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K-12 CONNECTIONthe Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Overview of the Workshops[NOTE: THE LINKS BELOW WILL TAKE YOU TO ARCHIVED VERSIONS OF PRESENTATIONS DURING THE SPRING 2000 SERIES. POWERPOINTS AND OTHER RESOURCES PROVIDE VALUABLE INFORMATION ON THESE TOPICS SUITABLE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENT INVESTIGATIONS.] Description of the Workshops"How Predictable Are Natural Disasters?""Nothing can beat the excitement of collecting a singular piece of data, of measuring it delicately, of pronouncing it fit, and extracting its story. One thing an academic program in science must do is communicate science by current example and past history. Columbia's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory combine to do this very well. Whether we're in the field, at the bench, or in front of a computer, we all seem to feel and draw on the institutional memory here. You have to keep poking at the earth to learn its secrets. As a seismologist, I do a lot of field work collecting data from earthquakes and explosions. I use these data to model the structure of the upper mantle and crust." But just how predictable are natural disasters? How can appropriate information and warning reach the general public? What about other kinds of natural hazards--hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, heat waves, etc? This workshop will provide the chance to find out more about such problems, and develop some ideas about how to present these topics to your students.
The North Atlantic Oscillation and Climate Variability"My main research interest is to understand the ocean's role in the climate system and its consequences for society. How is decadal climate variability orchestrated? Does the ocean influence atmospheric variability in mid-latitudes? What is the North Atlantic Oscillation? Does primary productivity depend on decadal variability? Can we forecast deep convection in the Labrador Sea? And what role do the polar oceans have in the climate system? I have worked on a number of problems using ocean models and data from sea-going expeditions and enjoy thinking about the nuts and bolts of the daily science as much as developing new multidisciplinary research programs for the years to come."
Winds, Currents, and CoresPart 1: Old Technology to New: Assembling a 100-Year Record of Ocean Winds from Ships and Satellites The recently launched QuikSCAT satellite scatterometer (NASA) is returning high-quality data that will be used by oceanographers and atmospheric scientists to study winds over the ocean on a wide variety of time scales. From a climate perspective, one of the most exciting applications of this technology is that statistical analysis of short records of satellite data can be used to improve estimates of wind variability on long time scales (e.g., decades to a century). On these longer time scales, the wind record from ships at sea is spatially and temporally filled with gaps and subject to larger errors. Several of us at LDEO are using satellite wind observations to better understand deficiencies in the historical data sets and to develop new wind climatologies for the historical period. My presentation will describe this work, and discuss its use for assessing climate change during the past century. The specific topics which will be covered in the presentation include: 1) the technological aspects of measuring winds from space; 2) using these measurements to understand recent wind variations, and 3) using these measurements to understand wind variations on climatologically significant time scales and for times prior to the launch of wind-observing satellites.
Part 2: Visit to the LDEO Deep Sea Sediment Collection
Earth’s Variable Climate SpectrumThe objective of this workshop will be to provide teachers with an introduction to the factors that drive climate change on a variety of time scales. Dr. Ortiz will discuss processes that drive climate on a variety of timescales from the seasonal to 10's of thousands of years. Study of the Monsoon system serves as an example of how some of these climatic forcing functions interact. On seasonal timescales, Monsoon circulation systems in African, India and Asia are driven by the thermal contrast between land and sea. Likewise, during times in the geologic past when orbital parameters maximized seasonal contrast, enhanced Monsoon systems existed. This effect has been successfully simulated with global climate models (GCMs) and observed using geologic data such as lake level records. Material presented in the workshop, including a presentation of educational software on the Monsoon, and lists of internet-based educational material provides a rich context for teacher to explore the natural phenomenon of climate with their students on a variety of levels.
Using Satellite Data to Map the Sea Surface and Sea
Floors
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