A Facility for the Interactive Analysis and Display of Meteorological Data

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This project is establishing an undergraduate laboratory in which computer-aided analysis and display will be used for instruction in atmospheric sciences. The facility allows the integration of interactive analysis, manipulation and display of meteorological data into the department's curriculum and serves an increasing student population. The department has already made considerable efforts in software development, establishing a data acquisition infrastructure, and in pilot attempts applying workstation analysis in the classroom. A considerable range of courses makes use of the proposed facility, from introductory classes to predominantly major's classes in synoptic meteorology, forecasting, and dynamics. In addition, the new laboratory is increasing and enhancing the undergraduate research opportunities in the department. This facility allows students to examine atmospheric structures and processes with an ease and a level of detail not previously possible and aids student understanding of the complex three-dimensional structures of weather systems. Considering the department's substantial experience in meteorological software development and data storage technologies, it is expected that the laboratory software and instructional approaches that are developed for the proposed facility will be important contributions to undergraduate instruction in the discipline; these advances will be made available to the entire atmospheric sciences community.