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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