World Meteorological Day 2011

 

Each year, on 23 March, the World Meteorological Organization, its 189 Members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day around a chosen theme. This day commemorates the entry into force, on that date in 1950, of the WMO Convention creating the Organization. Subsequently, in 1951, WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations System.

 

This year, the theme is “Climate for you”.

 

More info: http://www.wmo.int/worldmetday/

European Geosciences Union 2011

L’assamblea General de l’EGU cada any reuneix geocientífics d’arreu del món en un seguit de reunions que cobreixen totes les disciplines de la Terra, ciències planetàries i espacials.

És especialment important per als joves científics ja que les crides de l’EGU per proporcionar un fòrum on presentar els seus treballs i discutir les seves idees amb experts en tots els camps de les geociències és un escenari immillorable.

Aquest any, com ja es ve fent els últims anys, tindrà lloc a Viena (Àustria) del 3 al 8 d’abril.

Per a més informació: http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2011/

PNNL: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

I want to tell you some things about this Research Laboratory that I’m staying in a brief stay for four months.

It is located in Richland, on the sunny eastern side of Washington state. PNNL is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) ten national laboratories, managed by DOE’s Office of Science. PNNL also performs research for other DOE offices as well as government agencies, universities, and industry to deliver breakthrough science and technology to meet today’s key national needs.

The Laboratory

• provides the facilities, unique scientific equipment, and world-renowned scientists/engineers to strengthen U.S. scientific foundations for fundamental research and innovation
• prevents and counters acts of terrorism through applied research in information analysis, cyber security, and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
• increases U.S. energy capacity and reduces dependence on imported oil through research of hydrogen and biomass-based fuels
• reduces the effects of energy generation and use on the environment.

PNNL currently has approximately 4,900 staff members and a business volume of more than $1.1 billion. The William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science national scientific user facility, is located on PNNL’s Richland campus. PNNL operates a marine research facility in Sequim, and has satellite offices in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Washington, D.C.

Battelle has operated PNNL for DOE and its predecessors since 1965. A unique feature of Battelle’s contract with DOE allows the staff to work for private industry. To learn more about PNNL, see the video, Advancing Transformational Science and Technology on PNNL’s YouTube channel and read the transcript.

 

 

 

Concretly, I’m in the Fundamental & Computational Sciences Directorate, at the Atmospheric Science & Global Change Division and in the Climate Physics Group.

This challenge is addressed by a combination of field measurements and modeling as part of the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program.

Climate and Cloud Physics

Global Climate modeling can be enhanced by the use of satellite and surface field measurements. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researcher Chuck Long (my mentor) has developed the Total Sky Imager to remotely provide vital field measurements in real time. TSI uses a digital camera to collect hemispheric ”fish eye” images of the sky, which are then processed to infer what amount of the sky contains clouds at the monitored site.

• Modeling research on cloud and radiative processes.
• Data analysis and cloud property retrievals from ground-based remote sensing systems.
• Aerosol and cloud property retrievals from satellite-based instrumentation.
• Develop new process parameterization schemes for community climate models.
• Develop and evaluate new high-resolution global climate models.
• Develop instrumentation and conduct field observations for improving understanding of cloud processes and effects.

Much of the uncertainty in projections of global climate change is due to the complexity of clouds, aerosols, and cloud-aerosol interactions, and the difficulty of representing them in climate models. This challenge is addressed by a combination of field measurements and modeling as part of the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program. Improved instrumentation and methods for determining cloud and aerosol properties from surface and satellite measurements are developed. These retrievals are used to evaluate the clouds and aerosols simulated by global climate models. The evaluation guides further development of the cloud and aerosol parameterizations for the global climate models.

 

For more information, visit the website: http://www.pnl.gov/