A Day in Boulder

WHAT:  Day in Boulder

WHEN:  April 26, 2011

TIME:  9:45 am to 4:00 pm

Locations and Meeting Times

9:30-10:30, Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art, 6055 Longbow Dr, Boulder, CO 80301 Contact: 303.530.1442

11:00-12:15, Lunch at Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, 1770 13th Street, Boulder, CO 80302.   Reservation Name: Norma Bovee / RMGA, Contact: 303.442.4993

12:30-2:30, NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305.  Contact: Hilary @ 303.497.4091

To receive a visitor badge, all visitors are required to park next to the Security Checkpoint and enter the Visitors Center to be screened before proceeding to their destination. Visitors will need to present a U.S. photo ID or foreign passport.

3:00-4:00, NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), 1850 Table Mesa Dr, Boulder, CO 80305.  Contact: Eilene Carpenter @ 303.497.2401

Guide Line Review

BEAUTY, CULTURE and SCIENCE . . .

RMGA members attended the "Day in Boulder" FAM.  Our Day began with a self-guided tour of Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art, 6055 Longbow Dr., (80301), northeast of Boulder proper.  An outdoor Sculpture Garden in front of the main en-trance greets each guest.  At our request we were given an orientation by a staff member although the Museum is designed for self-guided tours.  They will provide orientation for groups, but it depends on their staffing.  Inside, the Museum is an amazing private collection of western paintings and smaller sculptures in galleries on two floors.  The post-1950 collection in the Museum was begun by Ed Trumble in 1949, and opened in 1974.  The Museum no longer uses the original art on display for cards.  Next to each of the 200 paintings and 80 sculptures is a small plaque with the artist's name, birth date, and information about the piece.  The Gift Shop has the largest assortment of Leanin' Tree greeting cards available anywhere plus poster prints, boxed notes, Christmas cards and more.  Admission: Free.  For information on the Collection, and Museum History, visit http://www.leanintreemuseum.com/default.asp, call 303-581-2100, or review The Story of Leanin' Tree:  Art and Enterprise in the American West, D. Hedgpeth & Ed Trumble, 2008, available at Leanin' Tree Museum.  This attraction should not be missed! 

Lunch followed at The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, 1770 - 13th St. (80203), adjacent to downtown Boulder next to Boulder Creek.  We enjoyed a scrumptious lunch in good company--all at one table (so we could sample another's tasty foods!).  They pro-vided each a brochure detailing origin, history, creation and design of the Teahouse built in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Sister City to Boulder. The Teahouse was then dismantled, crated, shipped to Boulder, and reconstructed to the beautiful venue it is today--a symbol of friendship and culture.  Over 40 artists created the paintings, carved plaster panels, exterior tile panels, carved and painted the ceiling, and the Fountain of the Seven Beauties.  The tea menu offers over 100 loose-leaf teas with its adventurous ethnic cuisine.  Boulder has returned the favor by constructing a Cyber Café in 2008 in Dushanbe's Park of International Friendship. 

Teahouses in Tajikistan are community gathering places for socialization.  The Teahouse's architecture/design and beauty throughout is a place you don't want to miss--it's a great experience.  Make time for some of their unusual foods or order a cup of tea. Step out to view Boulder Municipal Park across the street, or, join in a celebration of Navruz, the Persian New Year (usually the Sunday closest to  March 21st) at  Dushanbe Teahouse.   Info:  303-442-4993, or, http://www.boulderteahouse.com/-index.html. 

NOTE:   The following material represents in part highlights of the afternoon guided tours at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Center (also known as NOAA), and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).  A "Thank You" to guides Hillary Peddicord, NOAA Tour Coordinator; Terry Eastburn, Public Visitor Program Coordinator, NCAR;  David Fischman, Science on a Sphere Presenter, for their excellent presentations.  Each made technical subjects engaging and interesting.  

NOAA's David Skaggs Research Center, 325 Broadway, (80305) included stops at the Space Weather Prediction Center, Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Global Monitoring Division, the National Weather Service Forecasting Office, and Science on a Sphere.  The National Weather Service has three centers:  Hurricane Prediction Center (Miami, Florida), National Severe Storm Center (Norman, Oklahoma), and The Space Weather Prediction Center (Boulder, CO). 

Space Weather Prediction Center:  What is space weather? Geo-stationary satellites and stereo-satellites have different instruments which map images of the sun.  Diverse lenses take pictures of sun layers to see what the sun is doing.  Sunspots have been re-corded since 3000 BC.  In the 1600s, Galileo projected images of the sun onto a wall.  While making diagrams, he realized sunspots were rotating and thus the sun was rotating.  Since 1750, there have been a consistent number of sunspots which build, peak and recede on a 12-year cycle.  Sunspots cause solar flares that interfere with communication.  Every 250,000 years, a magnetic reversal occurs.  We are 600,000 years overdue.  We know this happens due to the ocean floor's geological record.  The floor shows banding of magnetic minerals which line up on ocean ridges pointing north, then south, then north again, and so on.  About every 12 years the sun has a magnetic reversal; there are no sunspots at that time.  Sun-spots are monitored at this Center 24/7; attempts are made to forecast them.  We are building to a solar maximum which should be in 2013.  There is a possibility of higher storm frequencies at times when more sunspots occur.  Storms alter communication--part of the reason radio waves black out.  We're protected from storms by the atmosphere as well as the magnetic field.  We may see auroras here in Colorado.  The last major storm was in 1859 along with the Carrington event; auroras were seen as far South as Cuba.  It is more common to see auroras at the earth's poles.  Storms can induce current on anything metal.  Our biggest concern is power outages.  In 1859, telegraph lines caught fire.  Transformers have metal.  If we're unable to predict a storm and warn power companies to shut off power, we could see 4-10- year power outages on the East coast with their antiquated power grid.  If this would happen all over the world, there could be bidding wars to build new power plants.  It could take some time and considerable money.  NASA would be notified to warn astronauts to protect themselves from radiation; airlines flying over the poles might be exposed to changes in magnetic fields (the racing bird's innate sense of direction is compromised).  Satellites have no protection--they can build a static charge resulting in major damage.  Satellites, our warning systems, if compromised by solar storms, would prevent data about a subsequent storm with resulting damage.  Stories from the last solar storm and the Carrington event can be found in the book "Sun Kings" by Stuart Clark, 2007. 

Science on the Sphere.  We entered into a large dark room with a sizeable electronically lit globe of the earth.  Images were directed on the sphere thru an adapted Wii remote control.  Four projectors rotate images around the sphere.  Currently there are 300 data sets--the presentation demonstrated 12 sets.  On another visit, you might see different data sets as they change monthly.  With Science on a Sphere, other data sets addressed dealt with Satellite Data, Night Light Data (Did you know Las Vegas is the brightest city in the world, and Night Light Data was used during/after Hurricane Katrina as it showed problem areas?).  Other data: Face Book, Air Traffic, Iceland Volcanic Ash, Frequency of Hurricanes, Real-Time Earthquakes, Tsunami Waves, Moon and Mars Landings.  (Did you know earthquakes occur all the time, and the Ring of Fire (in the Pacific Ocean)) is a very active earthquake area?)  Earthquakes release pressure slowly over time, but in some areas, pressure builds and is released all at once.  Tsunami waves were shown by the locations of dark buoys registering tsunamis--communicating it to satellites which, in turn, communicate with warning centers.  In the Indonesian tsunami, Zoo elephants broke from their cages and fled uphill.  Apparently they were able to feel tsunami low frequency vibration in their feet and thus were warned.  None were lost--Follow the elephants!! 

National Weather Service Forecast Office/Denver Fore-cast Office.  Our guide pointed out persons very busy identifying short-term weather forecasts (now to 24 hours away), long-term forecasters predicting weather now until seven days away, and a third--a Hydrology forecasting center predicting floods.  The Severe Weather Desk had just begun predicting summer weather.  Mountain air warms faster than flat land air.  This causes warm air uplifts or fronts which form cumulus clouds, producing thunder-storms.  Oceans retain heat in winter; our winter weather begins, and there are many days to predict since it comes from the Pacific Ocean.  NOAA issues watches and warnings which include fire and floods.  The National Weather Service's job is to protect us and our property.  250 locations around the US launch balloons at exactly Greenwich mean time (12 am/12 pm).  The balloons can climb to 100,000 feet, and information is sent from attached radio boxes.  Tracked balloons break, self-addressed boxes fall to earth; when found, returned to the National Weather Service Offices.  

The National Center/Atmospheric Research (NCAR), 1850 Table Mesa Dr; UCAR (University Corporation/Atmospheric Research).  NCAR and UCAR have worked together since 1966 but with different responsibilities.  UCAR, a consortium of 100+  universities, manages NCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other sponsors.  

Administration, Finance and Education are under UCAR; NCAR is the science and scientists.  To be a full member, a university must offer a full PhD in Atmospheric Science.  Affiliates can offer Masters' programs.  NCAR is considered a non-profit funded by the NSF; its mission is to work with university members to advance science.  There were few programs in meteorology prior to World War II, but the need grew.  A national center was created to borrow air-craft and instruments.  It was found if radar could detect planes, it could detect weather!  The NSF agreed to sponsor a national center.  Walter Orr Roberts, the first director, built a coronagraph to look at the sun's corona, conducting his Doctoral thesis at a Climax, CO, observatory, remaining there during the war to detect solar storms which could affect wartime communications.  Asked to be NCAR director, he said he'd accept only if it were in Boulder, and the first team of scientists to be his colleagues.  Boulder obtained land; I.M. Pei, the architect.  Completed in 1966, the design imitates the Flat-irons color and Mesa Verde style.  The initial building houses 500 employees; another 700, in North Boulder laboratories.  Woody Allen's movie Sleeper was filmed in part at the NCAR location; the movie Storm Chasers has a scene using the NCAR glider. 

NCAR researches past findings to prepare for the future, studying atmosphere, weather, sun, geography, day-to-day weather,  long-term patterns of weather/climate, and air quality with around the world experts.  Chemists analyze pollution and the thinning Ozone layer.  Meteorologists study how clouds, snow, and ice crystals form, investigating how thunderstorms, tornados and hail form, the impact of hurricanes, global climate cycles that can disrupt weather patterns, and analyze air currents which produce deadly wind shear,  warning aircraft.  NCAR supplies the most technologically advanced tools.  Aircraft fly thru storms and measure pollutants.  Radar measures how wind patterns spin into tornados, rain vs. hail, important distinctions for predicting floods. 

Researchers use one of the world's largest and fastest computer complexes to store, catalog, analyze and interpret this data mass.  NCAR has supercomputers and support equipment on site.  Named Blue Fire, it is about the 100th fastest computer in the world. When NCAR bought Blue Fire, it was among the top 25--producing 76 trillion calculations per second.  There are backup generators as data comes in 24/7.  Only two days a year are allowed for maintenance.  These super-computers use:  30% by NCAR staff, 70% by outside universities and researchers.  Professionals working at NCAR are electrical engineers for hardware, software engineers for modeling and applying mathematics to write algorithms for data models.  NCAR opens a new super computer center in Cheyenne, Wyo., in 2012--the greenest super computer center in the world! 

Part of their mission is to share their knowledge with not only experts of 100 universities, but communities so education efforts help teachers involve students in the excitement of scientific re-search.  An Internet digital library opens vast stores of science material to those around the world, offering a lending library of 8,000 observational systems, hand-held to large aircraft.  (Did you know Colorado State University, Fort Collins, has a Hurricane Prediction Center, estimating yearly trends.  They don't forecast but build the models used for it.) 

The world's atmosphere was explained; 99% includes two layers close to earth, extending about 31 miles upward.  Large solar storms cause auroras.  Ozone in the troposphere is human made pollution.  Chlorofluorocarbons created in the 1930s destroy ozone in the stratosphere, an inert chemical remaining in the atmosphere 50 - 100 years.  One NCAR scientist discovered low levels of ozone in Antarctic caused by chlorofluorocarbons, such as aerosol spray or refrigeration used the chemical--no one knew then.   

Meteorologists have used balloons to measure conditions since the 1930s.  Balloons are dropped into the eye of a hurricane and are an integral part of hurricane observational tools.  Storms are named when wind speeds reach 39 miles/hour, but it isn't a hurricane until it reaches 75 miles/hour.  (Remember the miles/hour some winds blow in the mountains and along the Front Range!)  Further help comes from ice cores of Antarctic; layering represents yearly snowfall and atmosphere.  Carbon and Oxygen isotopes, traces of volcanic eruption chemicals, pollens--they give valuable information.  (Did you know there's an Ice Core Laboratory located at the Federal Center?  Tours are available!) 

Also found at NCAR is the Chaos pendulum--an extra arm demonstrates the chaos theory--showing that even the most insignificant change in meteorology affects forecasting. 

Thank you Norma Bovee.