Monthly News Summary – March 2009
- K – 12 Teachers Convene for Climate Education Summit
- WisconsinView Has a New Home – and an Award!
- Dave Turner Appointed to DOE Science Board
- Edgewood High School Students Tour SSEC
- Sanjay Limaye Kicks Off International Year of Astronomy 2009 Event on Kauai
- Visitor to CIMSS from the Japan Meteorological Agency
K – 12 Teachers Convene for Climate Education Summit
CIMSS Director Steve Ackerman and Outreach Specialist Margaret Mooney led a Climate Education Summit on Saturday, February 28th, to identify ways to explain the fundamentals of climate system science and climate change to K-12 educators who do not teach middle or high school science.
A passionate group of teachers from Madison and Milwaukee discussed this important topic and developed recommendations for the National Science Foundation, the agency funding the project. Assisted by AOS graduate student Erin Wagner, the meeting narrowed the focus even further by dividing into two breakout groups: one consisting of Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) elementary math and science teachers and the other focusing on students in the higher grades and the social sciences. The MMSD group has already started a Yahoo group to continue discussions on-line.
Ackerman and Mooney plan to leverage the results of this meeting with NOAA Climate Literacy efforts and co-convene a similar summit in another state later this year while continuing to support MMSD climate education efforts.
WisconsinView Has a New Home – and an Award!
Take a look at WisconsinView’s new website (designed by Bill Bellon) at:
And be sure to check out our recent “Spotlight” for pictures of Sam Batzli and WisconsinView receiving the annual “Friend of Land Records” award from the Wisconsin Land Information Association.
Since 2004, WisconsinView has made aerial photography and satellite imagery of Wisconsin available to the public for free over the web. As part of the AmericaView consortium, a nationwide program that focuses on satellite remote sensing data and technologies in support of applied research, K-16 education, workforce development, and technology transfer, WisconsinView supports access and use of these imagery collections.
Dave Turner Appointed to DOE Science Board
Dave Turner was appointed chair of the Department of Energy’s ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF) Science Board.
Comprised of highly respected ARM-supported scientists and the external climate research community, the function of the ACRF Science Board is to review proposals for using the ACRF. The Board will coordinate with the ACRF Infrastructure Management Board to assess the availability and resource requirements of the proposed facility usage.
Congratulations, Dave!
Edgewood High School Students Tour SSEC
Ten students from an Edgewood High School Aviation Ground School course (and Diane Ballweg, their instructor) got a three-part briefing on weather and flying at SSEC.
Tom Achtor described using the internet for cross-country flight weather briefings.
Margaret Mooney showed a variety of satellite data and imagery on the Suomi Science Museum 3D Weather Globe.
Wayne Feltz talked about major hazards to flight (low visibility, turbulence, icing and volcanic eruptions) and the research being done to improve our knowledge and forecasting of these events.
For a look at his presentations, including some interesting animations, go to:
ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/validation/conferences/aviation_class/
The students also took a quick visit to the roof in 5 degree weather. Despite the chill they sent a warm thank you note:
Sanjay Limaye Kicks Off International Year of Astronomy 2009 Event on Kauai
Sanjay Limaye delivered a lecture entitled “Unveiling Venus” at Kauai Community College (KCC) on Friday, January 30, opening a series of International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) events on Kauai.
Dr. Limaye discussed what observers from Galileo through NASA missions have discovered about Venus and how this cloud-shrouded planet is similar to and different from Earth.
IYA2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. Through his observations, Galileo discovered that Venus has phases, just like the moon.
This event was sponsored by the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy and KCC.
Visitor to CIMSS from the Japan Meteorological Agency
Dr. Kazuki Shimoji from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is visiting the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) for one month to work on developing atmospheric motion vectors from MTSAT and GOES rapid scan imagery. The goal is to optimize the processing through shared methodologies.