenomena. During IGY 1957-1958, the U.S. Weather Bureau Special Products Section began monitoring carbon dioxide and total ozone at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, -t--- Ro_uth_~Qle,-Antarctica,-and-aLa-lletwork-oLllQbson-ozone_sp_ectrophoJometeLtotaLozone, _ measurement stations on the U.S. mainland. These observations continue to this day, and comprise sets ofdata that have already played an important role in mitigating harmful effects of pollutants such as the halocarbons and carbon dioxide.
  • The ENIAC Forecasts

    The ENIAC Forecasts

    THE ENIAC NCEP–NCAR reanalyses help show that four historic forecasts made in 1950 with a pioneering electronic FORECASTS computer all had some predictive skill and, with a A Re-creation minor modification, might have been still better. BY PETER LYNCH he first weather forecasts executed on an auto- However, they were not verified objectively. In this matic computer were described in a landmark study, we recreate the four forecasts using data avail- T paper by Charney et al. (1950, hereafter CFvN). able through the National Centers for Environmental They used the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research Computer (ENIAC), which was the most powerful (NCEP–NCAR) 50-year reanalysis project. A com- computer available for the project, albeit primitive parison of the original and reconstructed forecasts by modern standards. The results were sufficiently shows them to be in good agreement. Quantitative encouraging that numerical weather prediction be- verification of the forecasts yields surprising results: came an operational reality within about five years. On the basis of root-mean-square errors, persistence CFvN subjectively compared the forecasts to analy- beats the forecast in three of the four cases. The mean ses and drew general conclusions about their quality. error, or bias, is smaller for persistence in all four cases. However, when S1 scores (Teweles and Wobus 1954) are compared, all four forecasts show skill, and three FIG. 1. Visitors and some participants in the 1950 ENIAC are substantially better than persistence. computations. (left to right) Harry Wexler, John von Neumann, M. H. Frankel, Jerome Namias, John Freeman, Ragnar Fjørtoft, Francis Reichelderfer, and Jule Charney.
  • Downloaded 10/06/21 08:11 PM UTC 736 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW Vol

    Downloaded 10/06/21 08:11 PM UTC 736 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW Vol

    October 1968 Hugh M. Stone and Syukuro Manabe 735 COMPARISON AMONG VARIOUS NUMERICAL MODELS DESIGNED FOR COMPUTING INFRARED COOLING HUGH M. STONE and SYUKURO MANABE Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, ESSA, Princeton, N.J. ABSTRACT The scheme of computing the temperature change due to long wave radiation, developed by Manabe and Strickler and incorporated into the general circulation models developed at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of ESSA, is compared with a group of other numerical schemes for computing radiative temperature change (e.g., the scheme of Rodgers and Walshaw). It is concluded that the GFDL radiation model has the accuracy comparable with other numerical models despite various assumptions adopted. 1. INTRODUCTION (M-S) model*-Manabe and Strickler [12], Manabe and Recently, Rodgers and Walshaw [20] proposed an Wetherald [14]; improved method of computing the distribution of infrared (Plass) COz model-Plass [19]; cooling in the atmosphere. The major characteristics (Plass) 0, model-Plass [HI; of their method as compared with the approach of radiation (H-H) 0, model-Hitchfeld and Houghton [5]; model-Kaplan [9]. charts [4, 17, 251 are the subdivision of water vapor bands (K) into many intervals and the use of a random model in (R-W) MODEL representing the absorptivity curves. The radiation model described by Manabe and Strickler The (R-W) model subdivides the 6.3-micron band, the rotation band, and the continuum of water vapor into , [12] and Manabe and Wetherald [14] has been used at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) 19 subintervals. Two of these subintervals contain the for the numerical studies of general circulation and the 15-micron carbon dioxide band and the 9.6-micron ozone thermal equilibrium of the atmosphere during the past absorption band.