Why Atmospheric science?

John's interest in weather started in elementary school, and this fed his curiosity to collect weather observations in Wisconsin for ~10 years. Chasing storms, modeling convective clouds, and understanding how to use satellite data provides the basis of his enthusiasm in a relatively wide variety of research he performs today at UAHuntsville.

What's john working on?

Satellite-based Convective Storm & Convective Initiation Studies
(a) 0-1 hour Convective Initiation
Background:
Thunderstorms pose high risks for landings, departing and flying aircraft. This collaborative research effort between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT-LL), the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is to incorporate satellite-derived information into systems designed to nowcast atmospheric convection and its first-time initiation. Developing improved means of monitoring and characterizing convective clouds to nowcast convection initiation (CI) is a key goal. Data sets currently being processed include GOES visible, infrared and sounder-based satellite imagery (from GOES-10, -12, -14, etc.). New research involves the use of MODIS, MSG SEVIRI and eventually GOES-R data.
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