ISU AMS Meeting Minutes

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ISU AMS Meeting Minutes
http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/ams/
October 31, 2005

Secretary's note: Emails will be in a different format in the minutes from now on so that when they're posted on the ISU AMS website, spam crawlers won't pick them up. For example, somebody@iastate.edu will be in the form somebody [at] iastate [dot] edu.
Fighting junk email one inbox at a time, - Justin

Message from the National AMS –

Everyone should have received an email from Elise today regarding National AMS membership. If you're a national member, you'll have to renew your membership soon. If you're not a member, sign up!

In addition, the ISU AMS was selected for the National Honor Roll. Let's shoot for the Chapter of the Year! That is an award that requires dedication and hard work and effort.

Cy's Eyes Update/National Forecast Contest –

The Genesis is up and running. If you're on-air, make sure you sign up for graphics time. We're hoping to move to a 30 minute show soon. If you're not on the mailing list, email Janet at thatsme [at] iastate [dot] edu.

Janet will be emailing those of you who have yet to pay for the National Contest. Two people won first for the most recent contest. Jill Ihrke won the Alpena, MI round, both in her category and overall! Matt Walter won the Victoria, TX round. And remember, forecasts are now due at 6 p.m.

Treasurer Update –

We have about $1708 in the account, but there will be some money taken out. We'll end up near $1000 when all is said and done. The expenses include tonight's pizza and helping bring Jon Davies in to give a talk.

Social Chair Update –

Intramurals must have two more than the required number of players for a team from now on. Girls' flag football got 2nd place and was invited to a tournament in Iowa City. Check the Intramurals website or talk to Liz for intramural information, particularly if you'd like to play basketball.

Academic Chair Update –

Midterms are over, but keep checking the website for study times and review sessions. Physics 221, 222, and Stat 105 will have review sessions soon. Chris Maiers will have a 221 review session soon; Kaj Johnson-O'Mara will have a 222 review session Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in the classroom; Jon Hobbs will have a Stat 105 review session Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in the classroom. If you need help, just ask for it! We're here to help each other.

Geoff's Book Review –

Storm Chasers is a “page-turning” book on hurricane hunting, particularly the history of it. It includes the story of the single hurricane hunting crew to go down (1955). Hurricane hunting began during WWII, but the planes weren't top-notch... however, a bet was made that a gentleman could fly one of these plants into a hurricane and back. He successfully flew through the eye and back to land. The military only began interested in flying into hurricanes after a base was struck by a typhoon. The book also goes into the history of hurricane naming. Geoff's Rating: PEI 4; PEI 5 for Air Force students.

NWA Annual Meeting Presentation –

Janet, Elise, and Chris went to the NWA Annual Meeting in St. Louis recently. They all encourage AMS members to join our local NWA chapter. The NWA is geared more toward operational meteorology, so those of you interested in broadcasting should seriously consider also becoming an NWA member and attending the National Conference in the future ($80 for students, plus $40 for the Broadcasting Conference).

AMS Annual Meeting Information –

Student assistantship information has been sent by the National AMS. Check your email inboxes if you applied! If you've signed up for the National Conference but can't afford to go because you didn't receive an assistantship, take your name off the list so we can have an accurate count of our members who will be attending.

We're discussing how to split money from the University for travel aid. We'll be applying for money from two University sources. The total help will probably be $100 maximum per person. Watch your email for more details. As the time approaches, we'll be figuring out airfare, general costs, and other details relevant to the conference.

Graduate Poster Session –

On Tuesday, November 15, the Graduate AMS Club will be holding a research poster session for graduate students, seniors, and other classes if they wanted to present a poster. The proposal is to aid in the cost of posters; a good poster would cost about $30; we would not cover the full cost of each one. About half a dozen seniors plan to present posters. Please attend and support the research being presented... and you'll learn a thing or two in the process.

Discussion included the feeling that only ISU AMS seniors should receive money, not nonmembers. In addition, underclassmen may not feel it's fair to give money. Another sentiment is that the money would be better spent on community outreach.

There was no motion to give any monetary assistance, so the proposal failed.

Faculty/Student Dinner –

This will be held Thursday, November 10 at 5:00 p.m. at Hickory Park. We ABSOLUTELY MUST KNOW everyone who is attending!!! Rides will be provided from the north parking lot at about 4:40; more details will follow.

Apparel –

If you ordered ISU AMS apparel, pick it up after the meeting. See Elise to arrange times to pick up your apparel.

WISE Science Exploration Talk –

This Thursday, 3:30-6:00 in Howe Hall. Talk to Elise if you'd like to help out, specifically if you have a fun weather activity.

NWS Visit –

November 15 at 6:30 – contact Heather if you want to go and haven't signed up already. Since this is a government facility, we need a full list of who is attending.

Costume Contest –

2nd place (tie): Meteorologist after hurricane (Andrew Ansorge a.k.a. Jim Cantore) and Jedi (Chris Davidson)
1st place: Matrix trifecta of two Agent Smiths and Trinity (Chris Maiers, Kaj Johnson-O'Mara, and Jesse Wartman)

Guest Speaker –

Janet's father, Pete Schenck, has worked for Northwest Airlines for 31 years. He has been a flight dispatcher, plane accident investigator, and fear-of-flying instructor.

Flight dispatchers determine a flight's crucial details (route, fuel load, etc.), provide a flight plan, and interact between the pilot, air traffic control, and company interests. The Aircraft Situation Display at Northwest tracks flights, projects tracks, and overlays 99 Doppler radar sites in a mosaic, as well as shows live weather reports, data, and forecasts.

Northwest utilizes a System Operations Control, in which nine groups are in the same area, including meteorologists. The meteorologists support efficiency and safety and provide services that are invaluable to the airline. A meteorologist is with a flight dispatcher to watch for changing weather conditions and assist in making changes to flights based on these changes.

The meteorologists utilize collaborative convection forecasts and radar data to determine flight route changes. They also use winter weather depictions to determine wintry weather situations, as well as tropical weather depiction (especially this year!) Northwest has its own clear and mountain wave turbulence procedures, which are used to update dispatchers and pilots. Research continues into analyzing turbulence that occurs near the tropopause. Turbulence data and plots are a big part of forecasting and research.

Pete foresees one centralized office of contracted meteorologists for many, if not all, airlines.

Next meeting is Wednesday, November 30 at 5:00 p.m. Note the different time!