Autumn 2016 Atmospheric Circulation Newsletter of the University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Department OLYMPEX: Testing a NASA Satellite on the Olympic Peninsula by Dr. Lynn McMurdie and Professor Robert A. Houze, Jr. It’s early October 2015, and NASA is project to test a new precipitation measuring satellite, and scientists from the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering are leading this massive adventure. There is no need for earplugs to protect your ears from the roar of rockets or a countdown: the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX) is being launched by a mule train. mountains and nearby ocean. Highly specialized radars were set up at several locations on both sides of the mountains. For over three years, Houze and Center, McMurdie worked with NASA were planned and colleagues, wrote plans, explored directed. Often 2-3 air craft were in the air at instruments in remote areas, radars on the coast and inland, and locations for aircraft patterns. McMurdie directed a staging. Two aircraft stationed at McChord team of graduate student forecasters, who Mules carry OLYMPEX instruments through wilderness to the high terrain of the Olympic Mts. were crucial for deciding the exact times to the storms with cloud instruments to measure launch the aircraft, operate radars and launch OLYMPEX occurred last fall and winter and the sizes and types of rain and snow particles. soundings. The lead graduate student forecaster was led by Prof. Houze and Dr. McMurdie of To realize this plan, McMurdie and Houze was Jennifer DeHart of the Department of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. The developed relationships with numerous mission is to test how well the Global Precipitation organizations and agencies. In addition to out over the four specialized radars and ground Measurement (GPM) satellite (depicted) with several NASA groups (Goddard Space Flight instruments, which measured not only the two radars and a passive microwave radiometer Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, the Jet amounts of precipitation but also the types aboard can measure rain and snow over both Propulsion Laboratory, and the Armstrong ocean and mountains. The Olympic Peninsula Flight Facility), they worked with the air and how these particles were falling to is an ideal location for this project the National Park Service, the the ground. The radars operated at a variety as it is home to a temperate rain Quinault Indian Nation, of frequencies, bracketing the frequencies of forest, with old growth trees Environment Canada, the the satellite radars. Three of these radars were covered in lichen and moss National Weather Service, set up on the wet southwestern side of the and lies in the track of the the Center for Severe Olympic Mountains and a 4th was installed Northern Hemisphere’s Weather Research, the National Center for OLYMPEX — Continued on page 8 winter storms. Wet weather Atmospheric Research, systems repeatedly traveling the U.S. Forest Service, and the Universities of the coastal region and into Utah, Illinois, Michigan, the Olympic Mountains are a Colorado State, Pennsylvania perfect natural laboratory for the State, Medellin (Colombia), experiment. The Peninsula receives Texas A&M, and Washington. annual precipitation ranging from over 100 Participants in OLYMPEX came from all these inches to about 180 inches in the mountainous organizations and from four countries. Over interior. The Olympic National Park covers much 100 individual participants played important of the higher terrain and is a designated national roles in OLYMPEX. wilderness area; thus, the need for mules to carry The Department of Atmospheric Sciences instruments and gear into the most remote sites. was the nerve center of the project. The 6th The NASA S-band NPOL (left) and Ka/Ku But much more than that is needed. band D3R (right) dual-polarization Doppler was partially taken over by the project. radars installed on Quinault Nation land near missions over and into the clouds enveloping the McMurdie and Houze directed this Operations Taholah, WA, in OLYMPEX. 1 Department of Atmospheric Sciences Alumni News Brad Carl (‘11, B.S.) has been hired as the Rex Thompson (‘09, B.S.) was part of this Bob Berkovitz (‘69, B.S.) continues to new weekend evening meteorologist at FOX 23 fall’s inaugural class of the UW’s new M.S. in volunteer his time at the Arizona Science in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Data Science program. He has been working Center in Phoenix since his retirement in Steven Cavallo (‘09, Ph.D.) was awarded at DSG Solutions, a small environmental 2005 from a career as a meteorologist with the an ONR (Office of Naval Research) Young consulting firm in Shoreline, WA. Rex also National Weather Service. Bob is the Program investigator Program (YIP) award, one of only serves as the Chair of the Puget Sound Chapter Chair for the Tempe, AZ chapter of NARFE two in the atmospheric sciences for 2016. Steven of the Air & Waste Management Association. (National Active and Retired Federal Employee is an Assistant Professor at the University of Association). Oklahoma’s School of Meteorology. H.W. “Buzz” Bernard (‘63, B.S.) released David Dempsey (‘85, Ph.D.) is currently Alumni Event at the AMS his newest novel, Cascadia, in July. He is serving a three-year term as Chair of the currently president of the Southeastern Writers Department of Earth & Climate sciences at San Plans are in the works for a department alumni Association. He resides in Roswell, Georgia, Francisco State University. dinner during the 2017 Annual Meeting of the with his wife, Christina, his grandson, Nicholas, Iona Dima-West (‘05, Ph.D.) is currently American Meteorological Society, taking place in and a fuzzy Shih Tzu named Stormy. You in London working for “Willis Re,” as the January in Seattle. Stay tuned for more information can visit Buzz Bernard at his website: www. Divisional Director of their Catastrophe Model on the department’s home page NEWS sidebar buzzbernard.com. Research and Evaluation team. or http://www.atmos.washington.edu/outreach/ Kyle E. Fitch and Christopher D. Miller news.shtml. To ensure your email invitation is (both ‘06, B.S.), both Active Duty Weather sent to your current address, you can update your Officers, were selected to promote to the rank contact information by going to www.washington. of Major this year. Kyle is currently stationed edu/alumni/subscribe/address-change.html or at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and contacting the department at [email protected]. Chris is at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. Harry H. Hendon, III (‘85, Ph.D.) was elected as a fellow in the 2016 class of the Robert A. Houze, Jr. American Geophysical Union. Symposium at the AMS Charanjit Pabla (‘12, B.S.) received his M.S. in Atmospheric Science (with an emphasis At the 2017 Annual Meeting in January, the in Dual-Polarimetric Radar and Precipitation American Meteorological Society will be modeling) at the University of Alabama in hosting the Robert A. Houze, Jr. Symposium Huntsville. He is currently an Operational to celebrate and honor Professor Houze Meteorologist/Data Scientist at the Commodity for his 45-year career as a researcher and Weather Group, a private energy forecasting educator and his seminal contributions to the firm based near Washington, D.C. fields of mesoscale and tropical meteorology. Ben Schott (‘02, B.S.) was recently The symposium will take place on Tuesday, selected to be the next Meteorologist in January 24, 2017. For more information, Charge of the National Weather Service office visit https://ams.confex.com/ams/97Annual/ Steven Businger (‘86, Ph.D.) was appointed in Sullivan/Milwaukee, WI after two years webprogram/HOUZESYMP.html. Chair of the Department of Atmospheric as the Meteorologist in Charge of the NWS Sciences at the University of Hawaii in January Binghamton, NY office. Ben has served over 14 of 2016. years with the NWS. good example is the Autumn Social, which they of Atmospheric Sciences, help us reach our Chair’s Column planned and managed together in South Campus goals with your generous end-of-year gifts. ’ve had the pleasure of writing this column Center, without ever having previously attended Our funding goals include increasing support Ifor the past 4 years, but this one will in fact one of our Autumn Social gatherings! We bid for graduate students, diversity, our faculty, be my last. My term as chair ends July 2017 farewell to former Chair’s Assistant Debbie and our facility. I note that another thing I will and, although I will miss aspects of this job Wolf in August, who served the department miss when I am no longer chair is writing those that are very rewarding, like advocating for and with dedication and distinction for over 25 thank-you notes for your donations, but I still realizing positive change for the department, I years. Thank you, Debbie, and best wishes in have seven months to go, so help me finish this look forward to flexing my teaching muscles retirement! job with a bang! Greg Hakim more fully and spending more time with my During the past year we also had what is graduate students. I thank my colleagues for perhaps our most difficult faculty search in their patience and cooperation during my time a generation or longer, and it ended without as chair, and my graduate students for rising to making a hire. I refused to call it a “failed” the challenge with the added independence that search, because it reminded me that we are a this term of service required. relatively small, collaborative department, and We have a lot to celebrate from the past cooperation is an essential part of what makes year, such as Professor Dennis Hartmann’s this department great.