April 2007

News

Drought Monitor Archives

Archived Drought Monitor maps back through 2004 are now available on-line for states, regions, and the continental U.S., presented in a convenient format that makes side-by-side comparisons easy. http://drought.unl.edu/dm/archive.html

Radio buttons and drop-down boxes allow users to choose the area and weeks they wish to view. Archived maps can be downloaded either as pdf or png files.

Maps from 1999 to 2003 will eventually be added to the new archive, but are meanwhile available as gifs from the old text-based archive, accessible from the tool bar on the DM Archive link above.

History Channel to Feature Drought as “Mega Disaster”

The History Channel visited the National Drought Mitigation Center and Southeast Nebraska on Wednesday, April 4, interviewing experts and a long-time local farmer about the effects of drought. In addition to interviewing Dr. Donald A. Wilhite, Director of the NDMC, Dr. Michael J. Hayes, Associate Director, and Mark Svoboda, Climatologist, the crew visited the family farm of Meghan Sittler, NDMC Research & Outreach Specialist. The farm, which has been in the family since the 1880s, served as the backdrop for an interview with her father, Lyle Sittler, who frequently serves as an informal spokesperson on farming and drought issues, and others from the NDMC. A tense moment ensued when Svoboda, despite his rural background, casually leaned against the post of an electrified fence. Fortunately, he was relatively immobile and emerged unscathed. The drought episode of Mega Disasters is expected to air in July.

US Drought Monitor Conference Scheduled for Portland, October 11-12

Authors and users of the U.S. Drought Monitor -- http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html -- will convene in Portland, Oregon, October 10-11, to discuss user needs and modifications to the tool. The U.S. Drought Monitor Forum is held every other year. Although the scope of the tool is national, the venue will provide an opportunity to focus on the drought-monitoring needs of the Pacific Northwest. Details on the draft agenda and format will be made available soon.

Registration is free, but facilities are limited, so please sign up early to ensure that there will be room. To reserve a spot, please e-mail Ann Fiedler, afiedler2@unl.edu, with “US Drought Forum” in the subject line, expressing your intent to attend, and including your name and full contact information.

This year’s DM Forum is being sponsored by the NDMC, but is being hosted by the USDA-NRCS Water and Climate Center. The conference will be held at the Portland DoubleTree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center. A special conference and government rate of $98 per night plus applicable tax and fees is available for attendees making reservations by September 9. The special conference rate code and reservation link can be obtained by emailing Ann Fiedler above.

Top Atmospheric Scientist To Address Effects of Climate Change

A leading atmospheric scientist will present “The Future of Planet Earth and Its Inhabitants: Our Imperfect Crystal Ball,” at 3 p.m. May 3, 2007 in the Hardin Hall Auditorium.

The talk by Dr. Timothy L. Killeen, Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., will be free and open to the public. Hardin Hall is on the northeast corner of 33rd and Holdrege.

Killeen’s topic is particularly timely given the recently released conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which predict that drought and other climatic extremes will become more common as the earth warms, said Dr. Donald A. Wilhite, Director of the National Drought Mitigation Center and Professor of Applied Climate Sciences in the School of Natural Resources of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Killeen’s visit will be jointly hosted by UNL’s Office of Research, the Drought Center, and the School of Natural Resources.

Born in Cardiff, Wales, Killeen received a BSc in Physics and a Ph.D. in Atomic and Molecular Physics from the University College, London. Prior to joining NCAR, Killeen was Professor of Atmospheric and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan. During his tenure at Michigan, he also held positions as Director of the University of Michigan’s Space Physics Research Laboratory and Associate Vice President for Research.   

Concurrent with his role as Director of NCAR, Killeen continues his research as a Senior Scientist at NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory, where his research interests include the experimental and theoretical study of the Earth’s upper atmosphere.  He is a principal investigator and instrument developer for a space-borne Doppler interferometer on the NASA TIMED spacecraft, and Co-Principal Investigator for a new NSF Science and Technology Center devoted to numerical modeling of Space Weather. 

He is President of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), a former AMS Councilor, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.  Killeen has served as President of the Space Physics Section of the American Geophysical Union, and on numerous NASA, NSF, AGU and university committees.  He served as co-chair of the NASA Sun-Solar System Connection Strategic Roadmap Committee, and is a past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics.