ATDD Scientists’ Paper on the Great American Eclipse Featured in Prestigious Scientific Journal

August 2018

“Great American Eclipse Data May Fine-Tune Weather Forecasts” was recently published in Eos, a monthly magazine from the American Geophysical Union recognized as one of the atmospheric science community’s leading sources for Earth and space science news. ATDD scientists Temple Lee, Michael Buban, Howard Diamond, Edward Dumas, Tilden Meyers, and Bruce Baker co-authored the article, along with two colleagues from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

The article details rapid meteorological changes that occurred during the eclipse on August 21, 2017 – the first total solar eclipse in nearly 100 years to fully cross the entire width of the U.S. and analogized by the authors as, “… a grand, controlled experiment in a laboratory the size of a continent.” Meteorological observations such as surface temperature, air temperature and humidity were made during targeted field studies in the path of totality, and were also measured by the 114 automated monitoring stations in the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN); a national climate observing network jointly managed by ATDD and NCEI. Observational data from the eclipse are expected to improve scientific understanding of the interactions and processes within the lowest part of our atmosphere. Enhanced knowledge of atmospheric processes will enable better representation within, and key improvements to, current weather forecasting models that we all rely upon daily.

For a brief technical synopsis of the paper and links to additional information regarding USCRN and the eclipse, please visit https://www.atdd.noaa.gov/news/#!/eclipse_story and https://www.atdd.noaa.gov/library/articles/crn-eclipse/.