Category: Archive

The Climate Prediction Center and World Meteorological Organization have both forecasted a weak El Niño event to develop this month that may last until February. The phenomenon, which causes warmer Pacific Ocean temperatures and often causes drought in Australia and parts of Asia, has been linked this year with unusually dry conditions in the Philippines, Northeastern Brazil, southeastern Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and parts of Asia according to the WMO. “A weak El Nino may develop in …

The newly formed “2012 ESSIC Awards Committee” is now accepting nominations for the annual “Employee of the Year” and “Best Research Faculty Paper” awards. The $1,000 Employee of the Year award was created to recognize an ESSIC staff member who’s exhibited “excellent administrative work”, great work ethic, and initiatives to improve effectiveness and efficiencies at the Center.  Nominations should consist of a statement sent by e-mail to eyaward@essic.umd.edu by any employee at ESSIC. The …

Guten Tag! On Friday, October 12th, ESSIC faculty and staff may find themselves transported to to a “virtual Munich.” In the spirit of the famous 16-day Bavarian autumnal festival,  the Center will host an Oktoberfest-themed TGIF, featuring soft-pretzels, bratwurst, and a special “beverage”. Time: 3:00 – 5:00+ (Note: To accommodate those that will be attending Marcia McNutt’s seminar, this will be an extended “ESSctoberfest” before and beyond normal TGIF hours.) Oktoberfest is …

It seems as though construction has been going on all over M-Square and the University of Maryland this year. The school has been ambitiously renovating North Campus and the research park throughout the summer, and due to weather and funding some of the construction has taken a bit longer then expected.

North Campus construction, which is redesigning the North Campus Denton community quad and pathways to and from the dorms to the education buildings, began early this summer. The work was

The Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) held its biannual executive board meeting October 1, 2012 to discuss the current status of the institute and to begin preparations for its scheduled review in November of this year. The executive board, which consists of senior scientists and managers, provides potential advice and feedback to the institute directors, with respect to both current activities and future direction. The meeting was chaired by CICS Executive Director Dr. …

Lights, camera, action!  ESSIC’s very own Assistant Director Andy Negri is performing in a local production of the play “Incorruptible,” at the Greenbelt Arts Center. The show, which opened September 21, combines slapstick humor, medieval farce, and religious faith into the story of a group of monks living in a monastery in Priseaux, France, in 1250 A.D. Negri says he thoroughly enjoyed developing his role as Brother Martin for the production. “He [Brother Martin] is a lot like me,” said …

Chris Kidd gave the plenary presentation entitled Measuring Global Precipitation: Present and Future Challenges at the 2012 European Meteorological Satellite (EUMETSAT) conference in Sopot, Poland, September 3-7. Kidd also chaired the conference session on precipitation and presented a paper The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission: Hydrological Applications….

Robert Adler gave the keynote address in a session on Hydrological Modeling and Land Surface Processes at the 2012 EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference in Sopot, Poland, September 3-7. The talk was entitled: “Global flood estimation using satellite precipitation observations and hydrological models”….