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Colloquia

Upcoming Colloquia

Weekly colloquia are hosted by the Physics & Astronomy Department of Brigham Young University. Colloquia are held regularily during Fall and Winter semesters on Wednesdays at 4:00 PM in BYU's Eyring Science Center. Refreshments are typically offered and all who wish to attend are welcome.
Looking at clouds with HOLODEC 2
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
C215 ESC 4:00 PM
Jacob Fugal National Center for Atmospheric Research
Summary:
Abstract:
HOLODEC 2 (Holographic Detector for Clouds 2) is a new instrument that measures cloud droplets in their local environment. It is mounted to an aircraft wing (such as on the NCAR HIAPER or Gulfstream V aircraft) and flown through clouds to make its measurements. From these measurements we hope to learn for the first time the variability of local size distributions of cloud droplets which affects how rain and snow forms. We also hope to learn about the cloud droplet spatial distribution which also influences precipitation formation. HOLODEC 2 was fabricated in 2009, and had its first test flights in August and September 2009 with more test flights slated for January to February 2010.

I will talk about the scientific motivation to better understand clouds and precipitation with local in-situ measurements and the several impacts on climate and weather and remote measurements (radar, lidar and satellite). I will briefly give an overview of the holographic method and its advantages and an overview of the design and unique engineering that went into this aircraft instrument. Then I'll present the latest results from the first test flights.
 
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