American Meteorological Society Wright Memorial Chapter



American Meteorological Society Wright Memorial Chapter | |

|october 2007 |Volume 3, Number 2 |

| |Minutes from 19 October 2007 Meeting |

|In this newsletter: | |

|Minutes from 19 October 2007 Meeting |Submitted by |

|Calendar of Upcoming Events |AMS Wright Memorial Chapter meeting of 19 October 2007 |

|From the National AMS |Meeting of Chapter with Dr. Steve Fiorino, President. |

|Undergraduate Scholarship Opportunity |Elinor’s Amber Rose, Dayton, OH. |

|Forecast Contest |Presentation by Dr. M. Geoff McHarg |

|Picture of the Month |Biography: |

| |Dr. Geoff McHarg is a Professor of Physics in the Physics Department and Director, Space Physics and Atmospheric |

| |Research Center at the U.S. Air Force Academy.  He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks |

| |(1993), an MS in Engineering Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology (1983), and a B.S. in Physics from |

| |Missouri Southern State College in Joplin (1980).  He is a retired US Air Force Lt Col.  In September 2006, Dr McHarg |

| |was the recipient of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Group Achievement Award for the Stardust Hyper-velocity |

|Dr. McHarg talks about the work done at|Entry Observing Campaign.  Dr. McHarg’s research interests include the dynamics of auroral precipitation, high speed |

|SPARC |spectroscopy and photometry of sprites, and payload design for small satellites. |

| |From the meeting: |

| |Dr. Geoff McHarg, Professor of Physics in the Physics Department and |

| |Director, Space Physics and Atmospheric Research Center (SPARC) at the U.S. Air Force Academy, presented a very |

| |interesting lecture on sprites and activities at the SPARC. The Space Physics and Atmospheric Research Center (SPARC) is|

| |one of twelve research centers at the Air Force Academy, with the mission of all to provide cadets at the Air Force |

| |Academy an opportunity to take part in real research of interest to the Air Force, in this case, space weather. Dr. |

| |McHarg opened his presentation with a high-speed video of the evolution of a cloud to ground lighting strike (from step |

| |leader to return flash), demonstrating the high-speed filming capabilities at the Academy, which is important for |

| |studying space weather phenomena. |

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| |The presentation then continued with the description of the SPARC and the payload development for the Academy small |

| |satellite program carried out in the SPARC.  The presentation went on to describe some of the research regarding |

| |sprites, vertical electrical discharges that occur high above of large thunderstorms (mesoscale convective complexes). |

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| |[pic] |

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| |Forecast Contest |

| |John Turnbull our webmaster, mentioned the upcoming forecast contest for the month of November. See the end of the |

| |newsletter for details. |

| |Club Financials |

| |The current balance in the treasury is $451.61. |

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| |Dues for the Wright-Memorial chapter are $10 annually. Dues paying members are given the right to run and vote in |

| |chapter elections and participate in other chapter decisions. Dues were collected from members. |

|Dr. McHarg drew comparisons between the|Calendar of Upcoming Events |

|forecasting for space and terrestrial |January |

|weather. Space weather forecasting is |20-24 January 2008 – 88th AMS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA |

|at the level of terrestrial weather | |

|forecasting 30 years ago. |February |

| |16-17 February 2008 – TechFest 2008 – Sinclair Ponitz Center, Dayton OH. |

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| |April |

| |April 2008 – 12th Annual Severe Weather Symposium, The Ohio State University. |

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| |From the National AMS |

| |2008/2009 AMS/Industry Minority Scholarships |

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| |Our local chapter has volunteered to review applications for the 2008-09 AMS/Industry Minority Scholarships. We have |

| |received the paperwork associated with the program. One thing the National AMS has requested is that local chapters get|

|Dr. McHarg discussed the FalconSat, |the word out on the program. We have contacted the Ed Outreach office at Wright-Patterson AFB, and they have offered to|

|small satellite, program run at the Air|distribute the following to their list of high school teachers and local community colleges. |

|Force Academy. Every cadet enrolled in|If our members located outside of the Miami Valley can think of additional ways to distribute the message, please do so.|

|the program will build and test one of |We appreciate all the help we can get. |

|three satellites produced during their |Dear Educator: |

|time at the Academy. | |

| |The American Meteorological Society is pleased to announce the 2008/2009 AMS/Industry Minority Scholarships. Now |

| |entering its sixteenth year, the scholarship is intended to help support college education for minority students |

| |traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, especially Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African|

| |American, and Native Hawaiian students, who intend to pursue careers in the atmospheric or related oceanic and |

| |hydrologic sciences. The two year scholarships, funded by industry and through donations made by members to the AMS 21ST|

| |Century Campaign, are for $3000 per year (second year funding depends on successful completion of the first academic |

| |year). Minority students who will be entering their freshman year of college in the fall of 2008 are eligible to apply. |

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| |Since the inception of the program, we have awarded the scholarships to over 106 outstanding students. The AMS web site |

| |provides a link to the information and application. The following link is provided for your convenience. The document is|

| |in PDF format. . Feel free to print |

| |and make several copies for distribution. |

| | |

| |The application form lists the local chapters that will be receiving the scholarship applications this year. Please note|

| |that the completed application should be sent to the listed chapter nearest them and to send a photocopy of the |

| |application materials to AMS Headquarters. The Wright Memorial AMS Chapter in Dayton, OH is among the local chapters |

| |that will be reviewing the applications. |

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| |Information on all AMS fellowships and scholarships, including the Minority Scholarship, is available on the Internet |

| |at: . |

| | |

| |Sincerely, |

| |Allison Schauer |

| |Vice President, Wright Memorial Chapter of the American Meteorological Society |

|If you are interested in joining the | |

|National AMS, check out the |Undergraduate Scholarship Opportunity |

|applications for National Membership | |

|at: |Attention ALL Undergraduates! Are you interested in winning a $500 cash award, like the idea of meeting 400 |

| forecasters, scientists and researchers participating in the 33rd National Weather Association |

|html |Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, for FREE, and having the privilege to make a presentation on your work? The |

| |National Weather Association (NWA) is looking for those undergraduates who have written an original paper on |

|Membership in the National AMS is not |meteorological satellite applications and wants to award YOU the prestigious 2008 Meteorological Satellite Applications |

|required for membership in the Wright |Award Grant. |

|Memorial Chapter |If you are interested in finding out more about this outstanding opportunity, check out the announcement for the 2008 |

| |Meteorological Satellite Award Grant at . |

| |The deadline for award nominations is June 15, 2008. |

| |For more award information, go to , or contact Ken Carey, Chair of the|

| |NWA Remote Sensing Committee, via kcarey@. |

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| |Forecast Contest |

| |October Forecast Contest |

| |November is known as a transition month between fall and winter where extreme weather is a very common occurrence. |

| |Your job is to correctly predict the high temperature, maximum wind speed (knots) and number of days with thunderstorms |

| |for the month of November at Wright-Patterson, AFB. |

| |Send you predictions to John Turnbbull (799 Spinning Rd. Dayton OH 45431) or via email to john.turnbull@wpafb.af.mil by |

| |31 October 2007. |

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| |Picture of the Month |

| |[pic] |

| |Photograph by Dr. Mike Abel. Geese flying near cumulus cloud Beavercreek, OH |

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|Shutterbugs – Submit your latest and | |

|greatest weather shots to our | |

|newsletter! Send them via e-mail to: | |

|mary.bedrick@wpafb.af.mi | |

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|AMS – Wright Memorial Chapter | |

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|President: | |

|Steve Fiorino | |

|Steven.fiorino@afit.edu | |

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|Vice President: | |

|Allison Schauer | |

|Allison.schauer@wpafb.af.mil | |

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|Secretary: | |

|Paul Gehred | |

|Paul_a_gehred@ | |

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|Treasurer: | |

|Karen Kowalewsky | |

|kjkowal@ | |

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|Web Master: | |

|John Turnbull | |

|John.turnbull@wpafb.af.mil | |

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|Newsletter Editor | |

|Mary Bedrick | |

|Mary.bedrick@wpafb.af.mil | |

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|We’re on the Web! | |

|chapters/wrightmem/inde| |

|x.html | |

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