bdpatoday®

NOAA’s Global Systems Laboratory Welcomes Dr. DaNa Carlis As New Deputy Director

BOULDER, CO — DaNa L. Carlis, Ph.D., joined GSL as the Deputy Director in September 2020. He comes to GSL from the NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO), where he established the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) Program. DaNa enjoys working between science, policy, and society to ensure better products and services for the American people. He is also passionate about leadership, diversity, and inclusion, and mentoring the next generation of scientists.

“I couldn’t be more grateful and excited to join GSL because of its focus on applied research and development, advanced technologies, and transitioning and improving research-to-operations with the National Weather Service (NWS). GSL aligns perfectly with my desire to provide better products and services to the American people. I’ve always wanted to do research that impacts people’s lives, and GSL is a premier NOAA research laboratory that provides innovative tools and services that lead to better decisions and ultimately save lives,” said Carlis. “As the GSL’s Deputy Director, I am committed to bringing strong leadership and listening skills along with a creative mind to continue to advance the GSL mission. In addition, I plan to continue to uphold GSL’s scientific prowess, which is displayed in our cutting-edge research portfolio that is widely recognized by the Weather Enterprise.”

DaNa attended Howard University in Washington, DC, and earned his B.S. degree in Chemistry (1999), and an M.S. (2002) and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science (2007) as a graduate student of the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Science and Meteorology (NCAS-M). In 2002, DaNa accepted a fellowship from the NOAA Office of Education Educational Partnership Program (EPP) as a member of the Graduate Sciences Program and completed his M.S thesis research at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) conducting an analysis of SO2 cross-sections for the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite. He completed his Ph.D. dissertation on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, titled “Numerical Simulations of Island-Scale Airflow and the Maui Vortex Under Summer Trade-wind Conditions.” DaNa was the second male to receive a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences since Howard’s inception in 1867.

DaNa credits NCAS-M and NOAA’s Educational Partnership Program/Minority-Serving Institution EPP/MSI Program for allowing him to pursue what he loves and providing a pathway to federal employment. DaNa has held positions at the NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) as a research meteorologist working on NOAA’s Global Forecast System (GFS) Model (2007-2014), and as a policy advisor to NOAA’s Chief Scientist and NOAA’s Assistant Secretary of Environmental Observations and Prediction (2014-2016). DaNa is a graduate of NOAA’s Leadership Competency Development Program (LCDP) Class IX where he learned a great leadership lesson that’s been his mantra for the last few years and that’s to work in an environment where he’s comfortably uncomfortable.

DaNa is originally from Tulsa, OK. In his spare time, he enjoys cheering for his favorite sports team, the Oklahoma Sooners, mentoring boys from underrepresented communities that come from single-parent households, and traveling the world with his family. In 2016, he wrote a children’s book titled “MIT: Meteorologist in Training” and he’s published peer-reviewed papers. DaNa is married to Dr. Lydia Carlis, and they have a daughter, Dia Dannielle, who is a senior at Georgia State University. — bt

^{— Source and photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)}
^{Cover photo (above): Dr. DaNa Carlis keynotes BDPA’s 2019 annual Regional Earth Day Tech Summit}
^{with Jr. Devs (coders and developers) and Regional High School Coding Competition (HSCC) finalists}

^{A D V E R T I S E M E N T}

**Tablets For Teens** | tabletsforteens.org

Teachers: Ready for a new school year with NOAA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the new school year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) welcomes teachers and students back to school this fall. For those interested in bringing more science and data into our classrooms, the following lists exciting science and technical resource highlights featuring planet Earth.

Do more with data
NOAA is an incredible source for getting started with earth science data. In fact, we have an entire collection of data resources just for educators. If it’s your first time teaching with data, check out our classroom-ready data resources, which are all ready to go. Then dive into some of our best primary data sources from paleoclimatology to real-time ocean conditions.

Download the new NOAA Science on a Sphere Explorer mobile app and bring beautiful visualizations of global data into the palm of your hand. Use the National Data Buoy Center to monitor water quality across the ocean. See potential flooding impacts across most of the United States and its territories with the Sea Level Rise Viewer. Become a Climate Exploreroffsite link while looking over historical and projected climate data.

Investigate the International Year of the Salmon
Did you know that 2019 is the International Year of the Salmon? Bring salmon education into your classroom with lessons and activities from our West Coast Fisheries office. Discover salmon species that are managed by NOAA Fisheries, including the three populations that NOAA scientists consider highly at-risk of extinction.

Clue into clouds
Check out the newly updated NOAA cloud chart. Learn to identify the clouds you see overhead and delve into new information about understanding the weather. Then try analyzing your own weather with JetStream and reading a weather map with SciJinks.

Become citizen scientists
Connect your students to ongoing citizen science projects, opportunities for them to participate in Earth science research. Weather monitoring is a great way to connect students with NOAA. Students can report precipitation with mobile devices using the mPING app, and schools can sign up to join the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)offsite link. If you are near a waterway, use the Marine Debris Toolkit for Educators to engage your students in research on global plastic pollution.

Educate young learners
NOAA can help you teach even the youngest students. Look through our elementary resource collection for lessons on earth, life, and physical science, as well as careers and the scientific process. Check out our partnerships with the Octonautsoffsite link: listen to our podcast about the show’s featured animals and watch our video about life on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Find out more about weather and safety with Owlie Skywarn.

Decorate your classroom with posters and imagery
If your classroom is in need of an updated look, NOAA has you covered with high-resolution posters and images that you can download and print for free. For larger formats, check out these posters featuring the oceanoffsite link, weather, and climate. Bookmark the NOAA Satellite Image of the Day gallery for new ways to see the Earth. Scroll through the thousands of images in the NOAA Flickr library, all in the public domain.

— Source and photos: NOAA

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Coders discuss models and forecasts with NOAA during annual Earth Day Tech Summit

WASHINGTON—BDPA’s annual Earth Day Tech Summit, #CyberEarth19, was presented in Washington, D.C. to Industry, BDPA Members, Student Members, parents, and regional high school coding competition (HSCC) team leaders (cover photo) during Earth Day weekend.

This year’s tech summit special guest was Dr. DaNa L. Carlis from the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Dr. Carlis is a meteorologist and mathematician serving as a Program Manager at NOAA’s Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ). During one of the event’s Industry Day sessions, Dr. Carlis highlighted missions of NOAA’s “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft with footage from recent flights. He also discussed the roles of drones and new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) systems to support meteorological research, capture weather forecasting data, and how supercomputers are used to advance weather modeling and simulations.

At OWAQ, Dr. Carlis manages the Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs) and Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS) programs. Dr. Carlis enjoys the fact that he’s able to work between science, policy, and society to ensure better products and services to the American people.

During the event’s training sessions, Dr. Carlis met with BDPA Student Members, gamers, and graphic designers from the Host Chapter’s bdpatoday and PTTV multimedia teams. National BDPA’s HSCC was launched in 1986. Local BDPA Chapters conduct training programs designed to share industry trends with parents and expose youth to emerging concepts of computers and technology to provide expertise for software and application development. BDPA Chapters also participate in regional coding and cyber competitions throughout the country to further prepare participating students. BDPA Chapters send one (1) team of 3 to 5 students to annual National BDPA Technology Conferences to compete against teams from other BDPA Chapters for scholarships and internships.

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Event/Photo gallery: https://bdpadc.org
Earth Day summit archives: https://www.pinterest.com/bdpatoday/boards/

-— Source: BDPADC

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

NOAA retires storms named Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate

WASHINGTON — Due to the extensive damage caused in the United States and Caribbean last year, the World Meteorological Organization’s Region IV Hurricane Committee has officially retired these names. Storm names are retired if they were so deadly or destructive that the future use of the name would be insensitive – otherwise names are reused by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center on a six-year cycle.

The committee also selected the replacement names for Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate with Harold, Idalia, Margot and Nigel respectively that will first appear in the 2023 list of storm names.

Including these four additions, there have been 86 names retired from the Atlantic basin list since 1953, when storms began to be named. The 2005 hurricane season has the most retired names (five) for one season.

During #CYBEREARTH17, Dr. Dana Carlis (above) of NOAA shared new weather satellite capabilities with BDPA Members and Students during 2017’s Earth Day Tech Summit presentation. Photo © 2017 bdpatoday.

Adrian Gardner (above), Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shares his agency’s mission, disaster recovery/continuity of operations (DR/COOP) initiatives, the role of “low-tech” during emergencies, and Agency success stories with small business executives and BDPA mission partners during last spring’s 2017 CYBEREARTH17 tech summit. Photo © 2017 bdpatoday

Summary of the newly retired storms

Hurricane Harvey became a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale before making landfall along the middle Texas coast on Aug. 25. The storm then stalled, with its center remaining over or near the Texas coast for four days, dropping historic rainfall amounts, of up to five feet, causing catastrophic flooding in parts of southeastern Texas. Harvey is the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history (after inflation), behind only Katrina in 2005. At least 68 people died from the direct effects of the storm in Texas, the largest number in that state since 1919.

GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of Hurricane Harvey making landfall on the Texas coast at approximately 10:00 pm CDT on August 25, 2017. Harvey’s maximum sustained winds were near 130 mph, making it a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. (NOAA)

Hurricane Irma was a long-lived hurricane that reached category 5 intensity on Sept. 5. The catastrophic hurricane made seven landfalls, four of which occurred as a category 5 hurricane across the northern Caribbean Islands. Irma made landfall as a category 4 hurricane in the Florida Keys on Sept. 10 and struck southwestern Florida as a category 3 the same day. Irma caused 44 direct deaths as a result of its strong winds, heavy rain and high surf. In the U.S., seven direct deaths were reported, and an additional 85 indirect deaths occurred, 80 of which were in Florida. Hundreds more were injured preparing for the storm, during it or in its aftermath.

Hurricane Maria ravaged the island of Dominica as a category 5 on Sept. 19, and later devastated Puerto Rico as a high-end category 4 hurricane. It also inflicted serious damage on some of the other islands of the northeastern Caribbean Sea. Maria is the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history, behind Harvey and Katrina. Maria caused 31 direct deaths with 34 missing in Dominica, and two direct deaths in Guadeloupe. In Puerto Rico, the death toll stands at 65, which includes an unknown number of indirect deaths.

Hurricane Nate crossed northeastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras as a tropical storm, then made landfall on the northern Gulf Coast as a category 1 hurricane. It brought rainfall that caused significant impacts in Central America, where media reports indicate that these caused 44 deaths in the region. An additional fatality in Panama was due to a “shipwreck,” bringing the death toll directly associated with Nate to 45. An additional nine people were missing in the region.

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center is a member of the World Meteorological Organization’s Region IV Hurricane Committee, and is responsible for issuing tropical cyclone forecasts and warnings for both the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins.

— Source and photos: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

NASA readies next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) for NOAA

Significant weather forecasting improvements
with new Technical innovations on board

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL—The new generation GOES-R satellites will carry significant improvements and technology innovation on board. GOES-R will be able to deliver a full globe scan in only 5 minutes, compared to the 25 minutes needed for the same task with the current GOES satellites. GOES-R’s lightning mapper instrument is expected to improve warning lead time for severe storms and tornadoes by 50%.

The following new capabilities without a doubt will more accurately predict severe weather in advance and help save more lives.

16-Channel imager
Resolution four-times greater than current imagery
Automated mapping of solar activity
Improved hurricane tracking
Real-time mapping of lightning
Volcanic cloud and fog detection

Above, GOES-R, the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, arrives at Kennedy Space Center this week aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy cargo jet. These satellites, once launched, will provide significant enhancements for weather forecasters at the National Weather Service, giving them the ability to observe the Western Hemisphere in near-real time.

—NASA photo
Cover photo: Harris Corp—new ground segment antenna for GOES

Related video (for parents and students):
Al Roker’s exclusive behind-the-scenes GOES satellite reveal:
http://www.nbcnews.com/widget/video-embed/750319683850

Related archived articles:
See NOAA, NASA, and “Big Data and Predictive Analytics” (B.D.P.A.), on page 21 of your June 2013 edition of bdpatoday…
https://bdpatoday.org/13/JUN13-Newsletter_Final.pdf

See “Safety before the Storm” on page 18 of your June 2011 edition of bdpatoday…
https://bdpatoday.org/11/JUN11-Newsletter_Final.pdf

Discover more at NASA.gov …

SPECIAL REPORT: Big Data vs. Big Storms

A PTTV Special Report: WINTER STORM JONAS

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Big Data, Predictive Analytics, and supercomputer weather models, accurately predict and warn millions of Americans of a major winter storm yet formed; keeping thousands off of hazardous roads and out of harm’s way.

Advance notices of this magnitude facilitated disaster recovery and continuity of operations (DR/CoOP) planning for municipalities, some eventually buried under three feet of snow.

First responders, utility companies, and National Guard units along the east coast were in position before the first snow flakes arrived.

Discover more…