Unidata Program Center
[Millersville University, nestled in southeastern Pennsylvania, has a small group of meteorologists with a disproportionately large effect on the Unidata Program: in addition to their active involvement on UCAR and Unidata committees and participation in training and workshops offered by UOP, every day they manage the Unidata "floater" images. I caught up with one of their faculty members at the AMS in Phoenix for an update on this remarkable group. ]
"This is a big year for us," Rich Clark told me. "In August,
Millersville's new $12.1 million science complex is scheduled for
completion, and we [the meteorologists] are destined to occupy the
penthouse location. This will be an enormous improvement from an 8' X 10'
'weather closet' and small synoptic meteorology lab (about 22' X 22') to a
7,000 square-foot facility with space for a 24' X 36' weather station,
four large labs for teaching and research, a cold room, and access to a
rooftop terrace where we can place instrumentsand have lunch. We'll also
share with other departments a 144-seat state-of-the-art auditorium
equipped with high-end audio-visual technology, Internet connectivity at
every seat, and a divided, rotating stage that allows an instructor to
create a blackboard presentation for a class while another class is in
session. The new facility is going to make a difference in how we
structure our courses, integrate technology, and incorporate existing and
yet-to-be-developed interactive learning tools into the curriculum. We
can't wait!"
| Schematic of Millersville's
new science complex.
|
The Millersville meteorology program has a current enrollment of 90
majors and the following full-time staff members: "We teach a full range of courses," Rich explained to me, "from an introductory survey course The Atmosphere that reaches about 500 non-science majors a year and includes an optional lab, to a comprehensive sequence of upper-level meteorology required courses and electives, both with and without labs. It helps that each of us have rather different meteorological interests," he added. "We're lucky in that we can broaden the scope of our curriculum simply by teaching what interests us most." (Millersville's suite of courses and program information can be seen on the Web at http://snowball.millersv.edu) |
The meteorology faculty are active in the UCAR and Unidata communities. Rich Clark is a member of UCAR's University Relations Committee, is Millersville's representative to the UCAR Academic Affiliates, and is a member of Unidata's Users Committee. Bob Ross has participated in the COMET Mesoscale Meteorology course, Unidata Gempak training, and last summer's Unidata Users Committee workshop on Using Satellite Data and Computing Technologies for Research and Education. Bob also spent his sabbatical leave at COMET and is spearheading the department's involvement in PAGE. (COMET modules have been incorporated into the curriculum and are used extensively by students and faculty as learning and visualization tools.) Eric Horst manages the daily Unidata floaters and, in return for this chore, Millersville receives the NIDS floater sites in addition to their regular subscription. Eric estimates that it takes 15-45 minutes daily to set the parameters depending on the weather situation.
The last year has been a rough one for Millersville due to the loss, in June 1997, of an extraordinarily loved and respected colleague, Russell L. DeSouza. Russ took an active interest in the Unidata community. He became a member of the Unidata's Users Committee in 1988 and was invited to serve as a member of the Policy Committee in 1990. Russ also had an impact on UCAR by suggesting the need for a voice within UCAR for non-Ph.D.-granting institutions. Working with Rick Anthes, he spearheaded the creation of the UCAR Academic Affiliates Program and saw Millersville become a charter member in 1991. It was Russ who volunteered Millersville to maintain Unidata's educational floater channel, which has since been expanded to include a second GOES channel to support research and another channel for radar data.
In memory of Russ, the Department of Earth Sciences established a meteorology endowment fund. The fund has already received significant contributions from an amazing network of friends and colleagues, many affiliated with UCAR/NCAR. Interest from the endowment will be used to support the MetNet, something Russ would have appreciated. "In addition, we plan to name the new weather station after him," Rich said.
"In part because of Unidata, meteorology is one of the more visible programs at Millersville. The move to IDD forced us to make an urgent push for campus connectivity well beyond what existed at the time. Russ became involved as chair of the Millersville University Network Implementation Committee to help steer the process. I was a member of the Academic Computing Advisory Committee, and we all directed our efforts toward bringing about the MetNet," Rich noted. "Today we have a fast, robust, and reliable fiber network and augment the IDD as a second-tier relay site with very little down time. Eric also does much to keep the program on the front page. He maintains the Web pages for the geology, meteorology, and oceanography programs, and his forecasts, aided by Unidata products, alert campus emergency services and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation of impending and potentially hazardous weather conditions. In addition, he provides guidance for students and the general public through forecasts and articles on weather in the campus and local newspapers. Another of Eric's responsibilities is to supervise the more than 40 meteorology majors who forecast for the Campus Weather Service and distribute their forecast via the Internet, voice recordings, and hard copy."
"The Unidata grants program has been an important mechanism for equipping our labs with the Sun servers and workstations that compose the MetNet," Rich said. "In conjunction, we are fortunate to have a dean, Al Hoffman, who understands the importance of technology to meteorology. He goes the distance to provide matching funds for equipment and instrumentation grants. His support, and that of our department chair, Charles Scharnberger, a geologist, has enabled us to take full advantage of the resources that Unidata provides, including participation in the proposed development of SuomiNet. All in all, this favorable combination of supportive administration; dedicated professors and staff; continued innovation from the folks at Unidata; and the new facility, should guide a healthy program into the new millennium." ©
