ARL Weekly News – April 7, 2023
| Recent Events |
Women of NOAA StoryCorps video
The Women of NOAA ERG has posted a video recognizing the important role mentors play in how we view ourselves and our agency as we move forward in our success. Producers included ARL’s Gabrielle Land, and some ARL images appear in the video. (Internal only Viewing)
UrbanNet Updates
Randy White, Paul Kelley, and Winston Luke completed the installation of the UrbanNet (formerly known as DCNet) site atop the Herbert C. Hoover (HCHB) DoC building in Washington DC. Both the north and south tower installations are now collecting and transmitting data on: three-dimensional wind turbulence, 2D wind speed and direction (propeller anemometer), air temperature, relative humidity, incoming solar radiation, and precipitation (tipping bucket). Cellular communications were also upgraded to current 4G protocol standards in line with the termination of 3G protocols at the end of 2022.
After completing the installation at HCHB, the trio visited the remaining sites in the DCNet monitoring network:
- DC Emergency Management Agency in SE Washington DC;
- the headquarters of the National Education Association;
- the Frank Reeves Municipal Center;
- Howard University; and
- C-SPAN towers.
The four sites were visited to assess their suitability in meeting the goals of the nascent UrbanNet program, given the extensive building construction in the DC metro area in recent years, and to assess the current condition of the met sensors deployed at each site. Finally, building SSMC3 in the Silver Spring campus at one time hosted a DCNet site, and the building was visited to determine its suitability as a future UrbanNet site. In phase 2 of the UrbanNet project, new sensors will be added to include: blackglobe temperatures (to better measure heat stress), atmospheric pressure, 2D Sonic wind speed and direction, precipitation amounts via tipping bucket and a higher precision weighing gauge, 4-component Radiometer, IR Surface Temperature (triplicate), PRT temperature (triplicate), and monitoring camera.
Dr. Ariel Stein, Paul Kelley, and Winston Luke met with Dr. Rama Tangirala and his staff at the DC Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) at their McMillan Reservoir monitoring site in NW DC. DOEE staff offered a tour of the facility, which hosts a number of meteorological and atmospheric composition measurements for regulatory attainment (e.g., ozone and ozone precursors, air toxics, particulate matter, etc.). Discussions centered on fostering collaborations between ARL and DOEE, and potentially locating an UrbanNet site at the reservoir.
LaToya Myles joins WMO Global Atmosphere Watch
LaToya Myles has been appointed to the World Meteorological Organization’s Scientific Advisory Group on Total Atmospheric Deposition (SAG TAD). The SAG TAD was expanded to include dry and total deposition to reflect current scientific knowledge that total (wet plus dry) atmospheric deposition characterizes the exchange process between the atmosphere and the underlying surface. The mission of the WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch Programme is to organize, participate in and coordinate assessments of the chemical composition of the atmosphere on a global scale.
| Upcoming Events |
Maryland Day: April 29, 2023
NOAA’s Air Resources Car will be on display at the University of Maryland’s annual Maryland Day festival on Saturday, April 29, 2023 from 10 am to 4pm at the University of Maryland College Park. More details on Maryland Day are available here: https://marylandday.umd.edu/events