A Jet Stream Study to Light Up the Sky

Update:  The mission was launched around 5 a.m. March 27.  Some photos are coming soon.

Little is known about the about the atmosphere above 50 miles, yet below where spacecraft orbit.  This is generally known as the Thermosphere above the Mesopause (See the graphic to the left, Image Credit: NASA).  The only way to study this region is with sounding rockets.  Some 35 to 40 feet long, sounding rockets shoot up into the sky for short journeys of eight to ten minutes, allowing scientists to probe difficult-to-reach layers of the atmosphere.

NASA will be conducting an experiment aimed at studying high-level winds near the edge of space at altitudes of 60 to 65 miles.  Winds at this altitude move at speeds of 200 to 300 miles per hour.  To study the winds NASA will release trimethyl aluminum which forms milky, white clouds that allow those on the ground to "see" the winds in space and track them with cameras.

Five sounding rockets will be launched in approximately five minutes to study these high-altitude winds and their intimate connection to the complicated electrical current patterns that surround Earth. First noticed in the 1960s, the winds in this jet stream shouldn't be confused with the lower jet stream located around 30,000 feet, through which passenger jets fly and which is reported in weather forecasts. This rocket experiment is designed to gain a better understanding of the high-altitude winds and help scientists better model the electromagnetic regions of space that can damage man-made satellites and disrupt communications systems. The experiment will also help explain how the effects of atmospheric disturbances in one part of the globe can be transported to other parts of the globe in a mere day or two.

The experiment is known as the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX).  It is scheduled for 1:30 a.m. on March 15.  The backup dates are March 16 through April 3.  There will be a webcast of the mission beginning 2 1/2 hours prior to launch and can be viewed at: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast.

Skywatch: A Celestial Show in March

For the past few weeks there have been two bright objects in the western sky after sunset.  These two bright stars are in fact planets; Venus and Jupiter.  Both planets appear to be close to each other even though they are hundreds of million miles apart.  The brighter of the two is Venus.

Venus and Jupiter form a spectacular pairing in the evening sky during mid-March. These scenes show the sky's appearance looking west about an hour after sunset. A third planet, Mercury, can be glimpsed just above the western horizon.  Image Credit: Sky and Telescope.

A Farewell To Scott Ryan

Scott Ryan.  Image Credit: WLTX-TV.

Almost 10 years ago Scott Ryan began broadcasting in Columbia.  During that time he became a fixture of the morning and noon shows.  His enthusiasm and colorful ties have gotten our viewers on their way each day.  Today, Friday, March 9, marks the end of Scott Ryan’s weathercasts at News19.

It is a bittersweet good-bye.  We hate to see him leave, but a wonderful opportunity awaits him.  Scott has accepted a position with WSI, which is the vendor we use to produce much of what you see on-the-air each day.  They were as impressed with Scott as we were and created a position for him.  His new duties will be to help their television clients get the most from their computers.

Pigs Can't Fly, But Mobile Homes Can

This is a repost of a blog I did 4 years ago.  It is as important today as it was then and maybe more so.

Daniel Bonds is working on his master's degree and his thesis work involves mobile home parks and tornado safety.  His preliminary work shows that most do not have a safe place to go in the event of a tornado here in the Midlands.

Furthermore, many living in such places do not know the different between a tornado and a hurricane.  They believe that they can simply evacuate to the local school or some other shelter when a tornado approaches which is a mistake.  Experience and the science has confirmed that in a tornado situation a mobile home must be abandon even if it is tied down.  The risk of being killed in a mobile home is significantly higher than in a traditionally built home.

Mobile home lifted off its blocks (foreground) with what is left of the home up against the trees along with an overturned vehicle.  Image Credit: NOAA.

Goodbye Mr. Snowman

Image Credit: Climate Central.

Not a snowflake to be had this winter.  Even Jack Frost didn't show much over the winter.  There were cold snaps and hard freezes, but little precipitation.  In mid-February there was some sleet mixed with light rain, but this was the closest we came to wintry precipitation.

This was the 10th warmest winter on record and the 12th driest for the Columbia area.  It was the warmest winter in 40 years with records dating back to 1887.

Warmer Winters, Fewer Freezes

This winter has been a warm one, but it isn't in the top ten just yet.  As of Tuesday, February 28, 2012, this winter ranks as the 11th warmest.  It might edge into the top ten thanks to a leap year.

Winters have been warming over the past few decades nationwide.  Here in South Carolina the winters have warm about 2 degrees F over the past 35 years.  The South has always enjoyed milder winters, but this has been more so lately in spite of the last two winters.

This map shows the average winter temperature trend 1976-2010.  Image Credit: Climate Central.

The warming has had benefits and problems.  Problems have included more summer insects, fewer chilling hours for peaches, and drier conditions.  However, one of the benefits has been a longer growing season.  The growing season has expanded by one week in the Midlands over the past 35 years.

Collapse of Mayan Civilization Related to Drought

As a youngster growing up in Florida I often read about the Indian civilizations in Central America.  The two most talked about in history classes were the Aztec and Maya.  The Mayan civilization was considered one of the most advanced civilizations of its time.  They made significant contributions to math and astronomy.

Mayan Temple

The Mayan civilization ranged over what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras.  Their cities were large with ceremonial pyramids.  They developed quite a culture with fine sculptures, paintings, and ceramics.

Yet, the civilization collapsed between 800-950 B.C.  There have been a number of theories put forth to explain the collapse.  These include, drought, disease, and sociopolitical conflicts.  None of these can be ruled out, but it appears that whatever the ultimate cause was climate change stands out.

A paper has just been published in Science by British and Mexican scientists.  Here are excerpts from the press release from the University of Southampton in the UK:

Is The Sky Falling?

The media got wind of a story released by NASA and the headline was irresistible.  It was a NASA-funded university study based on NASA satellite data.  Earth's clouds got a little lower, about one percent on average, during the first decade of this century.

Scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand analyzed the first 10 years of global cloud-top height measurements (from March 2000 to February 2010) from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. The study, published recently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, revealed an overall trend of decreasing cloud height. Global average cloud height declined by around one percent over the decade, or by around 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters). Most of the reduction was due to fewer clouds occurring at very high altitudes.

Data from NASA's MISR instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft show that global average cloud height declined by about 1 percent over the decade from 2000 to 2010, or around 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters). The graph here shows anomalies in global effective cloud-top height from the 10-year average, corrected to account for seasonal differences. The solid line represents the 12-month running average of 10-day anomalies, while the dotted line represents the trendline calculated by linear regression. Gray error bars indicate the sampling error (plus or minus 26 feet, or 8 meters) in the annual average. Image credit: University of Auckland/NASA JPL-Caltech.

Some Drought Relief

The winter has been warm and dry for much of the Southeast.  Weather patterns have been quite dry and much of the area has been slipping farther into drought.  The worst stage drought (exceptional drought) first showed up across southern Georgia about a month ago.

The exceptional drought as of last week stretched from southeast Alabama across southern Georgia into the low country of South Carolina.  Almost all of the low country of South Carolina was in extreme or exceptional drought and that extended along the Savannah River to north of Augusta.  Farmers in South Carolina were being hurt by the weather and high fuel prices as seen here.

Irresponsible Skepticism

This past week has seen a buzz in the blogosphere about documents concerning The Heartland Institute.  DeSmogBlog was the first to report on the documents and you can see their posts here, here, here, here, and here.  Further commentary can be found on other websites here, here, here, and here.

See full image at Skeptical Science

The contents of the email from Heartland are now being refered to as Denialgate.  The released brought a response the those victimized by Climategate.  Their response was published in The Guardian and can be found here.

In a previous post I discussed a series on climate ethics that Dr. Donald Brown has been posting on his blog by the same name.  The timing of this series seems ironic in that the Heartland documents go to the point of his discussion about the climate change disinformation campaign.

The Heartland Institute is just one of many "think" tanks that is really an advocacy group, not a scientific organization.  It is not involved in research and publication in any peer-reviewed journal.  It has been criticized in the science journals Nature and Science.  The documents indicate that they have received funding from the fossil-fuel and tobacco industry amongst others.