The Applied Meteorology Unit: Nineteen Years Successfully Transitioning Research Into Operations for America's Space Program

The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) provides technology development and transition services to improve operational weather support to America's space program . The AMU was founded in 1991 and operates under a triagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Air Force (USAF) and the National Weather Service (NWS) (Ernst and Merceret, 1995). It is colocated with the 45th Weather Squadron (45WS) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and funded by the Space Shuttle Program . Its primary customers are the 45WS, the Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) operated for NASA by the NWS at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX, and the NWS forecast office in Melbourne, FL (MLB). The gap between research and operations is well known. All too frequently, the process of transitioning research to operations fails for various reasons. The mission of the AMU is in essence to bridge this gap for America's space program

Peninsular Florida Tornado Outbreaks

An analysis of statistics for 1448 tornadoes documented by the National Severe Storms Forecast Center from 1950 through 1994 at, or south of, 308 latitude in Florida was completed to determine the definition of a peninsular Florida tornado outbreak and develop a tornado outbreak climatology. A peninsular Florida tornado outbreak was defined as the occurrence of four or more tornadoes i n4ho r less.Thirty-five outbreak cases were identified. After a review of all available synoptic data for each case, they were categorized into three basic types: 1) those associated with extratropical cyclones (27 cases), 2) those associated with tropical cyclones of tropical storm or hurricane strength (5 cases), and 3) those associated with hybrid cyclones having both tropical and extratropical characteristics (3 cases). A detailed climatology covering spatial and temporal aspects of outbreak characteristics was completed. Mean severe weather indices, thermodynamic soundings, and hodographs were produced for each outbreak type. Case studies of each type of outbreak are presented to complement the climatology and mean environment information. It was found that tornado outbreaks account for 3.4% of all tornado days but caused 61% of all tornado deaths and 62% of tornado injuries. Most tornado deaths occurred in trailers or mobile homes. Extratropical outbreak tornadoes were most common from midmorning to early afternoon, while tropical outbreak tornadoes occurred mostly in the afternoon and evening. The outbreaks produced a much greater percentage of strong and violent tornadoes compared to the general tornado population. Hybrid outbreaks were the most consistently dangerous of the three types of outbreaks. Fundamental differences and similarities among the three outbreak environments are presented using mean soundings and case studies. The basic ingredients for tornado development in each type of outbreak were found to be the presence of strong low-level winds and shear, and enough instability to support thunderstorm development

The Applied Meteorology Unit: Nineteen Years Successfully Transitioning Research into Operations for America's Space Program

The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) provides technology transition and technique development to improve operational weather support to the Space Shuttle and the entire American space program. The AMU is funded and managed by NASA and operated by a contractor that provides five meteorologists with a diverse mix of advanced degrees, operational experience, and associated skills including data processing, statistics, and the development of graphical user interfaces. The AMU's primary customers are the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, the National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group at NASA Johnson Space Center, and the National Weather Service Melbourne FL Forecast Office. The AMU has transitioned research into operations for nineteen years and worked on a wide range of topics, including new forecasting techniques for lightning probability, synoptic peak winds,.convective winds, and summer severe weather; satellite tools to predict anvil cloud trajectories and evaluate camera line of sight for Space Shuttle launch; optimized radar scan strategies; evaluated and implemented local numerical models; evaluated weather sensors; and many more. The AMU has completed 113 projects with 5 more scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010. During this rich history, the AMU and its customers have learned many lessons on how to effectively transition research into operations. Some of these lessons learned include collocating with the operational customer and periodically visiting geographically separated customers, operator submitted projects, consensus tasking process, use of operator primary advocates for each project, customer AMU liaisons with experience in both operations and research, flexibility in adapting the project plan based on lessons learned during the project, and incorporating training and other transition assistance into the project plans. Operator involvement has been critical to the AMU's remarkable success and many awards from NASA, the National Weather Association, and two citations from the Navy's Center of Excellence for Best Manufacturing Practices. This paper will present the AMU's proven methods and explain how they may be applied by other organizations to effectively transition research into operations