{"id":4175,"date":"2001-11-24T09:08:16","date_gmt":"2001-11-24T15:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ssec.wisc.edu\/news\/?p=4175"},"modified":"2013-07-24T17:19:37","modified_gmt":"2013-07-24T22:19:37","slug":"monthly-news-summary-november-2001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssec.wisc.edu\/news\/articles\/4175","title":{"rendered":"Monthly News Summary – November 2001"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Views<\/p>\n

by Terri Gregory, SSEC Public Information Coordinator<\/em><\/h5>\n
November 2001<\/em><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

This issue of In the News primarily covers September and October 2001. Please feel free to use images, with credit to the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison\u2019s Space Science and Engineering Center, (UW\u2013Madison\/SSEC), except where otherwise noted.<\/em><\/p>\n

IceCube funding<\/strong><\/a>\u2014<\/strong>UW\u2013Madison announced on November 6 that a Congressional committee has approved funding for the first phase of IceCube, a \u201cnext-generation subatomic particle telescope designed to be implanted deep in ice in the South Pole.\u201d $15 million was included in a fiscal year 2002 Veterans Administration-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill that also provides funding for the National Science Foundation, which administers all U.S. research projects in Antarctica. The bill cleared a congressional conference committee, and, according to UW\u2013Madison, is expected to win approval from the full U.S. House of Representatives, Senate and President George Bush. UW\u2013Madison leads the international collaboration of 20 institutions, which includes UW\u2013River Falls, and two historically black institutions, Clark University of Atlanta and Southern University. SSEC administers the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Simulated detection of muon-neutrinos by the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), a prototype for the IceCube neutrino observatory. Muon-neutrinos are shown interacting with a proton in the ice and produce a muon traveling in nearly the same direction as the neutrino. A blue light called Cherenkov light is emitted along the muon’s kilometer-long trajectory and is detected by strings of photomultiplier tubes deployed deep below the surface.<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Science<\/em>\u00a0magazine noted in September that IceCube was approved by the National Science Board. Board approval does not guarantee funding but indicates the scientific value of a project. On November 6, Wisconsin Public Radio broke the news, noting that the approved amount was 1\/10th what was needed to complete the project. In the November 7\u00a0Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,<\/em>\u00a0U.S. Representatives David Obey and Tammy Baldwin (D, WI) were credited for their part in conference approval of the project. In the\u00a0Wisconsin State Journal,<\/em>\u00a0Baldwin is quoted saying, \u201cResearch such as this puts our great university at the forefront of today\u2019s scientific discoveries\u2026 .\u201d Madison\u2019s\u00a0Capital Times<\/em>\u00a0paper noted that Robert Morse, director of AMANDA, IceCube forerunner, said that project funding means new jobs for Wisconsin. Bush administration personnel would not comment on whether the president would veto the project.<\/p>\n

Satellite data browser<\/strong><\/a>\u2014A new browser for geostationary satellite data is available on SSEC\u2019s Real-Time Data page. It currently presents images from five different geostationary satellites\u2014two U.S. (GOES-East and West), two European (MET-5 and 7) and the Japanese GMS\u2014in a variety of resolutions, geographic coverage and wavelengths. You can also choose to save an image smaller (as a jpeg file) or in higher quality (as a larger gif). Individual images are all shown in fashionable black and white, while color enhancements are available for the animated infrared imagery. Stay tuned for additional features as they are developed.<\/p>\n

Ground station for Central America<\/strong><\/a>\u2014Two years after Hurricane Mitch devastated several Central American countries, a system to acquire weather satellite data for the region was formally inaugurated in Costa Rica. On July 26, officials from both Costa Rica and the U.S. attended the event. Guillermo Vega, ground station manager, expressed appreciation to James Ellickson, NOAA program manager for the project, and Robert Oehlkers, SSEC technical manager. Vega gave Oehlkers and Ellickson credit for \u201cgetting this project going.\u201d He also credited SSEC and its Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies \u201cfor all the collaboration as an excellent partner in this important venture that culminated with the installation of the GOES satellite ground station and having RAMSDIS capability.\u201d Colorado\u2019s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere and NOAA collaborated with SSEC to provide Central America with a system to provide current weather information which will aid in preparing for future disasters.<\/p>\n

Snow<\/a>\u00a0in North Dakota<\/strong>\u2014More than a foot of snow fell over the eastern portion of North Dakota from a strong early fall snow storm on Wednesday, October 24. On board NASA\u2019s Terra earth science satellite, the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observed the cities of Fargo and Grand Forks, evident in an October 26 image as gridded lighter blocks along the North Dakota\/Minnesota border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MODIS 250 m resolution image of snow bands laid down across Southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and North Dakota in the United States. The image was acquired on 26 October 2001 via direct broadcast at SSEC.<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The snow band in Canada fell from a storm earlier in the week. Various darker land features are evident within the snow bands indicating different vegetation, different elevation and\/or different land use strategies from the surrounding area. The image, provided by SSEC MODIS researchers Liam Gumley and Kathleen Strabala, appeared on NASA\u2019s Earth Observatory Web site on October 27, with more details about the storm that brought the snow.<\/p>\n