Development of the Centralized Storm Information System (CSIS) for use in severe weather prediction

The centralized storm information system is now capable of ingesting and remapping radar scope presentations on a satellite projection. This can be color enhanced and superposed on other data types. Presentations from more than one radar can be composited on a single image. As with most other data sources, a simple macro establishes the loops and scheduling of the radar ingestions as well as the autodialing. There are approximately 60 NWS network 10 cm radars that can be interrogated. NSSFC forecasters have found this data source to be extremely helpful in severe weather situations. The capability to access lightning frequency data stored in a National Weather Service computer was added. Plans call for an interface with the National Meteorological Center to receive and display prognostic fields from operational computer forecast models. Programs are to be developed to plot and display locations of reported severe local storm events

Visible flux variations across finite clouds

A radiative transfer model developed to computer visible flux variations across and within finite clouds of varying shapes is described. The technique has much of the versatility of Monte Carlo models, as well as the speed of the analytical finite cloud models

Acoustic measurements of a full-scale coaxial hingeless rotor helicopter

Acoustic data were obtained during a full-scale test of the XH-59A Advancing Blade Concept Technology Demonstrator in the 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel. The XH-59A is a research helicopter with two coaxial rotors and hingeless blades. Performance, vibration, and noise at various forward speeds, rotor lift coefficients and rotor shaft angles of attack were investigated. The noise data were acquired over an isolated rotor lift coefficient range of 0.024 to 0.162, an advance ratio range of 0.23 to 0.45 corresponding to tunnel wind speeds of 89 to 160 knots, and angles of attack from 0 deg to 10 deg. Acoustic data are presented for seven microphone locations for all run conditions where the model noise is above the background noise. Model test configuration and performance information are also listed. Acoustic waveforms, dBA, and 1/3-octave spectra as functions of operating condition for selected data points and microphones are presented. In general, the noise level is shown to increase with rotor lift coefficient except under certain operating conditions where significant impulsive blade/vortex interactions increase noise levels

An investigation of surface albedo variations during the recent sahel drought

Applications Technology Satellite 3 green sensor data were used to measure surface reflectance variations in the Sahara/Sahel during the recent drought period; 1967 to 1974. The magnitude of the seasonal reflectance change is shown to be as much as 80% for years of normal precipitation and less than 50% for drought years. Year to year comparisons during both wet and dry seasons reveal the existence of a surface reflectance cycle coincident with the drought intensity. The relationship between the green reflectance and solar albedo is examined and estimated to be about 0.6 times the reflectance change observed by the green channel

Green is Gold Newsletter: Summer 2011

This year has been an exciting one; from LEED Gold, to the STARS survey to the new Green House Living Learning Communities, this community has been busy! This newsletter highlights several of these initiatives.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/sustain_news/1001/thumbnail.jp

Characteristics of Water Vapor Tracked Winds

Wind measurements were obtained by tracking water vapor features on Meteosat and GOES-VAS 6.7 micron water vapor images. While pure water vapor features are fuzzy, there are discernible features which can be tracked. An investigation of preprocessing algorithms designed to bring out the features to be tracked showed that high pass filters tended to bring out the noise in the image, while low pass filters washed out the features. Sliced linear gray scale stretching under operator control gave the best enhancement to the water vapor features

Impacts of Interactive Processing Systems on the Forecasting Ability of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (Appendix E)

The National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) in Kansas City has the most modern interactive processing equipment of any operational forecast office in the United States. As such, the experiences of the NSSFC serve as the indication of some of the benefits which will be derived from interactive technology when it is applied in other forecast situations. The forecast products issued by the NSSFC have become more accurate and more timely. The forecaster\u27s efficiency and productivity has noticeably improved. These improvements have been made without the introduction of any new data sources, any major advances in meteorology, or any major advances in numerical modeling. The improvements have resulted from more rapid access to data and from having computers take over many of the housekeeping chores facing a forecaster leaving more time for meteorology

Revisiting 3D Stereo Satellite Image Displays

Over 30 years ago, there were a number of development efforts to display 3D stereo satellite images and associated weather. Dr. Fritz Hasler showed how the GOES-east and west satellites could be remapped to generate true stereo pairs for obtaining cloud heights and he also showed how artificial stereo images could be generated using derived IR cloud heights to generate parallax shifts for the visible or infrared images. While there was a flurry of interest in the 1980s, the techniques had largely fallen from routine usage until recently. However, technology advances in both satellites and display technology has allowed for the possible routine use of 3D stereo images

Day/Night Visible Satellite Images

Visible satellite images are very helpful for a wide variety of users. In particular, they are helpful in identifying areas of clouds and fog for general aviation pilots who must fly within sight of ground. However, visible satellite images have several major drawbacks, such as at night the visible pictures are black. Another problem is that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between high clouds and low clouds. While the infrared channel can be used at night, frequently the low clouds and fog are near the temperature of the ground, so low clouds do not show up well on infrared images. Starting with the GOES-8 geostationary satellite series, the 3.9 micron channel has been available. At night the difference between the 3.9 and 11 micron channels detects emissivity differences rather than absolute temperature, so low clouds can be detected at night even if they are at the same temperature as the ground

Green is Gold Newsletter: Fall 2010

The Sustainability Taskforce is an interdisciplinary committee that allows for information sharing and brainstorming of sustainable practices on campus. As such, many programs have been executed over the past year through the col-laborative efforts of the Taskforce. The Taskforce is committed to being proac-tive and to creating a culture of awareness on environmental issues in an effort to reduce cost and impact. The College at Brockport, State University of New York is being progressive in their programs regarding sustainability on campus. For more information on our programs or to view task-force meeting minutes and annual reports, go to www.brockport.edu/gci.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/sustain_news/1000/thumbnail.jp