Monthly News Summary – January 1998
SSEC Hits the Ice
by Terri Gregory, SSEC Public Information Specialist
SSEC’s Matthew Lazzara once again traveled to McMurdo Station, Antarctica to assist with McIDAS installation, training, and operations.
On Thanksgiving, he was interviewed for USA radio networks to plug the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Antarctic research. The NSF publicist asked Matthew questions about the weather and what Thanksgiving is like “on the ice.” The interview was aired on radio stations around the United States; in Madison it ran on WRPQ 740 AM on Sunday, November 30.
Good Morning America, How Are You?
Ralph Dedecker and John Short also made a trip to some frigid climes, but in the opposite direction. They took SSEC’s Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) instrument north to an outpost in the Arctic Ocean. Part of Project SHEBA (Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean), the AERI sits in a specially built, bright orange ice shanty, collecting profiles of the atmosphere.
Good Morning America, ABC TV’s early morning news and entertainment show, covered Project SHEBA on December 1 and 2. The two-part piece gave an overview of the project and life in the Arctic. The project, coordinated by the University of Washington, is based on a ship frozen into the Arctic Ocean. Scientists live and work on this ship during the year-long research project.
On December 1, Ralph appeared with other researchers giving the “Good Morning America” cheer, the show’s trademark salute. Both Ralph and John are back in Wisconsin, but the AERI will continue to take measurements during the rest of the project.
For more information, follow the links below.
On the Air
From Kyoto to Deep Space
For More Information
SSEC Director, Francis Bretherton, appeared on WISC-2 TV’s Talkback program on December 2 to answer questions about global warming. Coinciding with the Kyoto global warming conference, the piece brought the conference home, showing that global change affects Wisconsinites.
Sanjay Limaye appeared on Larry Meiller’s November 24 call-in radio show on WHA. The purpose of the interview was to talk about exploring the solar system, but Sanjay also answered questions about objects callers had seen in the sky, what kind of telescope to buy, and other tangentially related topics.