Beautiful vorticies taken by the new GOES-14 satellite.
BB
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Solar Eclipse from MODIS
MODIS images the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century yesterday. This pass was nearly straight over Korea. - HLG
Dr BB on Russian Dope?
Looks like "Anna" is just an upper-level low off east coast. What DID you do in Russia? Did my tax dollars pay for it? Was this part of the B. Hussein Obama Stimulus?
First Meteorologist on the Moon
With all the news on the moon this week, has anyone noticed our space program is all about the past? Sad.
Anyone, this picture reminded me of the story they forgot to tell. He was the first meteorologist sent to the moon. He thought he was going to measure the weather, but NASA thought meteorologists studied meteors. Who knew?
This poor weather geek got up there and found there was no wind wo measure (who knew?), so he put a stick in his flag to pretend like there was, and then logged "3-5 kts out of the SW. He brought a satellite kit to download TIROS imagery, and set up his little dish. He was quite surprised to see WeFax images of some clouds in an un-decipherable location in on Earth. The moon had no clouds! This lead to another log entry, into a green navy standard log-book, since he was an 1800 of course.
Finally what NASA never told anyone was that they were so embarassed about the meteor/meteorologist thing they had to pull a JFK on this guy, and left him on the moon to "monitor" changes in lunar weather. The LRO satellite has recently take the images you see here of our frozen weather-geek proudly serving his country on the moon! - HLG
Anyone, this picture reminded me of the story they forgot to tell. He was the first meteorologist sent to the moon. He thought he was going to measure the weather, but NASA thought meteorologists studied meteors. Who knew?
This poor weather geek got up there and found there was no wind wo measure (who knew?), so he put a stick in his flag to pretend like there was, and then logged "3-5 kts out of the SW. He brought a satellite kit to download TIROS imagery, and set up his little dish. He was quite surprised to see WeFax images of some clouds in an un-decipherable location in on Earth. The moon had no clouds! This lead to another log entry, into a green navy standard log-book, since he was an 1800 of course.
Finally what NASA never told anyone was that they were so embarassed about the meteor/meteorologist thing they had to pull a JFK on this guy, and left him on the moon to "monitor" changes in lunar weather. The LRO satellite has recently take the images you see here of our frozen weather-geek proudly serving his country on the moon! - HLG
ANA - AND BRING BACK NICOLE!!!
If NDC/Universal thinks that they can replace the ravishing Nicole Mitchell with Al Roker - they have got another thing coming. BRING BACK NICOLE! BRING BACK NICOLE! What do we want? Nicole Mitchell! When do we want her? Now!Oh yeah, Ana will be named today by the BB Tropical Prediction Center for Under appreciated Meteorologists (BBTPCUM)
BB
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
LRO Images Apollo 11
First pics of the Apollo 11 lander made this month by the Lunar Recon Orbiter. Or is it all more of the 5 decade hoax intended to cover up the NASA assassination of JFK because he made such an impossible demand on them to "fly to the moon"! Yeah, like that is possible! - HLG (Daily Conspiracy Correspondant)
Jovian "Meteor"-ology Event
Jupiter Struck by Object, NASA Images Confirm
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
ShareThis
AP/NASA/JPL
July 20: A large impact on Jupiter's south polar region is captured by NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
PASADENA, California — A large comet or asteroid has slammed into Jupiter, creating an impact site the size of Earth, pictures by an Australian amateur astronomer show.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed the discovery using its large infrared telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, said computer programer Anthony Wesley, 44, who discovered the impact zone while stargazing at home.
News of Wesley's find on a backyard 14.5-inch reflecting telescope has stunned the astronomy world, with scientists saying the impact will last only days more.
Wesley said it took him 30 minutes to realize a dark spot rotating in Jupiter's clouds on July 19 was actually the first impact seen by astronomers since a comet collided with the giant planet in July 1994.
"I thought (it) likely to be just a normal dark polar storm," he said on his website.
"However as it rotated further into view and the conditions improved I suddenly realized that it wasn't just dark, it was black in all channels, meaning it was truly a black spot," Wesley said from his home at Murrumbateman, north of Canberra.
Photographs show the impact zone, or "scar," near Jupiter's south polar region, with gases seen in infrared images.
"We are extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," NASA JPL scientist Glenn Orton told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
Orton confirmed the spot was an impact site and not a localized weather event in Jupiter's swirling surface, similar to the planet's famed red spot.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
ShareThis
AP/NASA/JPL
July 20: A large impact on Jupiter's south polar region is captured by NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
PASADENA, California — A large comet or asteroid has slammed into Jupiter, creating an impact site the size of Earth, pictures by an Australian amateur astronomer show.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed the discovery using its large infrared telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, said computer programer Anthony Wesley, 44, who discovered the impact zone while stargazing at home.
News of Wesley's find on a backyard 14.5-inch reflecting telescope has stunned the astronomy world, with scientists saying the impact will last only days more.
Wesley said it took him 30 minutes to realize a dark spot rotating in Jupiter's clouds on July 19 was actually the first impact seen by astronomers since a comet collided with the giant planet in July 1994.
"I thought (it) likely to be just a normal dark polar storm," he said on his website.
"However as it rotated further into view and the conditions improved I suddenly realized that it wasn't just dark, it was black in all channels, meaning it was truly a black spot," Wesley said from his home at Murrumbateman, north of Canberra.
Photographs show the impact zone, or "scar," near Jupiter's south polar region, with gases seen in infrared images.
"We are extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," NASA JPL scientist Glenn Orton told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
Orton confirmed the spot was an impact site and not a localized weather event in Jupiter's swirling surface, similar to the planet's famed red spot.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Latest Quikscat Pass over "TD 2"
Sure looks like a low is closing. We got winds from the south, east, and north, and of course the pass cuts off the western half, but at the VERY least this is a robust wave with a lot of convection near the core, and a low forming on it's southern extremity. Damn the climo! - HLG
Don't Use Climo for Tropical Forecasting!
Doesn't really matter what month it is when you have a TD forming at 12 N 35 W, does it? - HLG
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Shuttle Endeavour Finally Goes (6th Times a Charm!)
On the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Launch. Good to be in space for that one!
- HLG
Bill Gates to Fight Hurricanes in Gulf!
Gosh I wish I had billions of dollars to do stuff like this! - HLG
Bill Gates of Microsoft envisions fighting hurricanes by manipulating the sea
by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Wednesday July 15, 2009, 7:11 AM
The Times-Picayune
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, pictured here during a 2002 visit to Xavier University, hopes to fight hurricanes with giant tubs that alter the seas.If you thought domination of the world's software market was cool, get a load of Bill Gates' next technological vision: giant ocean-going tubs that fight hurricanes by draining warm water from the surface to the depths, through a long tube.
A second tube could simultaneously suck cool water from the depths to the surface.
Microsoft founder Gates and a dozen other scientists and engineers have a patent pending for deploying such vessels, which they say would collect water through waves breaking over the walls of the tub. Some variations have the water moving through turbines on their way down, which would in turn generate electricity to suck up the cooler water.
As many as 200 vessels could be placed strategically in the predicted path of a hurricane, and they could be designed to be reused or to sink in place and decompose underwater. The vessels could be moved into place by towing or by dropping from airplanes.
A second patent application describes how part or all of the cost of building and maintaining the hurricane-killer ships could be raised by selling insurance to coastal residents whose risk would be reduced by using the new system.
The hurricane-killing ideas, contained in a half-dozen related patent applications, were made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday, with Gates listed as one of the inventors on each. The applications were submitted by Searete LLC, a subsidiary of Intellectual Ventures of Bellevue, Wash., and created by former Microsoft executives to both buy up existing patents and develop patent applications for new ideas.
The hurricane-killer system isn't expected to be rolled out any time soon, however, according to a posting on the Intellectual Ventures Lab Web site.
Paul "Pablos" Holman, whose job title is listed as "hacker, " said the system would be feasible only if other responses to more active hurricane seasons or more intense hurricanes caused by global warming do not work.
"This type of technology is not something humankind would try as a 'Plan A' or 'Plan B, ' " he wrote. "These inventions are a 'Plan C' where humans decide that we have exhausted all of our behavior changing or alternative energy options and need to rely on mitigation technologies.
"If our planet is in this severe situation, then our belief is that we should not be starting from scratch at investigating mitigation options, " he wrote.
The water-moving vessels would not be limited to killing hurricanes, however. The applications also suggest the "wave induced downwelling" could stir up nutrient-rich sediment on ocean floors to promote plant and animal growth in environmentally-degraded areas.
"This may be used for developing wildlife preservation areas, wildlife recreation areas, restoring wildlife destroyed by natural or man-made causes, etc., " according to the patent application.
Another proposal calls for moving nutrients and other material from the ocean floor to the surface to promote growth of algae to trap carbon as a tool in fighting global warming.
Intellectual Ventures was created in 2000 by Nathan Myhrvold, who was Gates' chief technology officer at Microsoft, and Edward Jung, who was Microsoft's chief software architect. In a May article on the unveiling of Intellectual Venture's own patent laboratory, the Seattle Times reported that the firm has earned $1 billion in licensing revenue from patents it has acquired and about $80 million from patents for ideas it has created since its founding in 2000.
"We consider ourselves basically an invention business, " said Marelaine Dykes, a spokeswoman for the company. "We're a non-practicing entity, a non-manufacturing entity because we don't produce products, per se."
But the new laboratory does produce prototypes of some of its new inventions, she said, and subsidiaries like Searete are being formed to handle a variety of categories of the patents held or developed by the company.
The hurricane killing plan was the product of a gathering of scientists and invention developers more than a year ago.
"These are brainstorming sessions where we come up with and develop ideas around particular topics, " she said. "We bring in smart people from all over, depending on the topic."
Gates, an investor in Intellectual Ventures, has attended several of the invention salons, resulting in his name being added to the ensuing patent applications.
Others listed on those patents include a nuclear reactor designer, an aerospace engineer who has designed reusable launch vehicles, and a climatologist researching ways of increasing water droplets in upper-level clouds to reflect sunlight into space to fight global warming.
New Orleans residents might be keen on at least two other ideas for which Gates and his allies have sought patents: an insulated container that can be used as a beer keg and a fence using photons -- particles of light -- to shoo mosquitoes away from homes.
For information about the patents, visit the company's Web site at http://www.intellectualventures.com.
. . . . . . .
Mark Schleifstein can be reached at mschleifstein@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3327.
Bill Gates of Microsoft envisions fighting hurricanes by manipulating the sea
by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Wednesday July 15, 2009, 7:11 AM
The Times-Picayune
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, pictured here during a 2002 visit to Xavier University, hopes to fight hurricanes with giant tubs that alter the seas.If you thought domination of the world's software market was cool, get a load of Bill Gates' next technological vision: giant ocean-going tubs that fight hurricanes by draining warm water from the surface to the depths, through a long tube.
A second tube could simultaneously suck cool water from the depths to the surface.
Microsoft founder Gates and a dozen other scientists and engineers have a patent pending for deploying such vessels, which they say would collect water through waves breaking over the walls of the tub. Some variations have the water moving through turbines on their way down, which would in turn generate electricity to suck up the cooler water.
As many as 200 vessels could be placed strategically in the predicted path of a hurricane, and they could be designed to be reused or to sink in place and decompose underwater. The vessels could be moved into place by towing or by dropping from airplanes.
A second patent application describes how part or all of the cost of building and maintaining the hurricane-killer ships could be raised by selling insurance to coastal residents whose risk would be reduced by using the new system.
The hurricane-killing ideas, contained in a half-dozen related patent applications, were made public by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday, with Gates listed as one of the inventors on each. The applications were submitted by Searete LLC, a subsidiary of Intellectual Ventures of Bellevue, Wash., and created by former Microsoft executives to both buy up existing patents and develop patent applications for new ideas.
The hurricane-killer system isn't expected to be rolled out any time soon, however, according to a posting on the Intellectual Ventures Lab Web site.
Paul "Pablos" Holman, whose job title is listed as "hacker, " said the system would be feasible only if other responses to more active hurricane seasons or more intense hurricanes caused by global warming do not work.
"This type of technology is not something humankind would try as a 'Plan A' or 'Plan B, ' " he wrote. "These inventions are a 'Plan C' where humans decide that we have exhausted all of our behavior changing or alternative energy options and need to rely on mitigation technologies.
"If our planet is in this severe situation, then our belief is that we should not be starting from scratch at investigating mitigation options, " he wrote.
The water-moving vessels would not be limited to killing hurricanes, however. The applications also suggest the "wave induced downwelling" could stir up nutrient-rich sediment on ocean floors to promote plant and animal growth in environmentally-degraded areas.
"This may be used for developing wildlife preservation areas, wildlife recreation areas, restoring wildlife destroyed by natural or man-made causes, etc., " according to the patent application.
Another proposal calls for moving nutrients and other material from the ocean floor to the surface to promote growth of algae to trap carbon as a tool in fighting global warming.
Intellectual Ventures was created in 2000 by Nathan Myhrvold, who was Gates' chief technology officer at Microsoft, and Edward Jung, who was Microsoft's chief software architect. In a May article on the unveiling of Intellectual Venture's own patent laboratory, the Seattle Times reported that the firm has earned $1 billion in licensing revenue from patents it has acquired and about $80 million from patents for ideas it has created since its founding in 2000.
"We consider ourselves basically an invention business, " said Marelaine Dykes, a spokeswoman for the company. "We're a non-practicing entity, a non-manufacturing entity because we don't produce products, per se."
But the new laboratory does produce prototypes of some of its new inventions, she said, and subsidiaries like Searete are being formed to handle a variety of categories of the patents held or developed by the company.
The hurricane killing plan was the product of a gathering of scientists and invention developers more than a year ago.
"These are brainstorming sessions where we come up with and develop ideas around particular topics, " she said. "We bring in smart people from all over, depending on the topic."
Gates, an investor in Intellectual Ventures, has attended several of the invention salons, resulting in his name being added to the ensuing patent applications.
Others listed on those patents include a nuclear reactor designer, an aerospace engineer who has designed reusable launch vehicles, and a climatologist researching ways of increasing water droplets in upper-level clouds to reflect sunlight into space to fight global warming.
New Orleans residents might be keen on at least two other ideas for which Gates and his allies have sought patents: an insulated container that can be used as a beer keg and a fence using photons -- particles of light -- to shoo mosquitoes away from homes.
For information about the patents, visit the company's Web site at http://www.intellectualventures.com.
. . . . . . .
Mark Schleifstein can be reached at mschleifstein@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3327.
Cape Verde Low?
Anyone notice the persistent spin SW of Cape Verde? Anything to it?
Very little action so far this season. Been looking at WPAC typhoons it is so boring. The images are scatterometry winds, one for a typhoon in WPAC this week, and the other from Dolly a few years ago as she headed to Texas.
HLG
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Shuttle Lightning
The images always amaze me, mostly that the whole thing didn't/doesn't blow up!
Hopefully better weather tonight. - HLG
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
GOES-"O" Launch
Very nice detailed photo of the successful GOES "O" launch a couple of weeks ago. Now, if only we could get some nice weather for the Shuttle to go! - HLG
SW says no problem with it's planes with holes in them
Airline finds 737-300s safe to fly after hole forms in one jetStory Highlights
NEW: Southwest inspects all its 737-300 aircraft after one develops hole midflight
Passengers describe ordeal, praise professionalism of flight crew
Baltimore-bound Southwest jet makes emergency landing in West Virginia
Football-sized hole in fuselage causes cabin to depressurize, oxygen masks to drop
(CNN) -- Inspectors have found "nothing unusual" in the rest of Southwest Airlines' fleet of 737-300s after a football-sized hole in one of the jets forced an emergency landing, an airline spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The breach in the aircraft's fuselage caused a loss of cabin pressure. No passengers were injured.
1 of 2 The airline inspected its roughly 200 Boeing 737-300s overnight following the incident that forced Southwest Flight 2294 to make an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia.
A sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy, but there were no injuries among the 126 passengers or the five-member crew.
Marilee McInnis, a Southwest spokeswoman, said the jets were inspected during non-operational hours overnight, and the cause of the incident remained unknown Tuesday morning. The airline is working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the matter, she said.
Flight 2294 was at 34,000 feet, en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, when the incident happened, McInnis said. See map of flight path »
"About 45 minutes into the flight, there was a loud pop. No one really knew what it was," passenger Steve Hall told CNN Radio. Watch as passenger describes watching the hole form »
The plane landed in Charleston at 5:10 p.m. after the crew reported the sudden drop in cabin pressure, which caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.
"We were seated about two rows back from the wing, and four rows back you heard this loud rush and your ears popped, and you could tell that part of the inside was trying to pull out," passenger Sheryl Bryant told CNN affiliate WBAL-TV upon arriving in Baltimore aboard a replacement plane.
"And it was crazy -- the oxygen masks dropped," she continued. She put her mask on her face, then helped her 4- and 6-year-old children with theirs, she said.
Bryant tried to stay calm and reassure her children, she said. Watch Bryant's account of acting brave »
"My kids and I, we prayed, and then we said, you know, life will be fine," she said.
Bryant praised the flight crew and ground personnel for keeping passengers informed and for giving clear instructions.
"We have a tremendous talent represented in the pilots and the flight crew," another passenger, Pastor Alvin Kibble, told WBAL-TV. "I think we need to value them far more than perhaps what we do. It's very easy for us to begin to take things for granted."
The damaged aircraft was still parked at Charleston's Yeager Airport on Tuesday, when NTSB officials arrived to inspect the plane, airport spokesman Brian Belcher said. A complete inspection could take one to two days, and investigators are expected to interview the passengers and crew as well, he said.
The airline is "doing things" for the affected passengers on Monday's flight, but McInnis would not say whether they would receive refunds.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.
"There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point," Southwest said in a statement Monday night.
"We have safety procedures in place, and they were followed in this instance to get all passengers and crew safely on the ground," the airline said. "Reports we have are that our passengers were calm and that our pilots and flight attendants did a great job getting the aircraft on the ground safely."
NEW: Southwest inspects all its 737-300 aircraft after one develops hole midflight
Passengers describe ordeal, praise professionalism of flight crew
Baltimore-bound Southwest jet makes emergency landing in West Virginia
Football-sized hole in fuselage causes cabin to depressurize, oxygen masks to drop
(CNN) -- Inspectors have found "nothing unusual" in the rest of Southwest Airlines' fleet of 737-300s after a football-sized hole in one of the jets forced an emergency landing, an airline spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The breach in the aircraft's fuselage caused a loss of cabin pressure. No passengers were injured.
1 of 2 The airline inspected its roughly 200 Boeing 737-300s overnight following the incident that forced Southwest Flight 2294 to make an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia.
A sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy, but there were no injuries among the 126 passengers or the five-member crew.
Marilee McInnis, a Southwest spokeswoman, said the jets were inspected during non-operational hours overnight, and the cause of the incident remained unknown Tuesday morning. The airline is working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the matter, she said.
Flight 2294 was at 34,000 feet, en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, when the incident happened, McInnis said. See map of flight path »
"About 45 minutes into the flight, there was a loud pop. No one really knew what it was," passenger Steve Hall told CNN Radio. Watch as passenger describes watching the hole form »
The plane landed in Charleston at 5:10 p.m. after the crew reported the sudden drop in cabin pressure, which caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.
"We were seated about two rows back from the wing, and four rows back you heard this loud rush and your ears popped, and you could tell that part of the inside was trying to pull out," passenger Sheryl Bryant told CNN affiliate WBAL-TV upon arriving in Baltimore aboard a replacement plane.
"And it was crazy -- the oxygen masks dropped," she continued. She put her mask on her face, then helped her 4- and 6-year-old children with theirs, she said.
Bryant tried to stay calm and reassure her children, she said. Watch Bryant's account of acting brave »
"My kids and I, we prayed, and then we said, you know, life will be fine," she said.
Bryant praised the flight crew and ground personnel for keeping passengers informed and for giving clear instructions.
"We have a tremendous talent represented in the pilots and the flight crew," another passenger, Pastor Alvin Kibble, told WBAL-TV. "I think we need to value them far more than perhaps what we do. It's very easy for us to begin to take things for granted."
The damaged aircraft was still parked at Charleston's Yeager Airport on Tuesday, when NTSB officials arrived to inspect the plane, airport spokesman Brian Belcher said. A complete inspection could take one to two days, and investigators are expected to interview the passengers and crew as well, he said.
The airline is "doing things" for the affected passengers on Monday's flight, but McInnis would not say whether they would receive refunds.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.
"There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point," Southwest said in a statement Monday night.
"We have safety procedures in place, and they were followed in this instance to get all passengers and crew safely on the ground," the airline said. "Reports we have are that our passengers were calm and that our pilots and flight attendants did a great job getting the aircraft on the ground safely."
You are Now Free To Fly About the Country
With a hole in your airplane! - HLG
Jet makes landing with football-sized holeStory Highlights
Southwest Airlines jet makes emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia
(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday after a football-sized hole in its fuselage caused the cabin to depressurize, an airline spokeswoman said.
Southwest Flight 2294 made an emergency landing at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday.
1 of 2 There were no injuries aboard the Boeing 737, which was traveling at about 34,000 feet when the problem occurred, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told CNN.
The sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.
Southwest Flight 2294 was en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, with 126 passengers and a crew of five aboard, McInnis said.
It landed at 5:10 p.m. after the crew reported a football-sized hole in the middle of the cabin near the top of the aircraft, McInnis said.
What caused the damage to the jet had not been determined, she said. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.
"There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point," Southwest said in a statement Monday night. Watch as passenger describes watching the hole form »
"We have safety procedures in place, and they were followed in this instance to get all passengers and crew safely on the ground," the airline said. "Reports we have are that our passengers were calm and that our pilots and flight attendants did a great job getting the aircraft on the ground safely."
Southwest dispatched a replacement aircraft to take passengers on to Baltimore. See map of flight path »
Charleston airport spokesman Brian Belcher said a local pizzeria provided food for the passengers as they waited.
The damaged jet will remain on the ground there until federal inspectors can examine it, he said.
In addition, all 181 of Southwest's 737-300s -- about a third of the airline's fleet -- will be inspected overnight after the emergency landing, McInnis said. Southwest does not expect the inspections to create delays, she said.
Jet makes landing with football-sized holeStory Highlights
Southwest Airlines jet makes emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia
(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday after a football-sized hole in its fuselage caused the cabin to depressurize, an airline spokeswoman said.
Southwest Flight 2294 made an emergency landing at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday.
1 of 2 There were no injuries aboard the Boeing 737, which was traveling at about 34,000 feet when the problem occurred, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told CNN.
The sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.
Southwest Flight 2294 was en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, with 126 passengers and a crew of five aboard, McInnis said.
It landed at 5:10 p.m. after the crew reported a football-sized hole in the middle of the cabin near the top of the aircraft, McInnis said.
What caused the damage to the jet had not been determined, she said. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.
"There is no responsible way to speculate as to a cause at this point," Southwest said in a statement Monday night. Watch as passenger describes watching the hole form »
"We have safety procedures in place, and they were followed in this instance to get all passengers and crew safely on the ground," the airline said. "Reports we have are that our passengers were calm and that our pilots and flight attendants did a great job getting the aircraft on the ground safely."
Southwest dispatched a replacement aircraft to take passengers on to Baltimore. See map of flight path »
Charleston airport spokesman Brian Belcher said a local pizzeria provided food for the passengers as they waited.
The damaged jet will remain on the ground there until federal inspectors can examine it, he said.
In addition, all 181 of Southwest's 737-300s -- about a third of the airline's fleet -- will be inspected overnight after the emergency landing, McInnis said. Southwest does not expect the inspections to create delays, she said.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Peruvin Fog Catching
Fog Catchers Bring Water to Parched Villages
Helen Fields
for National Geographic magazine
July 9, 2009
When people from rural Peru move to Lima, the capital, they're looking for a better life. But things can be tough.
It's hard to find a job in the city. The jobs they can get—bus driver, street vendor, construction worker—don't pay well.
And the cheapest area to live is high on steep hills on the edge of the city, where landslides are common and water is scarce.
German conservationists and biologists Kai Tiedemann and Anne Lummerich, who run Alimón, a small nonprofit that supports Latin American development, are trying to help with the last of those problems. Since 2006 they've been working with new settlements on the outskirts of Lima to set up special nets that scoop water directly from the air.
Rain rarely falls on these dry hills. The annual precipitation in Lima is about half an inch (1.5 centimeters), and the city gets its water from far-off Andean lakes.
But every winter, from June to November, dense fog sweeps in from the Pacific Ocean.
With a few thousand dollars and some volunteer labor, a village can set up fog-collecting nets that gather hundreds of gallons of water a day—without a single drop of rain falling.
Ancient Technique, Modern Salvation?
As far back as 2,000 years ago, desert villages and other rain-starved communities around the world may have started harvesting fog that collected as water and dripped from trees, said Robert Schemenauer, executive director of FogQuest, a Canadian nonprofit organization that helps communities set up simple collection devices.
Serious work on collecting fog started about a hundred years ago. Since then, fog catchers have been used successfully—though on a small scale—all over the world.
Fog collection will never be practical on a large scale. "You aren't going to put up thousands of fog collectors and try to provide water to Los Angeles," Schemenauer said.
But in small communities that can't get water from wells, rain, or a river, the technique can be a lifesaver, freeing poor people from exorbitant water prices.
That's exactly what's starting to happen in Peru.
Lummerich and Tiedemann, the German conservationists, based their fog collectors on a design Schemenauer developed with Chilean researchers for villages in Chile in the 1980s.
Peru's capital was a natural place to try the technique: "Every summer the [Peruvian] newspapers are full of warnings that Lima will be without water someday," explained Lummerich.
Glaciers are shrinking in the Andes, Lima's source for water, and climate models predict that the trend will continue. An engineer with the Lima water company told Lummerich and Tiedemann he thinks the city could start experiencing serious water shortages within a decade.
In the meantime, Lummerich said, "we just can't waste this water [from fog]. It's a huge waste."
Harvesting Fog in Bellavista
Lummerich and Tiedemann searched for the right place to carry out their project, which received support from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration and the Bayer AG company. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
The researchers found that place on the steep slopes around Lima.
The newcomers who settle there build plywood shacks on unclaimed land. If the residents stay long enough, they can obtain the title to the land from the government.
One of the requirements for getting the title is to plant trees upslope. Earthquakes are common around Lima, and trees help stabilize the land and guard against landslides.
But trees have needs. "It's not really a problem for them to plant a tree," Tiedemann said. "The problem is the irrigation." And that's what he and Lummerich aimed to help with.
The village of Bellavista (population about 200), was founded seven years ago in the hills 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of downtown Lima. Tiedemann and Lummerich were won over by the community leader, Noe Neira Tocto, who made it clear that his village was motivated to do the hard work needed to make the project a success.
Since its founding, Bellavista has attracted people from all over the country.
Most come from farms, so they have the skills to grow their own food, but the fertile soil in Bellavista has gone to waste, since there's not enough water for irrigation.
Villagers have to buy water for everything—cooking, cleaning, drinking—from trucks that drive up the steep hill every week. The residents pay ten times as much as people farther downhill, who are connected to the municipal supply. For a family of four, water can come to the equivalent of U.S. $7 to $10 a week—a huge sum in a village where family income might average about $40 a week.
When the Bellavista fog-catching project began in 2006, people from the village did all the heavy lifting and digging. They had to lug 94-pound (43-kilogram) bags of sand about 800 feet (250 meters) up the steep hill—about 15 minutes a trip—to stabilize the nets and build pools to gather water collected by the fog catchers.
Even as they worked, though, the villagers thought the fog-catching idea sounded a little crazy. "They listened to us politely, but they didn't really believe that it worked," Lummerich said.
When water started appearing, it seemed too good to be true. "At the beginning," Lummerich said, "the people from the village thought Kai carried the water uphill during the night to fill the tanks, because they couldn't believe there was so much water."
"Like Opening a Tap"
Fog collection works not by condensation, which is what happens when water vapor hits a cold surface and transforms into a liquid. In fact, the water in fog is already in liquid form—it's just in very, very small drops.
The collectors Lummerich and Tiedemann started with look like giant volleyball nets, 13 feet (4 meters) tall and 26 feet (8 meters) wide. The nets, perpendicular to the prevailing wind, stretch between pairs of wooden poles. The top of each net is 18 feet (5.5 meters) above the ground.
As wind blows the heavy fog through, tiny droplets stick to the coarse woven mesh, made of a kind of plastic netting that is designed to shade young fruit trees. The netting is easy to find—any hardware store in Peru carries it—and relatively inexpensive.
As more and more tiny droplets stick to the net, they clump together and form drops, and eventually gravity pulls the drops down into a gutter. From there, the water flows through tubes into two brick tanks and a pool—all built by villagers—which together hold more than 25,000 gallons (94,635 liters) of water.
On a good day, a single net in Bellavista can collect an impressive amount of water—more than 150 gallons (568 liters).
"It's amazing when you're up there and it's foggy and the wind comes in. Then you hear all the water start running into the reservoir," Lummerich said. "It's like opening a tap."
She and Tiedemann also designed another fog collector, with multiple layers of netting to better catch a shifting wind, which they erected in 2007. The new design has collected more than 600 gallons (2,271 liters) in a day without taking up any more space than the original nets.
Bringing the Natural Water Cycle Back
Two other villages near Bellavista now have the fog collectors as well, and Lummerich and Tiedemann hope to bring more someday to other dry communities in Peru.
In the meantime, the people of Bellavista are using water from their seven fog catchers to plant trees higher up on the hill, in hopes of eventually getting the title to the land they live on.
They are growing tara trees, which bear a valuable fruit whose tannins are used for treating furniture leather. The money they'll earn from selling the fruit will help pay for maintaining the fog-catching installations.
Eventually the trees should be able to collect their own water, as the leaves act like fog collectors themselves, accumulating the water, which should drip down and replenish groundwater.
Even after the trees are taken care of, there's enough excess water now to feed gardens below the fog collectors.
Tiedemann's dream is to bring the natural water cycle back to the hills around Lima.
Some of the city's oldest residents remember when the hills were covered in trees. Those trees would have taken their moisture from the air, too, and the excess would have added to groundwater.
Tiedemann thinks it could happen again. For him and Bellavista's villagers, the 700 young tara trees now growing on the hillside mark the start of a dream coming true.
Helen Fields
for National Geographic magazine
July 9, 2009
When people from rural Peru move to Lima, the capital, they're looking for a better life. But things can be tough.
It's hard to find a job in the city. The jobs they can get—bus driver, street vendor, construction worker—don't pay well.
And the cheapest area to live is high on steep hills on the edge of the city, where landslides are common and water is scarce.
German conservationists and biologists Kai Tiedemann and Anne Lummerich, who run Alimón, a small nonprofit that supports Latin American development, are trying to help with the last of those problems. Since 2006 they've been working with new settlements on the outskirts of Lima to set up special nets that scoop water directly from the air.
Rain rarely falls on these dry hills. The annual precipitation in Lima is about half an inch (1.5 centimeters), and the city gets its water from far-off Andean lakes.
But every winter, from June to November, dense fog sweeps in from the Pacific Ocean.
With a few thousand dollars and some volunteer labor, a village can set up fog-collecting nets that gather hundreds of gallons of water a day—without a single drop of rain falling.
Ancient Technique, Modern Salvation?
As far back as 2,000 years ago, desert villages and other rain-starved communities around the world may have started harvesting fog that collected as water and dripped from trees, said Robert Schemenauer, executive director of FogQuest, a Canadian nonprofit organization that helps communities set up simple collection devices.
Serious work on collecting fog started about a hundred years ago. Since then, fog catchers have been used successfully—though on a small scale—all over the world.
Fog collection will never be practical on a large scale. "You aren't going to put up thousands of fog collectors and try to provide water to Los Angeles," Schemenauer said.
But in small communities that can't get water from wells, rain, or a river, the technique can be a lifesaver, freeing poor people from exorbitant water prices.
That's exactly what's starting to happen in Peru.
Lummerich and Tiedemann, the German conservationists, based their fog collectors on a design Schemenauer developed with Chilean researchers for villages in Chile in the 1980s.
Peru's capital was a natural place to try the technique: "Every summer the [Peruvian] newspapers are full of warnings that Lima will be without water someday," explained Lummerich.
Glaciers are shrinking in the Andes, Lima's source for water, and climate models predict that the trend will continue. An engineer with the Lima water company told Lummerich and Tiedemann he thinks the city could start experiencing serious water shortages within a decade.
In the meantime, Lummerich said, "we just can't waste this water [from fog]. It's a huge waste."
Harvesting Fog in Bellavista
Lummerich and Tiedemann searched for the right place to carry out their project, which received support from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration and the Bayer AG company. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
The researchers found that place on the steep slopes around Lima.
The newcomers who settle there build plywood shacks on unclaimed land. If the residents stay long enough, they can obtain the title to the land from the government.
One of the requirements for getting the title is to plant trees upslope. Earthquakes are common around Lima, and trees help stabilize the land and guard against landslides.
But trees have needs. "It's not really a problem for them to plant a tree," Tiedemann said. "The problem is the irrigation." And that's what he and Lummerich aimed to help with.
The village of Bellavista (population about 200), was founded seven years ago in the hills 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of downtown Lima. Tiedemann and Lummerich were won over by the community leader, Noe Neira Tocto, who made it clear that his village was motivated to do the hard work needed to make the project a success.
Since its founding, Bellavista has attracted people from all over the country.
Most come from farms, so they have the skills to grow their own food, but the fertile soil in Bellavista has gone to waste, since there's not enough water for irrigation.
Villagers have to buy water for everything—cooking, cleaning, drinking—from trucks that drive up the steep hill every week. The residents pay ten times as much as people farther downhill, who are connected to the municipal supply. For a family of four, water can come to the equivalent of U.S. $7 to $10 a week—a huge sum in a village where family income might average about $40 a week.
When the Bellavista fog-catching project began in 2006, people from the village did all the heavy lifting and digging. They had to lug 94-pound (43-kilogram) bags of sand about 800 feet (250 meters) up the steep hill—about 15 minutes a trip—to stabilize the nets and build pools to gather water collected by the fog catchers.
Even as they worked, though, the villagers thought the fog-catching idea sounded a little crazy. "They listened to us politely, but they didn't really believe that it worked," Lummerich said.
When water started appearing, it seemed too good to be true. "At the beginning," Lummerich said, "the people from the village thought Kai carried the water uphill during the night to fill the tanks, because they couldn't believe there was so much water."
"Like Opening a Tap"
Fog collection works not by condensation, which is what happens when water vapor hits a cold surface and transforms into a liquid. In fact, the water in fog is already in liquid form—it's just in very, very small drops.
The collectors Lummerich and Tiedemann started with look like giant volleyball nets, 13 feet (4 meters) tall and 26 feet (8 meters) wide. The nets, perpendicular to the prevailing wind, stretch between pairs of wooden poles. The top of each net is 18 feet (5.5 meters) above the ground.
As wind blows the heavy fog through, tiny droplets stick to the coarse woven mesh, made of a kind of plastic netting that is designed to shade young fruit trees. The netting is easy to find—any hardware store in Peru carries it—and relatively inexpensive.
As more and more tiny droplets stick to the net, they clump together and form drops, and eventually gravity pulls the drops down into a gutter. From there, the water flows through tubes into two brick tanks and a pool—all built by villagers—which together hold more than 25,000 gallons (94,635 liters) of water.
On a good day, a single net in Bellavista can collect an impressive amount of water—more than 150 gallons (568 liters).
"It's amazing when you're up there and it's foggy and the wind comes in. Then you hear all the water start running into the reservoir," Lummerich said. "It's like opening a tap."
She and Tiedemann also designed another fog collector, with multiple layers of netting to better catch a shifting wind, which they erected in 2007. The new design has collected more than 600 gallons (2,271 liters) in a day without taking up any more space than the original nets.
Bringing the Natural Water Cycle Back
Two other villages near Bellavista now have the fog collectors as well, and Lummerich and Tiedemann hope to bring more someday to other dry communities in Peru.
In the meantime, the people of Bellavista are using water from their seven fog catchers to plant trees higher up on the hill, in hopes of eventually getting the title to the land they live on.
They are growing tara trees, which bear a valuable fruit whose tannins are used for treating furniture leather. The money they'll earn from selling the fruit will help pay for maintaining the fog-catching installations.
Eventually the trees should be able to collect their own water, as the leaves act like fog collectors themselves, accumulating the water, which should drip down and replenish groundwater.
Even after the trees are taken care of, there's enough excess water now to feed gardens below the fog collectors.
Tiedemann's dream is to bring the natural water cycle back to the hills around Lima.
Some of the city's oldest residents remember when the hills were covered in trees. Those trees would have taken their moisture from the air, too, and the excess would have added to groundwater.
Tiedemann thinks it could happen again. For him and Bellavista's villagers, the 700 young tara trees now growing on the hillside mark the start of a dream coming true.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Summer Hurricane Reading
I have recommended numerous popular books on hurricanes over the year, and usually read one every hurricane season. It is amazing how intertwined American history is with hurricanes, if you think of the Great Galveston storm, it's aftermath on the newly founded weather service, and other events like Andrew and Katrina. I just finished a book called the "Island and a Storm". This has been my favorite since "Isaac's Storm", and the fatastic "The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Phantom". I recommend this amazing story of the complete destruction of Isle Derniere (Last Island), which was a rapidly growing sea-side vacation spot in antebellum Louisiana. Happy reading, especially since there will be no hurriances this year! - HLG
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
NASA 2008 Hurricane Video
You must have Real Audio/Player to view this (why don't they offer other formats? Call your congressman!), but it is very cool composite of the entire 2008 Hurricane Season. - HLG
NASA Debuts the Entire 2008 Hurricane Season in New On-Line Video
June 29, 2009
Imagine watching all of the tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes of 2008 as they formed in the Atlantic Ocean Basin and either faded at sea or made landfall. Thanks to NASA technology and satellite data coupled with data from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operated satellite, you can see the tracks of storms from Arthur to Paloma from birth to death.
There were 17 tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Sixteen of the storms were strong enough to be named, and only one stayed a tropical depression.
The movie displays the infrared cloud imagery from the geosynchronous weather satellites, principally NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12. The original cloud imagery was remapped and enhanced to display cloudtop texture. The GOES cloud images were overlaid on a true-color background map previously created from the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite.
The movie, which can be found on NASA's Hurricane Web page (www.nasa.gov/hurricane), or on the NASA GOES web page, is television production-quality. "These are large, high-resolution, colorful animations, made for use or editing by professional documentary producers or for anyone interested in hurricanes," said Dr. Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
The movie depicts the entire 2008 hurricane season based on six months of GOES imagery at 30 minute intervals from May 1 to November 18, 2008. Each "frame" has a date and time stamp with the times in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). There are 2 versions of the movie available: a 720p and 1080p HD-TV digital animation.
There's also a "highlights" movie that features the middle of the hurricane season from July 2 to September 14. The shortened "Highlights" movie from Bertha to Ike, July 2-Sept. 14 can be found here -- > Highlights
"Most versions are overlaid with hurricane names and storm tracks, with the tracks represented by dots whose size and color represent NOAA's hurricane Category 1 to 5 (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale)," Dr. Chesters said. "Some movies have captions summarizing each storm in a sidebar. Movies without named tracks are useful for forecasters and researchers who want to see the regional meteorology without visual distractions."
All of the movies in various formats labeled or unlabeled, large or small, are also on-line and downloadable at the GOES page for "Hurricane Alley 2008"
> Hurricane Alley
The NASA GOES Project office plans to make a movie of the 2009 season.
Related Links:
> Entire 2008 Hurricane Season, High Resolution
> Entire 2008 Hurricane Season, Low Resolution
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?id=39114
NASA Debuts the Entire 2008 Hurricane Season in New On-Line Video
June 29, 2009
Imagine watching all of the tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes of 2008 as they formed in the Atlantic Ocean Basin and either faded at sea or made landfall. Thanks to NASA technology and satellite data coupled with data from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operated satellite, you can see the tracks of storms from Arthur to Paloma from birth to death.
There were 17 tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Sixteen of the storms were strong enough to be named, and only one stayed a tropical depression.
The movie displays the infrared cloud imagery from the geosynchronous weather satellites, principally NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12. The original cloud imagery was remapped and enhanced to display cloudtop texture. The GOES cloud images were overlaid on a true-color background map previously created from the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite.
The movie, which can be found on NASA's Hurricane Web page (www.nasa.gov/hurricane), or on the NASA GOES web page, is television production-quality. "These are large, high-resolution, colorful animations, made for use or editing by professional documentary producers or for anyone interested in hurricanes," said Dr. Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
The movie depicts the entire 2008 hurricane season based on six months of GOES imagery at 30 minute intervals from May 1 to November 18, 2008. Each "frame" has a date and time stamp with the times in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). There are 2 versions of the movie available: a 720p and 1080p HD-TV digital animation.
There's also a "highlights" movie that features the middle of the hurricane season from July 2 to September 14. The shortened "Highlights" movie from Bertha to Ike, July 2-Sept. 14 can be found here -- > Highlights
"Most versions are overlaid with hurricane names and storm tracks, with the tracks represented by dots whose size and color represent NOAA's hurricane Category 1 to 5 (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale)," Dr. Chesters said. "Some movies have captions summarizing each storm in a sidebar. Movies without named tracks are useful for forecasters and researchers who want to see the regional meteorology without visual distractions."
All of the movies in various formats labeled or unlabeled, large or small, are also on-line and downloadable at the GOES page for "Hurricane Alley 2008"
> Hurricane Alley
The NASA GOES Project office plans to make a movie of the 2009 season.
Related Links:
> Entire 2008 Hurricane Season, High Resolution
> Entire 2008 Hurricane Season, Low Resolution
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?id=39114
5 Things About Hurricanes
Very interesting post from NASA-JPL's "Earth Observatory" - HLG
Five Things About Hurricanes
July 1, 2009
JPL scientist Bjorn Lambrigtsen goes on hurricane watch every June. He is part of a large effort to track hurricanes and understand what powers them. Lambrigtsen specializes in the field of microwave instruments, which fly aboard research planes and spacecraft, penetrating through thick clouds to see the heart of a hurricane. While scientists are adept at predicting where these powerful storms will hit land, there are crucial aspects they still need to wrench from these potentially killer storms.
Here are thoughts and factoids from Lambrigtsen in the field of hurricane research.
1. Pinpointing the moment of birth
Most Atlantic hurricanes start as a collection of thunderstorms off the coast of Africa. These storm clusters move across the Atlantic, ending up in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico or Central America. While only one in 10 of these clusters evolve into hurricanes, scientists do not yet know what triggers this powerful transformation. Pinpointing a hurricane's origin will be a major goal of a joint field campaign in 2010 between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
2. Predicting intensity
Another focus of next year's research campaign will be learning how to better predict a storm's intensity. It is difficult for emergency personnel and the public to gauge storm preparations when they don't know if the storm will be mild or one with tremendous force. NASA's uncrewed Global Hawk will be added to the 2010 research armada. This drone airplane, which can fly for 30 straight hours, will provide an unprecedented long-duration view of hurricanes in action, giving a window into what fuels storm intensity.
3. Deadly force raining down
Think about a hurricane. You imagine high, gusting winds and pounding waves. However, one of the deadliest hurricanes in recent history was one that parked itself over Central America in October 1998 and dumped torrential rain. Even with diminished winds, rain from Hurricane Mitch reached a rate of more than 4 inches per hour. This caused catastrophic floods and landslides throughout the region.
4. Replenishing "spring"
Even though hurricanes can wreak havoc, they also carry out the important task of replenishing the freshwater supply along the Florida and southeastern U.S. coast and Gulf of Mexico. The freshwater deposited is good for the fish and the ecological environment.
One size doesn't fit all
Hurricanes come in a huge a variety of sizes. Massive ones can cover the entire Gulf of Mexico (about 1,000 miles across), while others are just as deadly at only 100 miles across. This is a mystery scientists are still trying to unravel.
NASA and NOAA conduct joint field campaigns to study hurricanes. The agencies use research planes to fly through and above hurricanes, and scientists collect data from NASA spacecraft that fly overhead. NOAA, along with its National Hurricane Center, is the U.S. government agency tasked with hurricane forecasting.
Five Things About Hurricanes
July 1, 2009
JPL scientist Bjorn Lambrigtsen goes on hurricane watch every June. He is part of a large effort to track hurricanes and understand what powers them. Lambrigtsen specializes in the field of microwave instruments, which fly aboard research planes and spacecraft, penetrating through thick clouds to see the heart of a hurricane. While scientists are adept at predicting where these powerful storms will hit land, there are crucial aspects they still need to wrench from these potentially killer storms.
Here are thoughts and factoids from Lambrigtsen in the field of hurricane research.
1. Pinpointing the moment of birth
Most Atlantic hurricanes start as a collection of thunderstorms off the coast of Africa. These storm clusters move across the Atlantic, ending up in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico or Central America. While only one in 10 of these clusters evolve into hurricanes, scientists do not yet know what triggers this powerful transformation. Pinpointing a hurricane's origin will be a major goal of a joint field campaign in 2010 between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
2. Predicting intensity
Another focus of next year's research campaign will be learning how to better predict a storm's intensity. It is difficult for emergency personnel and the public to gauge storm preparations when they don't know if the storm will be mild or one with tremendous force. NASA's uncrewed Global Hawk will be added to the 2010 research armada. This drone airplane, which can fly for 30 straight hours, will provide an unprecedented long-duration view of hurricanes in action, giving a window into what fuels storm intensity.
3. Deadly force raining down
Think about a hurricane. You imagine high, gusting winds and pounding waves. However, one of the deadliest hurricanes in recent history was one that parked itself over Central America in October 1998 and dumped torrential rain. Even with diminished winds, rain from Hurricane Mitch reached a rate of more than 4 inches per hour. This caused catastrophic floods and landslides throughout the region.
4. Replenishing "spring"
Even though hurricanes can wreak havoc, they also carry out the important task of replenishing the freshwater supply along the Florida and southeastern U.S. coast and Gulf of Mexico. The freshwater deposited is good for the fish and the ecological environment.
One size doesn't fit all
Hurricanes come in a huge a variety of sizes. Massive ones can cover the entire Gulf of Mexico (about 1,000 miles across), while others are just as deadly at only 100 miles across. This is a mystery scientists are still trying to unravel.
NASA and NOAA conduct joint field campaigns to study hurricanes. The agencies use research planes to fly through and above hurricanes, and scientists collect data from NASA spacecraft that fly overhead. NOAA, along with its National Hurricane Center, is the U.S. government agency tasked with hurricane forecasting.
Autumn in DC
Truly unreal weather today. Due points in 40s! We are in a California summer pattern! The sky is cerulean/cobalt blue. (Can't decide) - HLG
1 PM (17) Jul 08 77 (25) 48 (9) 29.97 (1014) Calm
Noon (16) Jul 08 75 (24) 48 (9) 29.97 (1014) Calm
11 AM (15) Jul 08 75 (24) 50 (10) 29.97 (1014) NNE 5
10 AM (14) Jul 08 73 (23) 50 (10) 29.95 (1014) NE 6
1 PM (17) Jul 08 77 (25) 48 (9) 29.97 (1014) Calm
Noon (16) Jul 08 75 (24) 48 (9) 29.97 (1014) Calm
11 AM (15) Jul 08 75 (24) 50 (10) 29.97 (1014) NNE 5
10 AM (14) Jul 08 73 (23) 50 (10) 29.95 (1014) NE 6
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Open Source and Oceanography
Useful website on open-source web resources and oceanography. Happens to be an Aggie thing, all the better! - HLG
http://stommel.tamu.edu/~baum/soap.html
http://stommel.tamu.edu/~baum/soap.html
TRMM and Asian Rains
Nice TRMM map showing high rainfall anomoliies in southern China, Vietnam, etc.
- HLG
Foul Smell "Descends" Upon NOLA?
WWL First News to me
show details 8:59 AM (11 minutes ago) Reply
A foul smell has descended on much of New Orleans region this morning. Officials say it isn't dangerous, but people report getting light headed and nauseated.
Full Story>>> http://www.wwl.com/Nasty-smell-covers-area/4751581
show details 8:59 AM (11 minutes ago) Reply
A foul smell has descended on much of New Orleans region this morning. Officials say it isn't dangerous, but people report getting light headed and nauseated.
Full Story>>> http://www.wwl.com/Nasty-smell-covers-area/4751581
Monday, July 6, 2009
Polar Lander Records Snowfall
First time measurements made at the surface of snow falling on Mars. - HLG
"Diamond Dust" Snow Falls Nightly on Mars
AnnMinard
for National Geographic News
July 2, 2009
Every night during Mars's winter, water-ice crystals fall from high, thin clouds over the north pole, new data from NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander have revealed.
The clouds resemble cirrus clouds on Earth, noted lead study author James Whiteway, an atmospheric physicist at York University in Toronto.
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All told, though, there's very little water locked up in the drifting ice crystals, said co-author Peter Smith, principal investigator for the Phoenix mission and a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
"If you melted it all in a pan, [you] would be barely wetting the surface," Smith said.
"Mars is awfully dry. That's why it's surprising that you see snowfall."
Martian Snowfall
The Phoenix lander arrived near Mars's north pole in May 2008 and collected data for five months before shutting down due to the extreme conditions of Martian winter.
Phoenix first spotted nightly clouds in early September, as winter began to set in, via an onboard weather instrument called LIDAR.
The probe sends laser beams through the atmosphere and records the reflected light from dust and clouds.
"We made more and more late-night observations of these clouds, and noticed streaks coming out the bottom of them," Smith said.
"As the season progressed, these streaks came closer to the surface until they were finally reaching the surface. Basically, we're seeing snowfall
"Diamond Dust" Snow Falls Nightly on Mars
AnnMinard
for National Geographic News
July 2, 2009
Every night during Mars's winter, water-ice crystals fall from high, thin clouds over the north pole, new data from NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander have revealed.
The clouds resemble cirrus clouds on Earth, noted lead study author James Whiteway, an atmospheric physicist at York University in Toronto.
Email to a Friend
SHARE
All told, though, there's very little water locked up in the drifting ice crystals, said co-author Peter Smith, principal investigator for the Phoenix mission and a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
"If you melted it all in a pan, [you] would be barely wetting the surface," Smith said.
"Mars is awfully dry. That's why it's surprising that you see snowfall."
Martian Snowfall
The Phoenix lander arrived near Mars's north pole in May 2008 and collected data for five months before shutting down due to the extreme conditions of Martian winter.
Phoenix first spotted nightly clouds in early September, as winter began to set in, via an onboard weather instrument called LIDAR.
The probe sends laser beams through the atmosphere and records the reflected light from dust and clouds.
"We made more and more late-night observations of these clouds, and noticed streaks coming out the bottom of them," Smith said.
"As the season progressed, these streaks came closer to the surface until they were finally reaching the surface. Basically, we're seeing snowfall
Climate Studies and Hype
5 Climate Studies That Don't Live Up to the Hype
Friday, July 03, 2009
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A leading climate scientist argues that overbroad claims by some researchers—coupled with overblown reporting in the media—can undermine the public's understanding of climate issues. Gavin Schmidt, a NASA climate modeler, author and PM editorial advisor, concurs with the consensus view that the planet's temperature is rising due largely to human activity. But, he says, many news stories prematurely attribute local or regional phenomena to climate change. This can lead to the dissemination of vague, out-of-context or flat-wrong information to the public.
"People think that if there's a trend, it has to be connected to this bigger trend," he says. "You often get this kind of jumping the gun." Sometimes researchers are citing a potential connection to global warming to get noticed, he says, and sometimes journalists are focusing on that connection to make the story more compelling. "There's a bit of a backlash amid people who have a brain," says Schmidt. "It's akin to [the media's reporting on] medical studies. It adds to people's confusion."
Here are 5 studies Schmidt points to that made unfulfilled promises, used loose, questionable climate connections to sensationalize a story or predicted events that never came to be.
The Study: In a study released to the public last month and set to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in August, a team of American scientists found by gathering wind-speed data across the country that average and peak wind speeds in the Midwest and the East had decreased since the 1970s.
The Fallout: Though the authors acknowledged their study was preliminary, they raised an intriguing possibility—that if dying wind were a true trend, global warming could be the cause. The reasoning was that warming in polar regions, brought on by climate change, would shrink the temperature difference between the poles and the equator, as well as the pressure difference. This would mean that winds would die down, and wind-power generation would be harmed by the very thing its proponents are trying to combat.
The Truth: Despite the delicious irony, Schmidt says, it's far too early to say that the dying wind is even a trend, much less one caused by climate change. Windiness is a complex phenomena with different causes in different places, he says, and is not one that can be measured by a singular cause on a global scale. Winds can change in one area, but if they do, expect to see changes in phenomena related to wind, like temperature gradients, as well. The data don't bear that out, he says, and his climate models don't predict wind changes over the North American continent caused by global warming.
The Study: The thermohaline circulation is crucial to the Earth's climate, acting like a conveyor belt carrying warm water into the North Atlantic and moderating the climate of North America and Europe. Many studies, however, have suggested that freshwater from melting sea ice might have the potential to shut down that circulation. A 2005 study showed a steep slowdown of the circulation between 1957 and 2004.
The Fallout: The idea that thermohaline circulation could come to an end, pushing the planet into a new ice age, exploded into popular culture after it showed up in movies like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (2006).
The Truth: Schmidt says that what looked like a full-blown trend of the circulation weakening can be explained in part by studies showing that the circulation can vary its strength over many timescales, making it hard to see a real trend in the noise. That doesn't mean that circulation could never be changed, Schmidt says, but the possibility was blown out of proportion. "The Gulf Stream shutting down is such a powerful meme," he says.
The Study: In early 2006, a study in Nature published surprising results that plants were giving off trace amounts of methane.
The Fallout: We know that methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so the suggestion that it comes from plants led to a blizzard of headlines suggesting that trees could be contributing to global warming.
The Truth: The researchers balked after the media coverage of their study broke. The scientists said they were widely misinterpreted when it was reported that plants contribute to global warming. Rather, if plants do give off methane, they've been doing it since long before humans were on the scene and their emissions aren't connected to today's anthropogenic climate change. Schmidt says the findings were controversial among scientists from the beginning, because plants had never been known as methane emitters. "Subsequent work has dialed down the magnitude of this new effect tremendously," he says.
The Study: A catastrophic rise in sea level is one of the worst consequences that some climate scientists predict for a warmer world. A study in Science in 2006 noted that temperatures by the end of the 21st century could be comparable to those 130,000 years ago, when global sea levels were about 20 feet higher.
The Fallout: Unsurprisingly, given the implications of the sea level rise, this study was sensationalized with headlines like "London Underwater by 2100 as Antarctica Crumbles into the Sea." In his world tour, Al Gore also picked up the statistic, which led to much backlash both among scientists trying to get the science corrected and among climate skeptics.
The Truth: There's a big gap between saying something is possible and predicting that it will occur, Schmidt says, and the authors didn't predict that climate change would turn London into Atlantis by 2100. As Science's editors said in the same issue, past climate changes should be taken into account when trying to predict future climate change, but they won't be exactly the same. When media and others used the study as a predictive measure‹to say the sea will rise 20 feet in less than 100 years, Schmidt says, that "was a pretty egregious mess-up."
The Study: In 2007, scientists found the oldest authenticated DNA ever, gathered from 400,000-year-old tree and insect samples entombed in the bottom of a Greenland glacier. About half a million years ago, the study concluded, Greenland was a pretty warm place.
The Fallout: When the study came out, Schmidt says, about many people responded to the DNA find itself. But the others keyed onto one sentence in the press release, in which the lead author suggested that the finding meant the Greenland ice sheet was more stable than scientists had previously thought. Because these seeds and DNA specimens were found in the ice sheet, the ice must have been intact for at least a half-million years and survived the warm period 130,000 years ago. This could mean that Greenland is more stable than scientists thought and in less danger from current warming.
The Truth: Schmidt isn't impressed with the claim. The fact that Greenland was hot so recently (geologically speaking) shows that the ice isn't that stable at all, and the latest satellite evidence contradicts the stability claim and shows that Greenland is steadily losing mass. - Popular Mechanics
Friday, July 03, 2009
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A leading climate scientist argues that overbroad claims by some researchers—coupled with overblown reporting in the media—can undermine the public's understanding of climate issues. Gavin Schmidt, a NASA climate modeler, author and PM editorial advisor, concurs with the consensus view that the planet's temperature is rising due largely to human activity. But, he says, many news stories prematurely attribute local or regional phenomena to climate change. This can lead to the dissemination of vague, out-of-context or flat-wrong information to the public.
"People think that if there's a trend, it has to be connected to this bigger trend," he says. "You often get this kind of jumping the gun." Sometimes researchers are citing a potential connection to global warming to get noticed, he says, and sometimes journalists are focusing on that connection to make the story more compelling. "There's a bit of a backlash amid people who have a brain," says Schmidt. "It's akin to [the media's reporting on] medical studies. It adds to people's confusion."
Here are 5 studies Schmidt points to that made unfulfilled promises, used loose, questionable climate connections to sensationalize a story or predicted events that never came to be.
The Study: In a study released to the public last month and set to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in August, a team of American scientists found by gathering wind-speed data across the country that average and peak wind speeds in the Midwest and the East had decreased since the 1970s.
The Fallout: Though the authors acknowledged their study was preliminary, they raised an intriguing possibility—that if dying wind were a true trend, global warming could be the cause. The reasoning was that warming in polar regions, brought on by climate change, would shrink the temperature difference between the poles and the equator, as well as the pressure difference. This would mean that winds would die down, and wind-power generation would be harmed by the very thing its proponents are trying to combat.
The Truth: Despite the delicious irony, Schmidt says, it's far too early to say that the dying wind is even a trend, much less one caused by climate change. Windiness is a complex phenomena with different causes in different places, he says, and is not one that can be measured by a singular cause on a global scale. Winds can change in one area, but if they do, expect to see changes in phenomena related to wind, like temperature gradients, as well. The data don't bear that out, he says, and his climate models don't predict wind changes over the North American continent caused by global warming.
The Study: The thermohaline circulation is crucial to the Earth's climate, acting like a conveyor belt carrying warm water into the North Atlantic and moderating the climate of North America and Europe. Many studies, however, have suggested that freshwater from melting sea ice might have the potential to shut down that circulation. A 2005 study showed a steep slowdown of the circulation between 1957 and 2004.
The Fallout: The idea that thermohaline circulation could come to an end, pushing the planet into a new ice age, exploded into popular culture after it showed up in movies like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (2006).
The Truth: Schmidt says that what looked like a full-blown trend of the circulation weakening can be explained in part by studies showing that the circulation can vary its strength over many timescales, making it hard to see a real trend in the noise. That doesn't mean that circulation could never be changed, Schmidt says, but the possibility was blown out of proportion. "The Gulf Stream shutting down is such a powerful meme," he says.
The Study: In early 2006, a study in Nature published surprising results that plants were giving off trace amounts of methane.
The Fallout: We know that methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so the suggestion that it comes from plants led to a blizzard of headlines suggesting that trees could be contributing to global warming.
The Truth: The researchers balked after the media coverage of their study broke. The scientists said they were widely misinterpreted when it was reported that plants contribute to global warming. Rather, if plants do give off methane, they've been doing it since long before humans were on the scene and their emissions aren't connected to today's anthropogenic climate change. Schmidt says the findings were controversial among scientists from the beginning, because plants had never been known as methane emitters. "Subsequent work has dialed down the magnitude of this new effect tremendously," he says.
The Study: A catastrophic rise in sea level is one of the worst consequences that some climate scientists predict for a warmer world. A study in Science in 2006 noted that temperatures by the end of the 21st century could be comparable to those 130,000 years ago, when global sea levels were about 20 feet higher.
The Fallout: Unsurprisingly, given the implications of the sea level rise, this study was sensationalized with headlines like "London Underwater by 2100 as Antarctica Crumbles into the Sea." In his world tour, Al Gore also picked up the statistic, which led to much backlash both among scientists trying to get the science corrected and among climate skeptics.
The Truth: There's a big gap between saying something is possible and predicting that it will occur, Schmidt says, and the authors didn't predict that climate change would turn London into Atlantis by 2100. As Science's editors said in the same issue, past climate changes should be taken into account when trying to predict future climate change, but they won't be exactly the same. When media and others used the study as a predictive measure‹to say the sea will rise 20 feet in less than 100 years, Schmidt says, that "was a pretty egregious mess-up."
The Study: In 2007, scientists found the oldest authenticated DNA ever, gathered from 400,000-year-old tree and insect samples entombed in the bottom of a Greenland glacier. About half a million years ago, the study concluded, Greenland was a pretty warm place.
The Fallout: When the study came out, Schmidt says, about many people responded to the DNA find itself. But the others keyed onto one sentence in the press release, in which the lead author suggested that the finding meant the Greenland ice sheet was more stable than scientists had previously thought. Because these seeds and DNA specimens were found in the ice sheet, the ice must have been intact for at least a half-million years and survived the warm period 130,000 years ago. This could mean that Greenland is more stable than scientists thought and in less danger from current warming.
The Truth: Schmidt isn't impressed with the claim. The fact that Greenland was hot so recently (geologically speaking) shows that the ice isn't that stable at all, and the latest satellite evidence contradicts the stability claim and shows that Greenland is steadily losing mass. - Popular Mechanics
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
RETURN NICOLE BACK TO THE MORNING SLOT!!!!
I recommend that everyone stop watching the "Wx" Channel until Nicole is returned to her rightful place in the morning. NBC and Universal should stop trying to salvage the disaster of Abrams and Bettis. It did not work at night. It does not work in the morning. Nicole works well in the morning. Can't you see that she is not comfortable in the night slot? This is ridiculous!!! NBC and Universal have gone even farther to make a joke out of a reputable tropical meteorologist, Steve Lyons, by developing a slot called "Lyon's Den" with Cantore. Yes, we expect this type of drivel from Cantore - but not Steve Lyons! Tropical Meteorology is not a joke NBC! Will a real network please purchase the "Wx" Channel and bring back some seriousness to the programming. Until someone buys the network, please stop watching the Wx Channel. At least until Nicole is put back in the MORNING SLOT!!!!!
OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) and Meteo
These are a few of the highlights of last week's OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) Technical Committee (TC) meetings -- from our perspective.
-- The meteorology community (including liaisons with the WMO and NOAA) are participating in an increasingly active role in the OGC TC. This marked the second meeting of the Meteorology Domain Working Group (DWG now co-chaired by Chris Little of the UK Met Office and Marie Francoise Voidrot of Meteo France). The primary technological focus still seems to be on WMS, but there were increasing calls for expanding that in the future. The meeting agenda and presentations are available at:
http://external.opengis.org/twiki_public/bin/view/MeteoDWG/AgendaAndSlides200906
One other item of note is that some members of the Met DWG, including me, think it should include Oceanography as well, but that decision was put off until the next TC meeting. So we continue with separate Hydrology and Met working groups and the Earth System Science (ESS) DWG as a group where integrated cross-disciplinary issues can be addressed. Efforts are made to avoid scheduling conflicts among these groups.
Issues relating to Coordinate Reference Systems (CRS) came up in the WCS Standard Working Group (SWG) session as well as in the CRS DWG meetings. For our community an interesting aspect of this are discussions of "image" CRSs. In essence, an image CRS is index-based which, to my way of thinking, has some strong conceptual similarities to the way we work with coordinate system information in netCDF and OPeNDAP. And, as with our work, the challenge is to come up with a formal description of how the index space relates to other index spaces or (heaven forfend) the real world.
- HLG (OGC Member)
-- The meteorology community (including liaisons with the WMO and NOAA) are participating in an increasingly active role in the OGC TC. This marked the second meeting of the Meteorology Domain Working Group (DWG now co-chaired by Chris Little of the UK Met Office and Marie Francoise Voidrot of Meteo France). The primary technological focus still seems to be on WMS, but there were increasing calls for expanding that in the future. The meeting agenda and presentations are available at:
http://external.opengis.org/twiki_public/bin/view/MeteoDWG/AgendaAndSlides200906
One other item of note is that some members of the Met DWG, including me, think it should include Oceanography as well, but that decision was put off until the next TC meeting. So we continue with separate Hydrology and Met working groups and the Earth System Science (ESS) DWG as a group where integrated cross-disciplinary issues can be addressed. Efforts are made to avoid scheduling conflicts among these groups.
Issues relating to Coordinate Reference Systems (CRS) came up in the WCS Standard Working Group (SWG) session as well as in the CRS DWG meetings. For our community an interesting aspect of this are discussions of "image" CRSs. In essence, an image CRS is index-based which, to my way of thinking, has some strong conceptual similarities to the way we work with coordinate system information in netCDF and OPeNDAP. And, as with our work, the challenge is to come up with a formal description of how the index space relates to other index spaces or (heaven forfend) the real world.
- HLG (OGC Member)
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