SOARS is dedicated to broadening

participation in the atmospheric

and related sciences.

“The decisions of

civic life increasingly

involve knowledge

from our science.”

— Rajul E. Pandya

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UNIVERSITY CORPORATION FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

E A R T H • W I N D • S E A • S K Y

A global analysis of atmospheric refractivity anomalies using CHAMP dataErick J. Adame 2

Using CCSM3 to simulate climate changes caused by the 8.2 ka meltwater pulseMelissa A. Burt 3

Statistical analysis of the weekend effect in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA)Roberto Cancel III 4

Synoptic analysis of significant snowfall events on Mt. KilimanjaroRebecca Kit Ying Chan 5

Stratosphere-troposphere exchange via cross-tropopause mixing in the extratropicsKaren Diaz 6

Using GPS radio occultation data in the study of tropical cyclogenesisAnthony C. Didlake, Jr. 7

A flash flood risk assessment of the Colorado Front Range using GISBraxton Edwards 8

Enhancing access to climate model metadata via a web-accessible databaseAlisha Fernandez 9

Creating a software tool to reuse existing decodersShanna-Shaye Forbes 10

Water vapor estimates using simultaneous S and Ka band radar measurementsKeith E. Goodman, Jr. 11

Investigating the effects of airflow on the accuracy of cloud droplet measurementOlusegun O. Goyea 12

The use and value of climate information in wind power planningBret Harper 13

C O N T E N T S

Characterizing multipath sources at seismic frequencies: A case study for the Parkfield GPS ArrayStephen Hernandez 14

The improvement of a carbon monoxide instrument with application to tower measurements of vertical fluxClarence Mann 15

Examining climate influences and economic impacts of harmful algal blooms in Massachusetts: 1993 and 2005Nicole Ngo 16

Examining the processes occurring in thunderstorms that affect soluble, reactive species (chemical reservoir species)Marco Orozco 17

Synthetic dual-Doppler analysis of the 11 June 2003 mesoscale convective vortex during BAMEXAmber E. Reynolds 18

Characterization of dust storm sources in the southwestern U. S. and northwestern Mexico using remote sensing imageryNancy I. Rivera Rivera 19

Lower tropospheric analysis of the daily cycle of the wind for the East Coast of the Gulf of California during NAME 2004Luna M. Rodriguez Manzanet 20

Assessing sand dune mobility from 1980 through 2004 on the Moenkopi Plateau of the Navajo NationCasey C. Thornbrugh 21

Climate influences on dengue fever in Puerto RicoJulien Wang 22

C O N T E N T S ( C O N T . )

A message from Rajul E. Pandya...

Geoscientists are increasingly asked tocontribute to complex decisions about ourinteraction with Earth and its resources.The topics dominate the news: oil and its geopolitics, famines, water shortages,spread of new diseases, loss of species,climate change, and air pollution. All ofthese share a common root: the risingchallenge of integrating the wants andneeds of a diverse and growing globalpopulation into a sustainable future forthe planet and ourselves.

The atmospheric sciences, and indeed thegeosciences, have an opportunity and obligation tocontribute to these decisions. We can make the mostof this opportunity with three strategies: striving tohave our scientists mirror the diversity of the U.S.population, integrating our research into a multi-disciplinary perspective, and reaching out to all thecommunities affected by and influenced by thesedecisions. All of these are aspects of making the atmospheric sciences inclusive: inclusive in partici-pation, in issues addressed, and in collaborationwith other disciplines.

Starting with the first aspect of inclusivity, we mustemphasize the importance of having atmosphericscientists who reflect the diversity of the U.S.population. There are many well-articulated reasonsto broaden participation in atmospheric science,including the imperative of fostering creativity, theneed to make the U.S. globally competitive, and thenecessity of drawing from the entire talent pool tomeet future workforce demands. The most compellingreason for broadening participation, however, risesout of the increasing relevance of atmospheric scienceto our nation’s democracy. When the Supreme Courtaffirmed “participation by members of all racial andethnic groups in the civic life of our Nation isessential,” they were speaking in support of thediversity of future lawyers. Because the decisions ofcivic life increasingly involve knowledge from ourscience—an obvious example is climate change—the Supreme Court could have equally well beenspeaking about the need to broaden participation inthe atmospheric sciences.

In 2005, SOARS celebrated 10 years of work to broaden participation in the atmospheric andrelated sciences. SOARS is a multi-year under-graduate-to-graduate bridge program that is equalparts learning community, mentoring program, andresearch internship. A central feature of the SOARSprogram is a 10-week summer immersion program inwhich protégés (SOARS participants) conductscientific research at the National Center forAtmospheric Research (NCAR) or at laboratories of SOARS sponsors. During this summer research

experience, SOARS protégés collaboratewith up to four mentors to perform originalresearch, prepare a scientific paper, andpresent their research at an end-of -summercolloquium. All of these activities aredesigned to engage, encourage, nurture,and prepare our diverse protégés as they pursue a career in atmospheric orrelated science.

The second aspect of becoming a moreinclusive science is to invite collaborationfrom other disciplines. This collaboration

is absolutely essential for the atmospheric sciences asmany of the most challenging scientific problems inour science are emerging at the intersection withother disciplines. Interdisciplinary approaches canalso help make our work more usable in civic life. For example, an integrated approach toflood risk is more useful than separate meteoro-logical, hydrological, and demographic analyses.Of course, important interdisciplinary problemscannot be addressed effectively without deep wellsof disciplinary expertise.

The final aspect of an inclusive science is a sciencethat better reaches out to communities currentlyunderserved by our science. Equity and justice man-date this approach: consider that the communitiesimpacted by a changing climate include those whohaven’t benefited as much from the industrializationcontributing to the change.

As you look through this volume of Earth, Wind,Sea, and Sky: Protégé Abstracts, I hope you will findevidence that atmospheric science is moving towardsan inclusive science in all three of the ways described.The individual abstracts reflect interdisciplinaryinvestigations as well as deepened disciplinary under-standing. The abstracts themselves chronicle thesignificant progress of the talented protégés, and the volume as a whole provides a glimpse of thecollaborative community that supports these protégésand their continued academic and professionalsuccess. Within these pages, there is also a newinterdisciplinary collaboration: SOARS partnershipwith Research Experience in Solid Earth Science for Students (RESESS), which seeks to broadenparticipation in the solid Earth sciences. Our firstshared protégé has an abstract included in thisvolume. Finally, please notice that many SOARSprotégés are doing research that responds to theneeds of diverse communities.

To learn more about the work of these capable protégés or

the SOARS program, I welcome you to visit our website at

www.ucar.edu/soars.

Rajul E. PandyaDirector / Principal Investigator, SOARS

1

Erick J. Adame

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Bill Kuo

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Nicole Gordon

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, University of New York atAlbany, Atmospheric Science

In early 2006, the U.S.-Taiwan joint satellitemission known as the Constellation ObservingSystem for Meteorology, Ionosphere andClimate (COSMIC) will launch six Low EarthOrbit (LEO) satellites. These satellites, eachequipped with an advanced Global PositioningSystem (GPS) receiver, will use radio occultation(RO) limb sounding technology to profile theEarth’s atmosphere with unprecedentedaccuracy and vertical resolution. The GPS ROsoundings available from COSMIC will makesignificant contributions to global weatherprediction, ionospheric research, and climatemonitoring. To demonstrate the potentialvalue of GPS RO data in climate research,atmospheric refractivity obtained from GPSRO data in a recent single-satellite Germanmission, known as the CHAllenging MiniPayload for Geophysical Research andApplication (CHAMP), was analyzed. Thisstudy examined the refractivity anomalies by

altitude and latitude for each season of CHAMPGPS RO data, provided by UCAR’s COSMICData Analysis and Archive Center (CDAAC),from May 2001 through present. Refractivityanomalies across the globe were illustrated incolor plots that identified any persistentanomaly patterns. A structure was identifiedover the tropical stratosphere from 20-30 km,which may possibly have a relationship with the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO). Resultsindicated that GPS refractivity data could beused to identify specific trends between seasons as well as to identify multi-yearphenomenon such as QBO. This study high-lights the usefulness of refractivity values fromGPS RO data in climate research.

A global analysis of atmospheric refractivity anomalies usingCHAMP data

2 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Melissa A. Burt

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Carrie Morrill

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Christine Wiedinmyer

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, Colorado State University,Atmospheric Science

During abrupt climate changes, the climatesystem is forced across a threshold, causingevolution to a new, persistent state. Studies of abrupt climate changes are necessary tounderstand how these changes are transferredglobally and to gain insight on future climatechange. In this research, an abrupt climatechange at 8.2ka (8200 years ago) was simul-ated using the Community Climate SystemModel (CCSM) and focusing specifically on theglobal response of temperature and precip-itation. This abrupt change is believed to havebeen caused by a massive amount of freshwaterentering the Labrador Sea from a glacial lakenear Hudson Bay. Previous simulations of thisevent used climate models of intermediatecomplexity or present-day boundary conditionsfor greenhouse gases and insolation. In thisresearch, boundary conditions from 8.2 kaand a more comprehensive coupled climatemodel were used to improve the accuracy of the

simulation. Significant global changes, annuallyand seasonally, were found in temperature andprecipitation. The average annual globaltemperature before the freshwater perturbationwas 12.1ºC and after the perturbation was10.7ºC, corresponding to a -1.3ºC change.Globally, the annual precipitation change was -0.08 mm day -1. T-tests indicated that thesechanges were statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level. These changesoccurred in part due to a slowdown of theAtlantic meridional overturning (thermohaline)circulation and the resulting increase in theamount of sea ice in the North Atlantic. This, in turn, increased the Earth’s albedo and theEarth absorbed less incoming solar radiation.

Using CCSM3 to simulate climate changes caused by the 8.2 kameltwater pulse

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 3

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Roberto Cancel III

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Sasha Madronich

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Lesley Smith

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Junior, The Pennsylvania StateUniversity, Earth Science

Situated in an elevated basin 2240 metersabove mean sea level, the Mexico CityMetropolitan Area (MCMA) and its 20-25million inhabitants have grappled with poorair quality for decades. The weekend effectcompares values of weekend parameters tothose on weekdays. These parameters includecarbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), oxides ofnitrogen (NOX), and temperature. This projectutilized the Red Automática de MonitoreoAtmosférico (RAMA) network dataset, whichconsists of hourly measurements of 10parameters from 32 sites over 18 years. Ourstudy showed concentrations of CO and NOX

to be higher during the week, except for earlymorning, 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. local time (LT), whentheir concentrations were higher on Saturdayand Sunday. O3 concentrations were typicallyhigher during the week from 1 to 6 a.m. LT with Sunday concentrations higher untilmidday, when Saturday concentrations reached

a maximum. Temperature showed very littlevariation throughout the week. In order todetermine the significance of these differences,a Student’s t-test was used, which calculatedthe statistical significance of the differencebetween two means by comparing the twomeans to the variation of the data. Three timeseries for significance were conducted: Saturdayversus weekdays, Sunday versus weekdays, andSaturday versus Sunday. The t-test suggestedthat the weekend effects observed in this studywere statistically significant. The significance ofthe relatively small temperature differencessuggested possible boundary layer meteoro-logical conditions influencing the weekendeffect. Further study of the weekend effect’ssignificance and implications is necessary.

Statistical analysis of the weekend effect in the Mexico CityMetropolitan Area (MCMA)

4 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Rebecca Kit Ying Chan

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Caspar Ammann and Jeff Yin

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Barb Petruzzi

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Geosciences

Ice cores recovered from Mt. Kilimanjaroprovide evidence of significant climate changesin the East African region over the past 10,000years. However, the atmospheric processes thatlead to snowfall on Kilimanjaro are poorlyunderstood. Earlier studies have suggested thatEast African climate is dominated by theseasonal shift of the tropical precipitationbands, yet the key factors causing interannualprecipitation variability remain unclear,particularly for the long rains season (March-May). To advance the understanding of modernEast African climate, this study used data froma new station on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and putthem into a regional atmospheric circulationcontext. First, the in situ data were compared toglobal analysis products for testing theirrepresentation of the East African region.Overall, these data showed similar activityduring corresponding days of snowfall onKilimanjaro, indicating that snowfall events

are likely related to regional precipitation.Second, the use of various global (re-)analysisproducts allowed the examination of common-alities between individual precipitation eventson Kilimanjaro, and helped to identify the keyprecipitation-causing processes. Results showeddistinct seasonality in precipitation, propagatingfrom west to east during the long rains and east to west during the short rains (October-December). In addition, high magnitude snow-fall events occurred under the conditions of low wind speed and high humidity. Thesehigh magnitude events may be a result of local convection, and may represent certain atmospheric conditions favorable for snowfallaccumulation, but their representation of over-all regional rainfall totals remains uncertain.

Synoptic analysis of significant snowfall events on Mt. Kilimanjaro

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 5

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Karen Diaz

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Andy Weinheimer

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Juliana Rew

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Janet Evans

PEER MENTOR: Melissa Burt

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Polytechnic University ofPuerto Rico, San Juan,Environmental Engineering

Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) isthe bi-directional exchange or transfer of massand chemical species between the stratosphereand troposphere. STE helps determine thechemical composition of the stratosphere and troposphere, and thus affects climate,stratospheric ozone, and oxidation reactionsin the troposphere. However, the ways itoccurs are poorly understood. STE is expectedacross the tropopause, located between thetroposphere and stratosphere. Data fromthree observational projects (SUCCESS,TRACE-P, and CRYSTAL-FACE) were studied forevidence of mixing. Aircraft measurements wereanalyzed to make correlation graphs of ozoneversus carbon monoxide concentrations. Mixing,evident in high carbon monoxide (CO) concent-rations in the lower stratosphere, was found foreach of projects. The TRACE-P measurementsshowed relatively lower CO concentrations inthe lower stratosphere, in spite of the high CO

concentrations seen in the upper tropospheredue to pollution episodes. CRYSTAL-FACEmeasured the highest CO concentrations in thestratosphere on 7 and 9 July 2002. During thesedays, plumes from surface fires reached highinto the stratosphere. High CO concentrationswere recorded on 3 July 2002 for CRYSTAL-FACE and 2 May 2002 for SUCCESS, althoughthey were not as deep into the stratosphere.Back trajectories indicated possible fire plumesthat reached the lower stratosphere on 3 July2002. Back trajectories also indicated apossible warm conveyor belt in the EasternCentral Pacific that could have lifted pollutedair from Asia to the vicinity of the tropopauseon 2 May 2002.

Stratosphere-troposphere exchange via cross-tropopause mixingin the extratropics

6 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Anthony C. Didlake, Jr.

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Bill Kuo

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Travis Metcalfe

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, Yale University, Geology & Geophysics

Numerous studies have examined atmosphericconditions and patterns in tropical cyclogenesis.Although much has been accomplished, acomplete understanding of tropical cyclo-genesis is hindered by the lack of data in theregions where formation occurs. The GPS(Global Positioning System) radio occultationtechnique can provide valuable data in keyareas. In GPS radio occultation, GPS satellitesemit radio signals through the atmosphere thatare received by another satellite in a low Earthorbit. Various atmospheric properties arecalculated based on the alteration of the signal.This study assessed the value of GPS radiooccultation data in the study of tropicalcyclogenesis by examining storms of the 2002Western North Pacific typhoon season. Thesignature of precursor disturbances to tropicalcyclogenesis was determined by analyzingcomposites of data from the NCEP Aviation(AVN) analysis over four days. Similar

composites of GPS radio occultation data wereproduced. The AVN analysis showed strongsignals of precursor disturbances in the low-level wind fields and atmospheric refractivity.The GPS radio occultation data indicatedsimilarly increased refractivity values in corres-ponding regions, but had sizeable measure-ment differences with the AVN analysis. Thesedifferences were attributed to AVN analysis errordue to the lack of input observational data andthe high accuracy of GPS radio occultationmeasurements. Further comparisons showedthat with the limited quantity of data currentlyavailable, GPS radio occultation by itself was notsufficient to detect precursor disturbances. Itcan best be used in data assimilation to improvethe analysis and forecasts of tropical storms.

Using GPS radio occultation data in the study of tropicalcyclogenesis

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 7

SECOND-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Braxton Edwards

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Olga Wilhelmi and Rebecca Morss

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Mary Golden

PEER MENTOR: Roberto Cancel, III

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, University ofOklahoma, Meteorology

Although significant research has beenperformed on the impacts and mitigation offlash flood events, the methodology for assess-ing social vulnerability and regions at risk has not been fully developed. This projectexplored the environmental-social links offlood hazards and developed a geographicinformation systems (GIS)-based methodologyfor flood risk assessment. The assessment wasbased on a model that risk was a product ofexposure to a hazard and societal vulnerability.Vulnerability was represented by populationcharacteristics and distribution of criticalfacilities. Exposure was estimated by combiningthe Areal Mean Basin Average Rainfall (AMBER)method with GIS techniques. This methodinvolved relating precipitation accumulation,averaged over a stream basin, to NationalWeather Service flash flood guidance values toidentify basins with flooding potential. Thevulnerability and the exposure were integrated

in a GIS to estimate the total risk. The 1997extreme precipitation event in Fort Collins,Colorado was used as a model to assesspotential flood risk in two metropolitan areas:Fort Collins and Denver. Results yielded a GIS-based model that combines hydrometeoro-logical information with social data, and allowedfor radar-derived precipitation data to beintegrated into the GIS to map key areas at riskin Fort Collins and Denver. Early identificationof risk areas can assist emergency and flood-plain managers in developing response andmitigation measures. The results provide aframework to expand the study of flood risk byintroducing near-real-time precipitation data,hydrological models, and detailed socio-economic geographic data.

A flash flood risk assessment of the Colorado Front Range using GIS

8 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Alisha R. Fernandez

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Lawrence Buja and Jennifer Oxelson

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Brian Bevirt

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Kim Prinzi-Kimbro

PEER MENTOR: Shanna-Shaye Forbes

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, University of Colorado at Boulder,Mathematics

The Climate and Global Dynamics Division(CGD) at the National Center for AtmosphericResearch (NCAR) wants to provide the greatestpossible public access to their climate modelmetadata. CGD recognized that the informationfrom their climate model runs could be betterorganized to allow for efficient discovery,analysis, and sharing of the research data. Anumber of factors were identified, includinginsufficient information in the data files toadequately describe the data and the difficultyof generating catalogs of the experiments anddata. Metadata is information that identifiesand describes the contents of the research data.A web-accessible metadata database wasdeveloped to enhance climate model metadataorganization and accessibility. Using the spiralsoftware development method, databasedesign and creation was done in an iterativeprocess with rapid reviews of each design to test and ensure that the final product satisfied

the user’s requirements. The database wasdesigned to meet a specific set of requirementsfrom CGD to store metadata from theCommunity Climate System Model (CCSM). Aweb application created a browser-basedinterface to the database that acts as a catalogfor users to locate and sort the metadata in an online browser. Previously, CGD developersmanually created a static website containing themetadata that proved to be time consumingand difficult to maintain. This project’s web-accessible database enhances CGD’s ability toshare their metadata with the public, makingtheir climate model results accessible to a muchwider audience.

Enhancing access to climate model metadata via a web-accessibledatabase

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 9

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Shanna-Shaye Forbes

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Anne Wilson

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTORS: Kirsten Butcher

and Sonal Bhushan

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, The Universityof Texas at Austin, Computer Engineering

The Local Data Manager (LDM) was created by Unidata at the University Corporation forAtmospheric Research to relay atmospheric datain near-real time to its community of univers-ities and research facilities. Although the LDMsuccessfully delivers data to its community,Unidata is considering other alternatives withmore advanced options for data relay. Onealternative to the LDM, the Network NewsTransfer Protocol-based InterNet News (INN),was shown to successfully deliver data. Becausethe interface that INN provides to theseprograms is different from the LDM’sinterface, a new piece of software to pass INNarticles to existing decoders was required.Decoders are used to transform data into avariety of formats for purposes such asvisualization, and input to other programs.This project’s aim was to create a softwaretool called a decoder wrapper that allows data

to be decoded via INN just as it is decoded viaLDM. The decoder wrapper was created in Cand then upgraded to an object oriented designto facilitate code comprehension and futuremodification. The created decoder wrapper willfacilitate the use of both LDM and INN on therelay network, by putting INN’s data productsinto a format desired by INN users, and willalso facilitate further testing within Unidataof INN’s capabilities for data relay.

Creating a software tool to reuse existing decoders

10 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

SECOND-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Keith E. Goodman, Jr.

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Scott Ellis and Cathy Kessinger

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Cindy Worster

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Jeff Weber

PEER MENTOR: Amber E. Reynolds

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Sophomore, Norfolk StateUniversity, Physics

Water vapor is a key component definingEarth’s climate and has a vital role in the Earth’shydrologic cycle. Despite its significance, thewater vapor content in the atmosphere hasoften been difficult to measure with sufficientspatial and temporal resolution. In thisexperiment, path-integrated water vaporestimates in the boundary layer were retrievedusing the ground-based, dual-frequency S-band and Ka-band radars (S-Pol-Ka). Thewater vapor retrieval method consisted of thefollowing procedures: using quality controlcriteria to minimize contamination from Miescattering, estimating the atmospheric attenu-ation of the Ka-band, and using Hans Liebe’sradiative transfer model to formulate apolynomial equation that computed the watervapor content from the Ka-band attenuation.The data used to obtain the water vaporestimates were collected on 11, 14, 16, and 19

January 2005 during the Rain In Cumulus overthe Ocean (RICO) Experiment. On these days,simultaneous measurements were recorded by the S-Pol-Ka radar system and dropsondeswere released from research aircraft. Weatherechoes in the radar domain offered numerouspaths for water vapor retrieval. Dropsondedata provided independent measurements ofthe water vapor content and were used tovalidate the results from the retrieval method.For the four days analyzed, water vaporestimates compared favorably with dropsondemeasurements along some radar paths whileothers showed considerable scatter. Based onacceptable trends of the computed estimates,preliminary results suggest that this methodo-logy could successfully retrieve estimates ofwater vapor content. Additional work is neededto understand the limitations of the technique.

Water vapor estimates using simultaneous S and Ka band radarmeasurements

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 11

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Olusegun O. Goyea

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Dave Rogers and Tom Horst

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Markus Stobbs

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Alumnus, City College of New York (CUNY), Mechanical Engineering

Accurate cloud droplet measurements areimportant for an increased understanding ofcloud microphysical processes, especially thenucleation and growth of cloud particlesthrough condensation and coalescence. Inaddition, cloud droplets play a significant rolein the formation of precipitation; therefore,accurate measurements are important forprecipitation forecasting. A Forward ScatteringSpectrometer Probe (FSSP) is a cloud droplet-measuring instrument that uses light scatteringintensity in determining size distribution andconcentration. Some standard FSSPs have beenmodified structurally to reduce the inaccuraciesassociated with cloud droplet measurements.The goal of the research was to investigate theeffects of changes in droplet velocities andtrajectories during measurement using thestandard and modified FSSP probes. Thisinvestigation will help determine a probeconfiguration with improved measurement

capabilities. Two modeling and simulationpackages (Gambit and Fluent) were used.Gambit was used to generate probe prototypemodels, three-dimensional computational gridsand the computational flow domain. Fluent was used for flow simulations under specifiedboundary and operating conditions. The analy-sis examined flow fields at various airspeeds(focusing on 145 meters second-1 as a casestudy), angles of attack and trajectories of 20- to50-micron sized particles passing through themeasurement volume. The results obtainedshowed change in particle velocities within the sampling volume; the change was more pronounced for the standard than for themodified probe. In addition, change in particletrajectories was observed for both probes.Further investigations have to be carried out inorder to determine the more suitable probeconfiguration.

Investigating the effects of airflow on the accuracy of clouddroplet measurement

12 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Bret Harper

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Robert Harriss

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: David Gochis

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, Universityof California at Berkeley,Energy and Resources

An aging infrastructure, environmental concerns,and growing demand threaten to undermine thereliability and long-term sustainability of thecurrent fossil fuel electricity supply and trans-mission system. It is widely agreed that renew-able energy sources will become increasinglyimportant in the evolution to a next-generationelectric grid. In this study the use and value ofclimate information in determining the locationand performance of wind power turbines in theNorthern Great Plains of the United States wereinvestigated. Fifty years of hourly wind speeddata were used to evaluate the possible influenceof seasonal and interannual climate variabilityon wind power production at four locations in South Dakota. The El Niño SouthernOscillation (ENSO) is a documented source ofclimate variability in the Northern Great Plains.Our results documented a dominant El Niño/LaNiña influence on the probability of lulls in windspeeds, with the stronger influence in the eastern

half of the state. Information on wind speed lullsis important to the wind energy industry becausethese are periods when no energy is beingproduced. All of the locations also showed aslight decrease in power production potentialduring El Niño events. Our preliminary resultsconfirmed that information on climate variabil-ity and change can be of significant use andvalue to future wind power planning, siting,and performance.

The use and value of climate information in wind power planning

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 13

SECOND-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Stephen Hernandez

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Kristine M. Larson

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Susan Eriksson

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Chris Stolte

PEER MENTOR: Erick Adame

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Junior, The University of Texasat El Paso, Physics and Math

Multipath, the skewed positions due to signaldeflections from surrounding objects, remainsone of the limiting sources of error in positionmeasurements determined by 1-Hertz GlobalPositioning System (GPS) data. There iscurrently no standard automated technique toremove multipath, consequently affecting theaccuracy of any geodetic or seismologicalapplication of GPS data. For GPS data toprovide sub-centimeter position accuracy,multipath error must first be removed.Characterizing multipath entails identifyingsources that contribute to relevant positionerrors for certain satellite-receiver pairs. In thisstudy, signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) from 1-Hertz receivers were used to make thischaracterization possible. SNR recorded by thereceivers are sensitive to changes in the time-varying GPS environments and are a conduitfor revealing multipath. The analysis of SNRpower spectra identified receiver-recording

characteristics indicative of specular multipath.These included large amplitudes and highfrequency or long period interference. Withknowledge of the period of observed multipath,a forward model helped in predicting thedistance from the theoretical horizontal reflectorto the antenna. This prediction was possiblebecause the distance from a horizontal reflectorto antenna determines, in part, the phase andfrequency of multipath. Preliminary resultsidentified time frames and specific satellite-receiver pairs in which significant multipathoccurs. The information, coupled with actualphotos of receiver environments, aids inpredicting when, where, and why significantmultipath will appear. Knowledge gained frommultipath characterization can be appliedtoward the prevention or removal of multipathat other GPS sites with the Parkfield array as a representative model.

Characterizing multipath sources at seismic frequencies: A case study for the Parkfield GPS array

14 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

Stephen Hernandez is the first prot gto participate in the SOARS partnershipwith Research Experience in Solid EarthScience for Students (RESESS)

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Clarence Mann

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Teresa Campos

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Ethan Davis

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, MorehouseCollege/University of Michigan,Environmental Engineering

Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) fromanthropogenic sources, in particular auto-mobile exhaust, exceed in quantity the massof all other man-made source pollutantscombined. Because of its photochemicallifetime and insolubility, CO is an exceptionaltracer to examine polluted air masses. Bymeasuring CO fluxes, the amount of airpollutants that originate from anthropogenicand biogenic sources can be traced. Acommonly used instrument for detecting COis the vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) fluorescenceanalyzer. This project focused on modifyingand redesigning the NCAR Research AviationFacility’s (RAF) VUV fluorescence analyzer to improve both its sensitivity to CO and itssignal to noise ratio. The RAF VUV fluores-cence analyzer has proven sensitive enough tomeasure CO mixing ratios, however it was notsensitive enough to measure CO fluxes. Theinstrument’s flow cell and its fluorescence

detector, a photomultiplier tube (PMT), wereboth examined for ways to improve thesensitivity to CO and the signal to noise ratio.The flow cell was modified to reduce photonscattering and then later redesigned to reduceboth photon and air molecule leaks. A new PMTwas also selected to improve the instrument’sdetection limit. Delivery of the new flow cell and the new PMT was delayed past the end of this project. Because of this, new instrumentmeasurements and analysis could not becompleted. However, it was expected that thesemodifications would result in improvements tothe instrument’s sensitivity to CO and the signal-to-noise ratio when the parts arrive.

The improvement of a carbon monoxide instrument withapplication to tower measurements of vertical flux

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 15

SECOND-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Nicole Ngo

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Mary Hayden, Joan Kleypas, Linda Mearns, Jonathan Patz, and Roger Pulwarty

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Jo Hansen

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Lacey Holland

PEER MENTOR: Braxton Edwards

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, University of California,Irvine, Earth System Scienceand Economics

Although the potential causes of harmful algalblooms (HABs), or red tides, have extensivelybeen studied, the relationships between theenvironmental drivers and economic impactshave not been fully explored. This paperexamines the environmental-economic link byinvestigating the effects of the 1993 and 2005HABs on shellfish, public health, and theshellfish industry in Massachusetts. This studywill be compared to a previous study on the1993 red tide caused by the Alexandriumspecies (spp.). Environmental influences includ-ing sea surface temperature (SST), salinity,precipitation, streamflow, and shellfish toxicitylevels were plotted from 1990 to 2005.Economic impacts on commercial fisherylandings in Massachusetts were graphed from1990 to 2003. These impacts includedexamining Massachusetts’ blue musselcommercial fishery landings and Gloucestercommercial fishery landings. Toxicity levels were

found to have positive relationships to bothrunoff and wind stress in 1993 and 2005.Coincidentally, there was also a significantdecrease in commercial fishery landingsbetween 1992 and 1993, resulting in a decreaseof millions of dollars of revenue for shellfishfishermen and the state of Massachusetts.Changing fisheries policies affected commercialfishery landings during the same time and werealso considered. These results argue for moreaccurate forecasts of runoff and wind stress tominimize the negative impacts of future HABs.

Examining climate influences and economic impacts of harmfulalgal blooms in Massachusetts: 1993 and 2005

16 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Marco Orozco

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Mary Barth

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTORS: Tim Barnes and Barry Lefer

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Larry Winter

PEER MENTOR: Roberto Cancel III

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Senior, California StateUniversity Los Angeles,Chemistry

Because many naturally occurring chemicalreactions can produce compounds that causehealth problems as well as affect globalclimate, it is important to study the processesthat affect the chemical compounds in theatmosphere. One major gap in our knowledgeof atmospheric chemistry is the effect ofclouds on the chemical environment. A recentintercomparison of convective-scale cloudchemistry models has shown that transport ofpassive tracers from the boundary layer to theupper troposphere in deep convection issimulated consistently among models, whilereactive, soluble species are not. Threechemical species of interest are nitric acid(HNO3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), andformaldehyde (CH2O) because they areimportant chemical reservoir species for bothNOx and HOx (precursors for ozone) andbecause they are reactive and soluble inclouds. In this study, possible reasons for the

differences in HNO3, H2O2, and CH2O mixingratios among the convective-scale cloudchemistry models were examined. By adding asource of NO to represent its production fromlightning, by increasing photolysis ratecoefficients to account for increased lightscatter by the clouds, and by addingadsorption of different chemical species byice, the importance of each of these processesto HNO3, H2O2, and CH2O mixing ratios wereable to be understood. Preliminary resultssuggested that lightning plays a key role inHNO3 production, whereas ice adsorption isan important sink for each of the chemicalreservoir species. Increased photolysis ratesaffect only the production of CH2O.

Examining the processes occurring in thunderstorms that affectsoluble, reactive species (chemical reservoir species)

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 17

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Amber E. Reynolds

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Chris Davis

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Arlene Laing

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, Texas A&M University,Atmospheric Science

Mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs), whichform within the stratiform rain of somemesoscale convective systems (MCSs), maypersist for days, often regenerating convectiondaily. Long-lived MCVs can produce as much precipitation as a land-falling hurricaneand lead to catastrophic flooding. Thetheoretical kinematics, or three-dimensionalwind structure, of MCVs have rarely beenvalidated using radar observations. A syntheticdual-Doppler analysis was applied to WSR-88D radar data to determine the three-dimensional wind structure of the 11 June2003 MCV observed during The Bow Echo andMCV Experiment (BAMEX). As in other studiesinvolving MCVs, midlevel cyclonic rotation wasobserved in the trailing stratiform region of theMCS. This study was unique in the fact thatwhile numerous MCVs have been observed in

the stratiform region of MCSs, few have beenwell resolved. There also appeared to have beena coupling between the middle troposphereand the surface, which may be indicative ofcyclonic vorticity growing downward to thesurface. Although the technique of syntheticdual-Doppler analysis needs to be verifiedusing a traditional dual-Doppler analysis, the former shows promise as a method forstudying other MCVs with readily availableoperational data.

Synthetic dual-Doppler analysis of the 11 June 2003 mesoscaleconvective vortex during BAMEX

18 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

FOURTH-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Nancy I. Rivera Rivera

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Jenny L. Hand

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Nancy Wade

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, University of Texas at El Paso, Environmental Sciences

Extreme aerosol events, such as dust storms,can produce large quantities of dust and hazedispersed over regional or global scales. Remotesensing data (ground-based and satellite) can beused to assess the frequency and magnitude ofthese dust events for potential impacts onclimate, visibility, and health-related air qualityissues. Some of these remote sensing datarevealed that the area of the Chihuahuan desert is one of the major dust sources in NorthAmerica. Different visible and infrared spectralbands from satellite data (NOAA/GOES/GVAR/Imager, NOAA/POES/AVHRR andNASA/TERRA/MODIS) were examined tolocate the origin of dust plumes in the south-western United States and northwestern Mexico,a region that currently is not well character-ized with respect to dust sources. The dustsource locations on LANDSAT-7 images were

superimposed to identify the surface featuresassociated with these dust sources. Thismethodology was applied to several dustevents, including the dust outbreaks of 15 April2003 and 15 December 2003, both associatedwith long-distance aerosol transport, todetermine whether these surface features arepersistent sources of dust in this region. Thesefindings establish a baseline for continuedresearch in determining potential locations forfuture dust outbreaks in the southwestern U.S.and northwestern Mexico.

Characterization of dust storm sources in the southwestern U. S.and northwestern Mexico using remote sensing imagery

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 19

THIRD-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Luna M. Rodriguez Manzanet

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Leslie M. Hartten

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: John J. Cassano

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Susan Cross

PEER MENTOR: Nancy M. Rivera Rivera

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Junior, Universidad de PuertoRico-Recinto de Rio Piedras,Physics

The daily cycle of the wind in the lowertroposphere is not well known over the Gulf ofCalifornia and the western coastal plains ofMexico. During the North American Monsoon(NAM) it is thought to be associated with thedaily cycle of convective precipitation in thisregion. For this research project half-hourlylower tropospheric winds from three windprofilers were analyzed. These wind profilerswere deployed along the coastal plain ofMexico during the Enhanced ObservationPeriod (EOP) of the North American MonsoonExperiment (NAME 2004). The data from thewind profilers were used to document andunderstand the daily cycle profile of the windsduring the monsoon. Mean profiles and meandaily cycles were computed at Puerto Peñasco(31.34ºN, 113.51ºW), Bahía Kino (28.81ºN,111.93ºW), and Los Mochis (25.69ºN,109.08ºW) over the first half of the 2004 NAM.The mean profiles showed shallow southerly

winds backing to easterlies; these southerliesdeepened with latitude. The mean daily cyclesshowed land/sea breezes at the most southernsites and a low level jet at the northern site. Thedirectional constancy of these features was high.These results gave an initial look into thestructure of the winds in the lower atmospherein this area and their variability along the Gulfof California, which have not been previouslydocumented. The work has raised additionalquestions about the wind flow in this region thatmay facilitate future research of the NAM and beuseful for improving models to forecast thisphenomenon.

Lower tropospheric analysis of the daily cycle of the wind for theEast Coast of the Gulf of California during NAME 2004

20 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Casey C. Thornbrugh

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR: Margaret Hiza-Redsteer

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Amy Stevermer

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Graduate Student, Universityof Arizona, Geography andRegional Development

This study was motivated by concerns abouthow climate change is affecting Indigenouscommunities across the globe. Many residentsof the Navajo Nation on the southern ColoradoPlateau are concerned that the future climateof the region will be warmer and drier than wasobserved in the 20th century. Droughts duringthe late 1980s through 2004 over this regionhave resulted in the decrease of many nativeplant species and an increase in sand dunemobility causing social harm, including damageto infrastructure and the loss of agriculturalproductivity. Effectively mitigating sand dunemobility requires understanding the annualand seasonal climate variability, which canaffect sand dune development. A climatic sanddune mobility index using wind energy andeffective precipitation was calculated toassess seasonal, annual, and decadal trendsof potential sand dune mobility over theMoenkopi Plateau on the Navajo Nation from

1980 to 2004. The results demonstrated alarge variation in seasonal and annual potentialsand dune mobility. For the period from 1980to 2004, an increasing trend in potential sanddune mobility was observed and appearedcorrelated with a trend of decreasing effectiveprecipitation. These results provide a betterunderstanding of the climatic conditions overthe last 25 years over the Moenkopi Plateau,and show how these conditions relate toincreased sand dune mobility. This work showsthat the index can be used for other areas onthe Navajo Nation, to identify locations at riskand help in planning efforts to mitigate effectsfrom climate change.

Assessing sand dune mobility from 1980 through 2004 on theMoenkopi Plateau of the Navajo Nation

2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S 21

FOURTH-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

Julien Wang

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTORS: Mary Hayden, Linda Mearns, Joan Kleypas, , Jonathan Patz, and Roger Pulwarty

WRITING & COMMUNICATION MENTOR: Wendy Abshire

COMMUNITY MENTOR: Susan Foster

PEER MENTOR: Bret Harper

ACADEMIC AFFILIATION: Junior, Johns HopkinsUniversity, EnvironmentalEngineering

Dengue fever affects 50-100 million peopleworldwide, with symptoms ranging fromunaffected to a 50 percent mortality rate.Unfortunately, no specific medical treatmentor vaccine is available. Dengue is transmitted inthe Caribbean primarily through a mosquitovector called Aedes aegypti. Past studies havefound that climate factors such as highertemperatures and increased precipitation affectthe lifecycle and habitat of these mosquitoes.Likewise, changes in the Aedes lifecycle causechanges in dengue transmissions. Therefore, athorough analysis of those climate factors wouldaid in understanding dengue transmissions. Thisstudy focused on how air temperature, humidity,precipitation, and sea-surface temperature(SST) affected the dengue epidemics of 1994and 1998. Each climate factor was correlatedwith dengue outbreaks on a weekly basis.

Precipitation, air temperature, and humidityshowed weak relationships with dengue out-breaks. SST, however, showed an exponentialrelationship. A good exponential model wasfound for 1994, but was not appropriate for1998. Instead, a regression tree was used toanalyze 1998 SST and air temperature thres-holds. The thresholds were around 27-30ºC,which agreed with past studies. Qualitativeanalyses of tropical storm systems showedthat storms did not have a strong impact ondengue transmissions. In general, the resultsdemonstrated that except for SST, climatefactors did not have a large effect on denguetransmissions; rather, key social factors couldbe at play. Thus, for dengue prevention, thepublic health infrastructures should focus moreon social problems and less on climate factors.

Climate influences on dengue fever in Puerto Rico

22 2 0 0 5 S O A R S A B S T R A C T S

FIRST-YEAR PROTÉGÉ

23

2 0 0 5 S O A R S P R O T É G É S B O U L D E R , C O L O R A D O

First Row (L to R):

Braxton Edwards, Casey C. Thornbrugh, Erick J. Adame, Luna M. Rodriguez Manzanet, Anthony C. Didlake, Jr.,

Stephen Hernandez.

Second Row (L to R):

Amber E. Reynolds, Roberto Cancel III, Rebecca Kit Ying Chan, Julien Wang, Olusegun O. Goyea, Marco Orozco,

Clarence Mann, Melissa A. Burt, Nicole Ngo, Keith E. Goodman, Jr., Shanna-Shaye Forbes, Nancy I. Rivera Rivera,

Alisha Fernandez, Bret Harper, Karen Diaz.

2 0 05 S OA R S P R O T É G É S , R E S E A R C H T O P I C S , A N D M E N T O R S

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR WRITING & COMMUNICATION COMMUNITY MENTORMENTOR

PROTÉGÉ RESEARCH TOPIC

Erick J. Adame A global analysis of atmospheric refractivity anomalies using CHAMP data

Melissa A. Burt Using CCSM3 to simulate climate changes caused by the 8.2 ka meltwater puls

Roberto Cancel III Statistical analysis of the weekend effect in the Mexico City MetropolitanArea (MCMA)

Rebecca Kit Ying Chan Synoptic analysis of significant snowfall events on Mt. Kilimanjaro

Karen Diaz Stratosphere-troposphere exchange via cross-tropopause mixing in theextratropics

Anthony C. Didlake, Jr. Using GPS radio occultation data in the study of tropical cyclogenesis

Braxton Edwards A flash flood risk assessment of the Colorado Front Range using GIS

Alisha Fernandez Enhancing access to climate model metadata via a web-accessible database

Shanna-Shaye Forbes Creating a software tool to reuse existing decoders

Keith E. Goodman, Jr. Water vapor estimates using simultaneous S and Ka band radarmeasurements

Olusegun O. Goyea Investigating the effects of airflow on the accuracy of cloud dropletmeasurement

Bret Harper The use and value of climate information in wind power planning

Stephen Hernandez Characterizing multipath sources at seismic frequencies: A case study for theParkfield GPS Array

Bill Kuo, UOP Nicole Gordon, UCAR

Carrie Morrill, NCAR Christine Wiedinmyer, NCAR

Sasha Madronich, NCAR Lesley Smith, NCAR

Caspar Ammann, NCAR Barb Petruzzi, NCAR Jeff Yin, NCAR

Andy Weinheimer, NCAR Juliana Rew, NCAR Janet Evans, NCAR

Bill Kuo, UOP Travis Metcalfe, NCAR

Olga Wilhelmi, NCAR Mary Golden, NCAR Rebecca Morss, NCAR

Lawrence Buja, NCAR Brian Bevirt, NCAR Kim Prinzi-Kimbro, UOP Jennifer Oxelson, UOP

Anne Wilson, UOP Kirsten Butcher, NCAR UOPSonal Bhushan, UOP

Scott Ellis, NCAR Cindy Worster, NCAR Jeff Weber, UOP Cathy Kessinger, NCAR

Dave Rogers, NCAR Markus Stobbs, NCAR Tom Horst, NCAR

Robert Harriss, NCAR David Gochis, NCAR

Kristine M. Larson, Susan Eriksson, UNAVCO Chris Stolte, UNAVCOUniversity of Colorado at Boulder

CIRES-Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, ColoradoNCAR-National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, ColoradoUCAR-University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, ColoradoUOP-UCAR Office of Programs, Boulder, Colorado

SCIENCE RESEARCH MENTOR WRITING & COMMUNICATION COMMUNITY MENTORMENTOR

PROTÉGÉ RESEARCH TOPIC

( C O N T I N U E D )

Clarence Mann The improvement of a carbon monoxide instrument with application totower measurements of vertical flux

Nicole Ngo Examining climate influences and economic impacts of harmful algal blooms in Massachusetts: 1993 and 2005

Marco Orozco Examining the processes occurring in thunderstorms that affect soluble,reactive species (chemical reservoir species)

Amber E. Reynolds Synthetic dual-Doppler analysis of the 11 June 2003 mesoscale convectivevortex during BAMEX

Nancy I. Rivera Rivera Characterization of dust storm sources in the southwestern U.S. andnorthwestern Mexico using remote sensing imagery

Luna M. Rodriguez Lower tropospheric analysis of the daily cycle of the wind for the East Manzanet Coast of the Gulf of California during NAME 2004

Casey C. Thornbrugh Assessing sand dune mobility from 1980 through 2004 on the MoenkopiPlateau of the Navajo Nation

Julien Wang Climate influences on dengue fever in Puerto Rico

Teresa Campos, NCAR Ethan Davis, UOP

Mary Hayden, University of Jo Hansen, UOP Lacey Holland, NCAR Colorado-Colorado SpringsJoan Kleypas, NCARLinda Mearns, NCAR Jonathan Patz, University of Wisconsin, Madison Roger Pulwarty, CIRES

Mary Barth, NCAR Tim Barnes, UCAR Larry Winter, NCAR Barry Lefer, University of Houston

Chris Davis, NCAR Arlene Laing, NCAR

Jenny L.Hand, Nancy Wade, UCAR Colorado State University

Leslie M. Hartten, CIRES John J. Cassano, CIRES Susan Cross, NCAR

Margaret Hiza-Redsteer, Amy Stevermer, UOPU.S. Geological Survey

Mary Hayden, Wendy Abshire, UOP Susan Foster, UCAR University of Colorado-Colorado SpringsLinda Mearns, NCAR Joan Kleypas, NCARJonathan Patz, University of Wisconsin, Madison Roger Pulwarty, CIRES

CIRES-Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, ColoradoNCAR-National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, ColoradoUCAR-University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, ColoradoUOP-UCAR Office of Programs, Boulder, Colorado

2 0 0 5 S P O N S O R S

National Science Foundation

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Global Programs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceans and Human Health Inititive

SOARS is a partner project with Research Experience in Solid EarthScience for Students (RESESS). RESESS partners are UNAVCO,

the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, the United States Geological Survey, and Highline Community College.

AUTHORS: SOARS protégés

EDITORS: SOARS mentors

MANAGING EDITOR: Amy Stevermer

DISTRIBUTION: SOARS Program Office

PHOTOGRAPHY: Carlye Calvin

DESIGN: Nicole Brinn, Core Design Works, Inc.

PRINTING: Vision Graphics, Inc.

SOARS is a registered trademark of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication

do not necessarily reflect the views of any SOARS or UCAR sponsors.

UCAR is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000303-497-8622 • soars@ucar.edu

www.ucar.edu/soarsPrinted on recycled paper

BUILDING A PROFESSIONAL FOUNDATION

“SOARS mentor-centered approach, particularly the willingness of the SOARS staff,

protégés, and mentors to answer questions and discuss research problems, provided me

with much of the information I didn’t know about career options, research interests, and

also about communicating my work to the general public.”

— Shanna-Shaye Forbes, second-year protégé

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envisions a diverse community of atmospheric scientists,educators, and policy makers collaborating to understandour atmosphere and to use that understanding for thebenefit of all

is dedicated to enhancing diversity within the scientificcommunities of the future by increasing the number of students from historically under-represented groupswho enroll and succeed in master’s and doctoral degreeprograms in the atmospheric and related sciences

is committed to diversity of thought, opinion, perspectiveand background; we value inclusiveness as we worktogether to strengthen the atmospheric and relatedscientific community

is a four-year program for undergraduate and graduatestudents interested in pursuing careers in the atmosphericand related sciences

includes a 10-week summer program at the NationalCenter for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), operated bythe University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR); UCAR Office of Programs (UOP); or othernational laboratories

provides educational and research opportunities, mentor-ing, career counseling and guidance, and the possibilityof financial support for a graduate-level program

“Broadening participation in atmospheric and related sciences contributes to the public good.”

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SOARS Program

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)

P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, Colorado, 80307-3000

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U N I V E R S I T Y C O R P O R A T I O N F O R A T M O S P H E R I C R E S E A R C H