Researchers tackle a dangerous and mysterious form of in-flight icing
May 11, 2012 • With the help of deicing treatment on the ground and careful route selection in the air, commercial pilots now avoid most of the threat that ice will encase critical parts of a plane. But there’s another ice-related hazard gaining attention, one so low-profile up to now...
New guidance points pilots away from a deadly in-flight threat
April 27, 2012 • When flight instructor Scott Dennstaedt studied possible routes for a recent flight from Denver to Bend, Oregon, he checked standard aviation forecasts—plus a pair of high-precision NCAR atmospheric maps that track potentially hazardous icing conditions. Thanks to that...
How investigating the atmosphere is improving our lives
April 27, 2012 • There hasn’t been a single U.S. airline flight downed by wind shear in more than 15 years. That’s no accident. It’s the result of painstaking work by NCAR and colleagues across a community of researchers who produced a world-leading system for warning pilots about wind...
NCAR's custom outlooks provide guidance to large-scale immunization program
April 27, 2012 • As health officials in Africa determine how best to distribute vaccine supplies to immunize tens of millions of residents against meningitis, they are evaluating a new and potentially vital decision-making tool: Specialized forecasts that predict the weather conditions...
NCAR helps Xcel Energy generate renewable energy and slash costs
April 27, 2012 | In February 2011, the Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) did something unprecedented. It turned off several coal-fired power plants for a long weekend, based on the high levels of wind generation forecasted for that weekend.
Seasons are shifting, but some creatures—and laws—aren't
March 19, 2012 • Ah, spring. From ancient civilizations on, what poet hasn’t greeted the season of longer days, increasing warmth, melting snow, and blooming flowers? But today’s poets may have to revise their odes.
NCAR science helps society get more energy from turbines
February 7, 2012 • There’s much more to wind energy than throwing a few turbines up and watching the blades spin and the cash roll in. Despite a recession-induced slowdown, the U.S. wind industry has continued to grow at roughly 10–15% per year since 2008. But the science underpinning...
The Climate Data Guide makes its debut
The growing array of tools at the disposal of climate scientists doesn’t necessarily make life any easier for them. For example, each set of data has its idiosyncrasies, some of which aren’t evident at first glance. While a number of websites provides ready access to a variety of datasets, a group...
New models combine the Sun’s dynamo and magnetic flux
February 6, 2012 • When the Sun spits out plasma, it can mean a great deal to those of us on Earth. These magnetized ejections are the source of space weather, which brings us the beauty of the aurora and the risk of fouled-up telecommunications and electric grids. But what does...
Guest Column | Dan Satterfield, broadcast meteorologist
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on-air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida, and Alabama. He has also helped conduct training sessions for weathercasters on climate change. Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal can be found in the AGU Blogsophere.
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