Using Balloon Launches as a Precursor to Small Satellite High School Education

In August 2017, Destination SPACE (Satellite Program for Aerospace-Centered Education) launched its pilot run of Satellite Week, a camp where high school students learned about satellites and remote sensing through constructing small weather stations and launching them on low altitude balloons in Asheville, North Carolina. The payloads, designed and produced by XinaBox, represented ThinSats, a variation of a Pocket CubeSat small satellite. Students learned about calibration, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation, as well as how weather balloons are used prior to the launch of a rocket. The students will continue to use these skills as they enter the ThinSat Program, an after school program where they will conduct both low and high altitude balloon launches and ultimately design and build their own ThinSat. Destination SPACE is manifested for launch on the second stage of an Orbital ATK supply rocket to the International Space Station in October 2018. Destination SPACE’s ThinSat Program is developed in collaboration with Twiggs Space Lab and Virginia Commercial Space

NOAA local climate analysis tool (LCAT) data, methods, and usability

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has responded to the increased demand for local climate information by developing the Local Climate Analysis Tool (LCAT). The tool provides rapid responses to climate questions that historically required an extensive data search, research on appropriate analysis techniques, and complex graphics packages. LCAT offers easy and efficient access to scientifically sound analytical capabilities and trusted climate data. Results obtained from LCAT provide relevant climate information to local technical users, decision makers, and educators that will help build a healthy nation and create resilient communities. To ensure that LCAT responds to the articulated needs for local climate studies, a team of representatives from the NWS field offices routinely collects and ranks needs for capabilities to be incorporated into LCAT. The team also helps to design the LCAT user interface and provides training on the tool\u27s features, methods, and usability. The LCAT framework offers analyses of climate change impacts, climate variability impacts, and correlation

Using Balloon Launches as a Precursor to Small Satellite High School Education

In August 2017, Destination SPACE (Satellite Program for Aerospace-Centered Education) launched its pilot run of Satellite Week, a camp where high school students learned about satellites and remote sensing through constructing small weather stations and launching them on low altitude balloons in Asheville, North Carolina. The payloads, designed and produced by XinaBox, represented ThinSats, a variation of a Pocket CubeSat small satellite. Students learned about calibration, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation, as well as how weather balloons are used prior to the launch of a rocket. The students will continue to use these skills as they enter the ThinSat Program, an after school program where they will conduct both low and high altitude balloon launches and ultimately design and build their own ThinSat. Destination SPACE is manifested for launch on the second stage of an Orbital ATK supply rocket to the International Space Station in October 2018. Destination SPACE’s ThinSat Program is developed in collaboration with Twiggs Space Lab and Virginia Commercial Space

DISPERSION MODELLING OF THE KILAUEA PLUME

Abstract. Emissions from the Kilauea volcano pose significant environmental and health risks to the Hawaiian community. This paper describes progress toward simulating the concentration and dispersion of plumes of volcanic aerosol after they emanate from the Pu'u O'o vent of the Kilauea volcano. In order to produce an accurate regional forecast of the concentration and dispersion of volcanic aerosol, the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HY-SPLIT) model was used. Wind fields and thermodynamic data from the non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Spectral Model (MSM) were employed as input for the HY-SPLIT model. A combination of satellite remote sensing, aircraft, and ground-based observations collected during a field experiment was used to validate the model simulation of aerosol distribution. The HY-SPLIT model shows skill in reproducing the plume shape, orientation, and concentration gradients as deduced from satellite images of aerosol optical depth. Comparison of the modelled and observed values suggests that the model was able to produce reasonable plume concentrations and spatial gradients downwind of the source. Model concentrations were generally less than those observed on the leeward side of the Island of Hawaii. This deficiency may be explained by a lack of (i) background concentrations, (ii) local sources of pollution and/or (iii) sea-breeze circulation in the prognostic input wind field. These results represent early progress toward the goal of future operational application of the HY-SPLIT model to predict volcanic aerosol concentrations in Hawaii. This may help mitigate their negative impacts of plumes respiratory health, agriculture, and general aviation