Colorado's Allard And Skaggs Announce $7.5 Million Cooperative Agreement For Colorado State University Weather Research
Wednesday, July 1, 1998
FORT COLLINS--The U.S. Department of Defense Army Research
Laboratories has established a four-year, $7.5 million
cooperative research agreement with Colorado State University to
continue studies on how weather affects both the military and
civilian communities.
The award was announced by the offices of Colorado Sen.
Wayne Allard and Rep. David E. Skaggs (2nd District), who have
supported the ongoing work by Colorado State's Department of
Defense Center for Geosciences.
"I am pleased to announce that Colorado State University
will receive a grant to continue its efforts in researching the
effects of weather on both military and civilian communities,"
Allard said. "Colorado State has always been a leader in
research, and I am glad to see this tradition continued."
Skaggs said, "It was a pleasure to be able to help the
Center continue this innovative weather research for the Army,
which is critical in this era of 'smart' weapons. The Center's
research should lead to significant advances in the understanding
of weather, which is important for all of us."
Thomas H. Vonder Haar, director of the Center for
Geosciences, said, "The award will allow faculty and graduate
students to continue their research, which has dual use for both
the military and civilian communities."
The Center for Geosciences seeks to improve the monitoring
and understanding of hydrology and meteorology through the
formation of strong interdisciplinary research groups. This team
research addresses weather effects, especially on contemporary
military operations.
Vonder Haar, University Distinguished Professor and
professor of atmospheric sciences, said the Department of Defense
experiences numerous weather-related problems not only during
peace-keeping and wartime operations but during peacetime.
"Civilian and military groups share concerns about major
floods, air quality, safety of aircraft operations and other
areas," he said.
Judson Harper, Colorado State vice president for research
and information technology, said, "Both military and civilian
agencies have a need to improve weather predictions and the
impact of rainfall on stream flows, flooding and field
conditions. The non-classified nature of Center for Geosciences
research makes this possible."
Colorado State's work in this area has received broad
bipartisan legislative support and executive branch backing.
Geosciences Center research has involved faculty, students
and staff from Colorado State's colleges of engineering, natural
resources and natural sciences, Vonder Haar said, and has been
recognized for both scientific quality and practical
applications.
"I'm especially pleased that the research of 52 graduate
students has received substantial support by Geosciences Center
funding during the last 11 years," he said.
The Center for Geosciences, established in 1986 with an $11
million award following a nationwide competition, is part of the
College of Engineering's research structure. The center
collaborates with internationally recognized academic and
research programs in atmospheric science, hydrology and
electrical engineering. Recent projects have included:
* A new method to detect the amount of liquid water in
clouds over land areas using data from weather satellites. The
results will be used to better forecast aircraft icing so that
both military and civilian pilots can avoid dangerous areas.
* A new computer model to study and forecast runoff
within small watersheds. Federal scientists and other researchers
have applied this runoff model to study and forecast possible
flooding situations in various parts of the world.
* A collaborative effort between researchers at the
Geosciences Center, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to
predict the formation and lifetime of layers of clouds in the
middle portion of the atmosphere. These clouds, which are hard to
forecast, cause difficulties in military situations.
The aim of these and other Geosciences Center studies,
Vonder Haar said, is better understanding of weather factors that
can save lives and allow U.S. military objectives to be fully
met.
The matter has become more important, he said, because of
growing concerns about the use of biological, chemical and
nuclear weapons by smaller countries that are often located in
relatively unknown weather environments.
This page © 1997-1998 World Wide Express, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Many news stories on RamLine.com come from the Colorado State University Public Relations Office. You can get copies of the news releases directly by filling out this form.