You are browsing the archive for March 2017 - Page 2 of 2 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
10 March 2017
Conspiracy Theory Myths are Not Alternative Scientific Opinions. They are Just Wrong.
I saw this headline today: You see this kind of claim all over conspiracy theory sites online, but it’s just that: a silly conspiracy theory. Let me explain. This is the same as the Surgeon General saying that “We are not totally sure that the oxygen in the air is what keeps us alive”. The science is beyond overwhelming here because there’s no reasonable scientific doubt that the warming over …
8 March 2017
Get Used To Warm Februaries
This past February was the second warmest on record across the Continental U.S. Only 1954 was warmer, and the folks at Climate Central have a study just released that puts it into context. First of all, this was a rare event and rare events happen, rarely even in a non-warming climate. In 1900 you would expect a February this warm about every 160 years. According to the study: Around 1900 the …
7 March 2017
Controversy After NOAA Turns Off Real-Time GOES-16 Data Until Mid-May.
Update: Goes data is back! See this post. Update at 11 PM EST Tuesday (04 GMT): I’m told that the data was not scheduled to be released publicly on the GOES re-broadcast until May 15. In other words, CIMSS apparently was not supposed to make it available online, but I have a tough time assigning them any blame here. Yes, OK, they jumped the gun, but did they really? The data …
Color Imagery from GOES-16 Today
More images from GOES-16 today. This is a geo-color image at 5-minute intervals. The new satellite has sensors that allow images in almost true color and it sends an image every 5 minutes vs 4 times per hour. Images every 3- seconds are possible as well. This is still non-operational test imagery. See my previous post with the first images from lighting mapper.
6 March 2017
First Images from the GOES-16 Lightning Mapper
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is working. This instrument will likely be a revolutionary advance in severe storm forecasting and warnings and can measure the total lightning in storms. Current lightning data sees cloud to ground strokes, but these coordinate poorly with severe weather. Research shows that total lightning does correlate well with severe weather and can significantly increase lead times and it will likely reduce false alarms as well. I was …
3 March 2017
Weathercaster Survey Shows Increasing Acceptance of Climate Science
The Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University is out with its latest survey of TV weathercasters and their views on climate change. For the most part, it’s good news, and I was one of the survey participants. Full disclosure: I’m doing a talk on science communication with one of the authors of the study (Ed Maibach) at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Broadcast Meteorology conference in June. Just …
GOES-16 Loop of Fires in SE Texas
More and more GOES-16 data is coming out as it is calibrated and tested. Look at the images below of fires to the southeast of the Dallas area. There is one image every 5 minutes, but GOES-16 (Launched as GOES-R) can return imagery every 30 seconds.
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.