September
2008

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If you missed the
Satellites & Education
Conference XXI,
you missed more than you'll ever know!

"The best conference EVER!

"M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. ROCKS!"

Hot Topic

Countdown to World Space Week 2008

NOAA Announces New Southeast Marine Weather Web Site
And
NOAA's Satellite Direct Readout Conference
And
Forecasting Tornadoes

Dr. Paula Arvedson
Satellites Education Assoc.
Secretary
and
Satellites & Education Conference
Coordinator

Satellites & Education Conference, 2008

The Satellites & Education Conference XIX (August 7 – 9, 2008) was one of the best ever!  For 21 years this conference has highlighted the educational resources provided by NOAA, NASA, and the aerospace industry through the use of satellites and satellite data, and put those resources into the hands of teachers. The Satellite Educators Association website, where participants register for the conference, had almost 78,000 hits in the few weeks just prior to the conference. The previous attendees were spreading the word and bringing new teachers. Presenters were asking to be included. Buzz Aldrin, who was scheduled as a keynote speaker, voiced his sincere disappointment that he had to attend a last minute ‘movie-deal’ meeting in New York on the day he was to speak. With a 20% increase in attendance, it was a very good conference.

The program included speakers (see pictures) – Jackie Hams and Mark Friedman, NOAA Teachers at Sea excited teachers about the possibilities of being research assistants on a NOAA research vessel. Dr. Percy Thomas formerly of NOAA’s National Weather Service inspired teachers for working with Generation Y students, and Rick Dickert, a local meteorologist from FOX News, wowed the audience with his videos of reporting from a helicopter and his easy way of sharing tremendous knowledge about weather with both teachers and students. 

Exhibitors included NOAA (NESDIS, NWS), NASA/JPL, NOAA/NASA SciJinks, AIAA, COSEE-West Marine Science Programs, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, NPOESS, and many others.  Presenters from NOAA included Ron Gird, National Weather Service; Tom Wrublewski, NESDIS; Alan Strong, Coral Reef Watch.  NASA also sent four scientists and an educational specialist.  University scientists included Helen Boussalis (Engineering), Anne Sullivan (Physics), Julie Henderson (Stanford - CubeSats); Steve LaDochy and Pedro Ramirez (Earth Science).  Industry presenters were from Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing. The important people were the teachers who presented on using NOAA data:  Renee Klein, Pete Arvedson, John Moore, and Nel Graham. Teachers reported:  So MUCH information in such a short two days!  Very exciting!

Again this year, the M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. team awed the teachers, exhibitors, and presenters as they gave their report during the closing session.  M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. stands for Multinational Youth Studying Practical Applications of Climatic Events.  The team has existed since 2002 when the conference was moved to Cal State L.A.  The teachers on the team work together through the academic year to engage their students in science learning through using satellite data in their classrooms.  They communicate with each other and coordinate their efforts.  The team in England focuses on geography; in Florida on biology/ecology and Earth science; in New Jersey on technological investigations and oceanography; in Washington on physics; in China on geology; in California on chemistry and biology.  They each study a piece of a problem – in 2008 it was ocean warming’s effects on marine life – and bring their pieces together at the conference.  The teachers select students from their classes to travel with them to attend the conference (about four from each school).  At the conference the students put their pieces together into a report that they present to the conference at the end.  Since many of them are also presenting at the conference on other activities through their school, this only gives the team about nine hours to pull together a report and a Power Point. The students who attend are not from privileged society. Most of them are from minorities who are grossly under-represented in science fields.  Many students report excitement about meeting and working with students from around the world.  Students who had never considered college or careers in science leave the conference jazzed about being a scientist and committed to attending college. They take that excitement back to the classroom with them. This team needs to be replicated.  It is unique to this conference and generates many positive outcomes for students and teachers alike.  The M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. teachers are:  John Moore, Alan Crockwell, Michael Holst, Pete Arvedson, Leida Dos Santos, Simon Cracknell, Adrian Beaumont, and Annie Song who hail from China, England, Florida, New Jersey, Washington, and California. Three additional schools have applied to be included in next year’s research project for high school students.

Event schedule. The conference started with pre-conference activities on Thursday – tours of JPL (for M.Y. S.P.A.C.E.) and CSULA labs, annual SEA members’ meeting, and M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. team building activities, including a swim party.  On Friday, the conference began with keynote speaker Bob Winokur, former head of NOAA-NESDIS, and was followed by exhibits, presentations, reception, poster session, and banquet with keynote speaker, Rick Dickert.  Saturday continued with exhibits, presentations, keynote speakers Jackie Hams and Mark Friedman, and closed with a report from the M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. team (which is available on DVD) and door prizes sent by aerospace industry.

A key to the success of the Satellites & Education Conference is its nearly 100 volunteers who are all students (and former students) at Cal State L.A. working on their teaching credentials. They provide helpful, friendly service and guidance for participants, guests, and speakers. Pi Lambda Theta, the international honor society for educators, also has the conference as their annual service project and sends volunteers who are all teachers. Volunteers organize and prepare for the conference for months before the event.  The volunteers say that serving is great fun and they learn more in those three days than they did in all their lectures.

Teachers have reported the following outcomes from attending the Satellites & Education Conference:

v      Greater interest in environmental sciences by their students;

v      Connections with authentic research;

v      Renewed enthusiasm for teaching sciences;

v      Increased awareness of NOAA’s educational resources;

v      Appreciation for classroom supports;

v      Using NOAA’s resources is beneficial to students and extended classes;

v      Recognition of the interconnectedness of Earth’s environmental systems.

Comments from attendees

Get more teachers here!

This is too good to hide – get the word out!

Get more students to the conference!

Need more teachers to see/hear this.  It’s great!

This is the best conference I have ever attended. 

I will be at the next one and bring my friends.

Fantastic! 

I loved every minute of it!

This is the first conference I’ve attended that EVERY session was worthwhile.

Keep up the good work!

So much to do and so little time!

SUPER!!!!

I’m ready for the next one.

WOW!

Countdown to World Space Week 2008
PRESS RELEASE

World Space Week Association is a non-profit organization which supports the UN in the global coordination of this program. The Association seeks volunteers in a wide range of areas and offers great networking opportunities. For information, please see www.worldspaceweek.org/volunteers_needed.

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NOAA's Satellite Direct Readout Conference

NOAA invites science teachers and their students from universities,
colleges and secondary schools in the South Florida area to participate
in a special day long event at NOAA's Satellite Direct Readout Conference scheduled for December 8-12, 2008, at the Hilton Miami Airport Hotel.

Registration for each Teacher/Student team will be $50 for the day.
This will cover continental breakfast, AM and PM breaks with food/beverages and admission to all conference events including the trade show and exhibits.

Date: December 9^th , 2008 Time 8:30AM to 5:30 PM

NOTE: NOAA will also be sponsoring a limited number of South Florida area Post-graduate environmental science majors interested in participating in part or all of the conference. (Registration fee will be waived)

For Information and/or to register: call Nina Jackson at 301-713-2089 ext.112

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW:

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Satellite and Information Service is hosting the 2008 Satellite Direct Readout Conference in Miami, Florida, December 8-12, 2008.

NOAA operates both Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). The data from the NOAA satellites are available to all countries and users world-wide, and are utilized to support a variety of meteorological, oceanographic, terrestrial, solar, climatic, and other specialized data collection activities and services.

During the next decade, the launch of the GOES-R series of geostationary satellites and the NPOESS and METOP series of polar-orbiting satellites will result in significant changes. The changes brought about by these new satellite systems will affect all current and future users of environmental satellites, particularly those who receive data directly from the satellites. In time, all users will need to modify or replace current receiving equipment and basic processing software as the next generations of satellites begin operation.

The focus of the Conference will be on current GOES and POES data access, distribution, and preparing users for the upcoming changes to NOAA satellite programs. NOAA will present users with information on APT, HRPT, GVAR, ARGOS DCS, GOES DCS, LRIT, EMWIN, GEONETCast Americas and other NOAA systems.

NOAA hopes to build on earlier successes in 2002 and 2004, and to make
the 2008 conference even better. Approximately 200 administrators, managers and scientists from 29 countries participated in the last forum
that was held in December, 2004.

Conference website address: http://directreadout.noaa.gov/miami08/

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NOAA Announces New Southeast Marine Weather Web Site

NOAA has launched a one-stop Southeast Marine Weather Internet portal offering marine weather forecasts and real-time coastal wind and water condition information for the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The portal is the result of a two-year, $579,546 NOAA-funded project implemented within the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, through the University of North Carolina/Wilmington. The portal is an experimental product developed in cooperation with NOAA’s National Weather Service and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

“The goal is to supply people with everything they might need to know to make the smartest decisions,” said Zdenka Willis, NOAA IOOS Program director. “Easier access to timely and useful water, weather and climate information will save lives, property and resources.”

The portal is part of IOOS, a tool for tracking, predicting, managing and adapting to changes in the marine environment. IOOS delivers data and information needed to increase understanding of the nation’s waters to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.

”The Southeast Marine Weather Portal has been developed with the end user - the mariner, sailor, surfer, beachgoer - in mind,” said Jennifer Dorton, program coordinator with the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program at UNC Wilmington. “The portal provides the information they need to make safe and informed decisions before going out on the water or to the beach.”

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

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Project Anniversary Shows Value of Long-Term Investment in Climate Research
By: Katie Lorentz, NASA's Langley Research Center

A small investment in cloud and climate research begun in 1983 has paid big dividends for NASA scientists and their colleagues around the world.

At a time when an international satellite collaboration of this sort had never existed, the cautious step made by NASA management to fund the core of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) was a risk. But the project that was planned to last for five to seven years of data collecting operations is celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer, proving the investment risk was worth the research payoff.

ISCCP was developed as the first project of the World Climate Research Program to study the role that clouds play in the climate, a topic identified as one of the two leading obstacles to progress in understanding the climate.

"We envisioned a data collecting project to create a data set of global cloud physical properties," said Bill Rossow, head of the ISCCP Global Processing Center and former senior research scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, now a Distinguished Professor of Remote Sensing at The City College of New York.

Rossow and ISCCP Project Manager Robert Schiffer and a group of their colleagues saw a need for quantitative data describing the physical properties of clouds around the globe. These properties, such as height, density and reflectance, were not available from meteorological observations. This group formed an international collaboration to use the infrared and visible radiance data obtained from the imagers on polar and geostationary meteorological satellites to produce the required data sets of global cloud cover and cloud radiative properties.

The project began with two goals related to climate: first to understand how clouds affect Earth's radiation budget and second to understand how clouds affect the global water cycle.

One of the biggest dividends to come from ISCCP investment is a breakthrough in the ability to calculate surface and top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes almost as well as if they were measured directly. ISCCP data results quantitatively determine the effect of clouds on the radiation budget, making it such that clouds are no longer the leading uncertainty in climate change research.

A further reward from ISCCP is one that was unintended. As time passed and the project grew, the team learned to incorporate advances in cloud analysis to reprocess the data so that they can be used for other research purposes.

"As the record kept getting longer and longer, we started thinking about making a climate data record, which was not the original goal" said Rossow. "ISCCP is the only data set with enough time resolution to answer important questions about the dynamics of cloud processes in our climate."

The National Academies of Science state that time resolution, or highly accurate long-term measurements of key variables are required to uncover slowly evolving dynamics or long-term climate changes. While Rossow admits that there are some limitations in the ISCCP climate record analysis that the team is now working to reduce or fix, he asserts that the added benefit of a cloud climate data record truly shows that the initial investment was worthwhile.

"ISCCP is well beyond just a dataset," said Don Anderson, NASA Headquarters program manager. "A whole structure has been developed, which not only ingests and cross calibrates [geosynchronous] satellite clouds data, but also develops tools for Web access to information that streamlines the ability of the climate research community to utilize these data to evaluate climate models and improve the characterization of clouds in Earth System Models."

ISCCP is truly an international project and is used in the science community around the world.

"Right now, ISCCP is being very widely used," said Rossow. "The total number of citations as of the end of 2006 was 1300 papers. That number is still growing exponentially and I would estimate that it's over 1500 papers now."

Key partners in the project include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the European Space Agency and the EUMETSAT, the Meterological Services of Canada, Colorado State University, the Japan Meteorological Agency, University of Wisconsin, NASA Langley's Atmospheric Science Data Center, Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale, the China Meteorological Administration and the Brazilian Space Agency.

ISCCP is currently funded to continue data collection and processing until the end of 2012. NASA and NOAA have now provided funding to work towards improving the ISCCP climate record to continue beyond 2012.

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NASA Study Lights Path to How Smoke Changes Cloud Cover, Climate
Press Release

Using a novel theoretical approach, researchers from NASA and other institutions have identified the common thread that determines how aerosols from human activity, like the particles from burning of vegetation and forests, influence cloud cover and ultimately affect climate. The study improves researchers’ ability to predict whether aerosols will increase or decrease cloud cover.

“We connected the dots to draw a critical conclusion, and found evidence over the Amazon that traces the direct path of the effect of human activity on climate change by way of human-caused aerosols,” said study co-author Lorraine Remer, a physical scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “During the dry season in the Amazon, the only aerosols of any magnitude are from smoke emerging from human-initiated fires.”

It is well documented from previous studies that aerosols play an essential role in how clouds develop. With this knowledge, a team comprised of Remer, Ilan Koren of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel and J. Vanderlei Martins of the University of Maryland Baltimore County set out to explore one of the least understood but most significant aspects of climate change caused by human activity: the connection between a change in the amount of human-caused aerosols and change in the structure of clouds. Findings from their study will be published tomorrow in the journal Science.

“Scientists have observed instances where increases or decreases in the amount of these tiny particles have increased and decreased cloud cover in different places and times,” said Remer. “We saw an example of this ourselves: increased aerosols over the Amazon produced less cloud cover. Over the Atlantic Ocean, however, increased aerosols actually produced more cloud cover. We wanted to know what the link was between these different outcomes from varying amounts and types of aerosols. This paper gives us a clear picture of what is occurring.”

The team developed an analytical model, or line of thinking that combined knowledge of cloud development, satellite observations and mathematical calculations of aerosol concentration and cloud properties in an effort to explain how the two opposing effects of aerosols on clouds can influence cloud coverage and life cycle.

“This result helps us understand aerosols’ effect on a cloud’s mass and lifetime – how long it will provide cloud cover, how deep the clouds will be, and when and where it will rain,” said Remer. “This improved understanding leads to prediction and prediction can help us plan and perhaps prevent some of the potential consequences of putting aerosols from human activity into the atmosphere.”

To test their model, Remer’s team used aerosol and cloud observations from NASA’s Terra satellite of the Amazon during the 2005 dry season The season offers stable weather conditions and an abundance of human-caused aerosols from fires, set to clear new land and burn through old pastures to prepare the land for the next crop season.

Aerosols are the tiny particles that make up smoke, dust, and ocean spray. Traveling on wind currents, aerosols move from their source and into the atmosphere, where they become individually encased by water and turn into the droplets that combine to create clouds.

Cloud microphysics makes clear that the larger the number of aerosol particles suspended in air the less water in the atmosphere is available for condensation on each individual particle. Under these conditions, a cloud will have a much larger number of small droplets. The smaller the droplets, the longer it will take for a cloud to rain. Aerosol-rich clouds like this spread out by winds, produce less rainfall, and last longer, creating more cloud cover.

However, aerosols also influence clouds through their ability to absorb heat from the sun. The trapped heat causes the atmospheric layer to warm up, and changes the environment in which the cloud develops. The overall result is to make the environment less hospitable for cloud growth. Even the smallest resulting changes in cloud cover can significantly warm or cool the atmosphere and change when and where fresh water will be available in the region.

“As we’d expected in applying our model, increased smoke from the fires created clouds rife with a more pronounced radiative effect – rich with human-caused aerosols that absorbed sunlight, warmed the local atmosphere, and blocked evaporation. This led to reduced cloud cover over the Amazon,” said co-author Martins. “And it’s encouraging to know the science behind our model should stand no matter the region.”

Related Links:

> Satellites Illuminate Pollution's Influence On Clouds
> Fewer Clouds Found in Tropics: NASA Scientists Discover New Evidence of Climate Change

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Forecasting Tornadoes

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that descends from a thunderstorm. It’s one of nature’s most terrifying and destructive weather phenomenon. They can destroy large buildings, lift 20-ton railroad cars from their tracks, and drive a blade of straw through a telephone pole. In a typical year, more than 1,200 tornadoes occur throughout the vast United States.

The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of 250 mph or more. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Fortunately, the nation has the most sophisticated tornado forecasting system in the world, provided exclusively by NOAA’s National Weather Service.

Scientists in NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory, in partnership with the National Weather Service, are dedicated to improving severe weather warnings and forecasts in order to save lives and reduce property damage. Severe weather research conducted at NSSL has led to substantial improvements in severe and hazardous weather forecasting resulting in increased warning lead times to the public.

Forecasting Severe Weather

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center issues general severe weather outlooks and watches. Warnings come from each of the 122 local NWS forecast offices.

The severe weather forecast process begins with the Convective Outlook. This tell you where you can expect both severe and non-severe thunderstorms to occur around the country.

Areas of possible severe thunderstorms are labeled slight, moderate, or high risk depending upon the coverage and intensity of expected storms in a region. These are issued for today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the rest of the week.  

As time progresses, a severe weather threat often becomes better defined over an area smaller than the Outlook, both in space and time. Mesoscale Discussions are often needed to describe an evolving severe weather threat.

Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Watches: Be Alert

If a severe thunderstorm appears imminent, or likely to occur in the next several hours, the NWS will issue a severe thunderstorm or tornado Watch.

A tornado watch defines an area where tornadoes and other kinds of severe weather are possible in the next several hours. At this time, you should be alert and prepared to go to safe shelter if a tornado develops or a warning is issued. Turn on local TV or radio, monitor NOAA weather radio, make sure you have ready access to safe shelter, and tell your friends and family about the potential for tornadoes in the area.

Warnings Mean Take Action Now!

Once a watch is issued, forecasters in the threat area closely monitor radar imagery and spotter reports to issue the appropriate severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings.

When a tornado appears imminent, local NWS offices issue a tornado Warning, which means a tornado has been spotted or that Doppler radar indicates a thunderstorm circulation that can spawn a tornado. When a tornado warning is issued for your town or county, take immediate safety precautions.  

Pay Attention – Be Safe

One way to stay informed is with a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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Foundation Educator
Achievement Award

Every two years, the AIAA Foundation recognizes up to seven outstanding educators for their accomplishments in exciting K-12 students about math and science and preparing them to use and contribute to tomorrow's technologies.

Celebrate Your Teachers!
It takes a special teacher to inspire students about science and math. You know the ones we mean. They make coming to class an adventure. They ignite the interest and participation of even the most introverted students. And they do it every day.

Now you can help AIAA and the AIAA Foundation pay tribute to these special teachers by nominating them for an Educator Achievement Award. Complete a nomination form today, and tell us about their remarkable efforts in the classroom.

Awards Gala in Washington D.C.
Each recipient of the Educator Achievement Award and a guest will receive an expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC for the Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala. The visit includes a tour of Washington, DC, plus travel and lodging. It's a trip and celebration they'll never forget.

AIAA Foundation Educator Achievement Award

Tornado Chase

With an average energy of roughly 1 million pounds of TNT, tornados are one of nature’s most powerful phenomena. And while atmospheric scientists know a great deal about tornados, such as the conditions in which they are most likely to form, no one yet understands exactly what makes a tornado or how to accurately predict their creation.
Running time 2:45 minutes.
Click here to view the movie and lesson aids

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NASA Space Place Newsletter

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M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. Photos from the conference now posted.
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M.Y. S.P.A.C.E.
Teachers!

M.Y. S.P.A.C.E.
Students at Work

Be a M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. Teacher
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Sally Ride Honors 25th Anniversary of Her Spaceflight With a Push to Protect Earth
By: Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides
Wired Science

Sally Ride won the hearts and minds of the American public 25 years ago today, when she became the first American woman to fly into space. More recently her mission has been to keep middle school girls interested in science. Ride is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her flight by hosting a conference for teachers on the basic science behind climate change and ways to bring that science into the classroom.

The topic is so new, that much of the basic science behind climate change has not yet found its way into textbooks and classrooms. "The kids who are growing up today are very aware of the challenge, but they don't have a lot of information about the science. So we're trying to bring this information to the... teachers so that they can bring it into the classroom" said Ride.

This could very well mark the start of a second boom for science and engineering in the United States:

"Meeting the challenge of climate change could capture the interest and imagination of this generation the way that meeting the challenge of Sputnik and the moon race did mine," said Ride.