Image courtesy of Janine Goldstein

From: Janine Goldstein
Germany, August 5, 2007

Janine Goldstein studying thunderstorms in South-Western Germany

Hi! My name is Janine Goldstein and I am a software engineer at NCAR in the Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL). I have worked at NCAR for 17 years. This summer I am in Germany helping to operate a radar that is mounted on the back of a truck. It is called the "Doppler on Wheels" or DOW for short. In the picture above, the radar is the big circular dome on the right. It is facing toward you, but a little to the left. The DOW and I are in Germany for a project called the "Convective and Orographically-Induced Precipitation Study (COPS)". Scientists from Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy, and the U.K are all working together to try and gain a better understanding of how and why thunderstorms form in the region of the Black Forest with the goal of being able to make better forecasts in the future.

I will be in Germany for two more weeks and I will be sending online postcards to Windows to the Universe. I hope you enjoy my postcards from the field.

Janine

Go to the next postcard

Postcards from the Field: COPS

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are one of the most thrilling and dangerous types of weather phenomena. Over 40,000 thunderstorms occur throughout the world each day. Thunderstorms form when very warm, moist air rises into...more

Penguin Colonies

This is Ross Island, a volcanic island embedded in the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Adelie penguins are found all around Antarctica, but we will be filming the documentary at the breeding colonies shown...more

View from our home

This is a view of the Adelie penguin breeding colony at Cape Royds in Antarctica. In the foreground you see Shackleton’s hut. Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team of explorers tried and failed to cross the...more

Time to Raise the Chicks

We are at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica, a penguin breeding colony of several thousand Adelie penguins. This female is 8 years old and has been a successful breeder in the past. She was first seen...more

Ice, Fire, and Penguins

Cape Royds penguin breeding colony is in the shadow of Mt Erebus, one of three volcanoes on Ross Island and the only active one. Antarctica Explorer James Clark Ross named two of the volcanoes after his...more

Proud Parents

At long last the moment we have been waiting for, the first Adelie chick of the season. We have been scanning nest sites for broken egg shells, evidence that a chick has hatched. On Dec 12, 2006 we sighted...more

A Family of Penguins

Chicks are hatching everyday now and the colony is bubbling with new life. The air is filled with the songs of penguins returning from feeding and the growls of predatory Skua birds as they circle the...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA