Why Colorado Is So Great: Part 1
Meteorologist Britta Merwin
Anyone who knows me realizes how proud I am to be from Colorado and how much I love my home state. I think my colleagues hear more about how wonderful Colorado is everyday! Well now it is time to reach out to our viewers and let you know some of the things that make Colorado so great. The first subject will be the amazing weather and climate research facilities. The following exciting groups are found in majestic Boulder, Colorado.
NCAR:
You know an organization is cool when they go by letters rather than a long name. NCAR, National Center for Atmospheric Research, is a non-governmental group. They conduct research on air quality, weather, climate, and do work with computer modeling. NCAR works with universities providing tools for atmospheric study like radars and also supply technologies for analyzing the atmosphere. The Mesa Laboratory is equally exciting as the landmark flat irons of the Boulder landscape.
NIST:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is part of the United States Department of Commerce. The Boulder laboratory is extra special for being the home of NIST-F1 which is better known as one of the two most accurate atomic clocks in the World! The other is located in Paris, France. This clock is the source for the United States official time! I can’t think of many things as cool as that!
UCAR
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research holds its Foothills Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The group works with NCAR and numerous universities to support the studies of atmospheric sciences. UCAR is involved in many things one of which being a program called COMET (Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology Education and Training). The COMET program offers atmospheric science education including awesome on-line modules that explain everything from forecasting radiation fog to cold air damming. This is a great tool for expanding your forecasting skills.
There are many more outstanding atmospheric and oceanic research groups in Colorado along with amazing educational opportunities, making Colorado a wonderful place not only in my heart but the meteorological community as well.
Comments
great job britta.
Posted by: lena gustafson | September 5, 2007 05:48 PM
Britta you make me want 2 be a better meteorologist:*
Posted by: Brian | September 17, 2007 05:17 AM
Britta,
You and the entire WeatherPlus team do an outstanding job! Thank you!
Having been a New Jersey resident all my life, I can't comment on life in Colorado, but I am certainly familiar with NIST. In fact, I am a very big fan of NIST's Time and Frequency Services which are a great help to me in some of my engineering work. I consider my growing interest in Metrology a direct result of NIST's great services.
As far as Meteorology is concerned, my interest in weather started at a very early age when I was given a weather book and a barometer by my father.
After discovering my interest and "knack" for weather, my fifth grade teacher hung a US map behind my desk in class so I could draw weather fronts in chalk (memorized from the previous evening's weather report) and make forecasts for students and teachers.
Talk about pressure. I had no idea that "customers" could be so demanding... even at 10 years of age. (Then there were the teachers!)
Sometimes I got it right, and sometimes I got it wrong (which was about as good as some of the "pros" at the time). I really got everyone's attention the few times I got it right and the pros got it wrong!
It's been a long time since that fifth grade classroom, but I still give that old barometer a tap every day after getting up in the morning and before going to bed at night.
I also serve in my community as an NWS-trained severe weather spotter and as a member of Skywarn.
Keep up the great work. I'm always interested in learning more.
Posted by: John Magliacane | September 17, 2007 01:01 PM