NCAR and UCAR
…
… Canadian Research in
Atmospheric and Related Sciences
Image: University of Toronto MIE Combustion Lab
Paul J. Kushner
Department of Physics
University of Toronto
Hey! We have 4:45 left together! Let’s …
• Learn what
Canadian atmospheric science research …
• Learn how UCAR/NCAR
• Think how to keep that
• But first …
the
…
Get Ready for a Pop Quiz!
(Answers next)
• How many Canadian Universities are UCAR Members?
_______
• Bonus #1: Name these Universities.
________________________________________________________
• Bonus #2: Identify three Canadian contributions to UCAR/NCAR.
_______________________________________________________
Answers!
• How many Canadian Universities are UCAR Members?
There are currently three.
• Bonus #1: Name these Universities.
McGill (Montreal); University of Toronto; York University (Toronto)
• Bonus #2: Identify three Canadian contributions to UCAR/NCAR.
Many research collaborations and contributions to COMET, leadership in
model development, NCAR CESM SSC, UCAR Board of Trustees, etc.
How’d you do?
What
Canadian University Atmospheric
Research?
Quality undergraduate education (provincial support).
Graduate scholarships and subsidies (federal & provincial).
Good infrastructure support (federal & provincial).
12-month salary support for Professors (provincial).
Federal research grants fund only direct costs of research (= no
overhead!).
What
Canadian University Atmospheric
Research?
Research funds provide good value:
– Low cost for health and other benefits for students and postdocs.
– Ph.D. student cost to PI typically <$20K/year
– Postdocs cost to PI < $60K/year.
… But these research dollars are increasingly hard to come by.
How NCAR & UCAR
Our Research
• The new normal: Multilateral research partnerships and networks, with
an applied focus.
• In this environment, UCAR and NCAR enable Canadian atmospheric
scientists to get their research done.
• Let’s see examples of how UCAR/NCAR help
our research:
– Providing Canadian academics access to world-leading research tools.
– Contributing to partnerships between academia and government/private
sectors.
E.g. 1: NCAR & Canadian University
Research
McGill researchers have found that
CCSM4 extreme daily precipitation values
were realistic over the North American
coasts, but, compared to observations,
were more positively skewed in the Great
Plains, and more negatively skewed over
the Rockies.
The analysis highlighted issues with
CAM5’s convection schemes but also
basic problems with observational
Slide courtesy of John Gyakum
characterization.
Gervais, M., J. R. Gyakum, E, Atallah, L. B. Tremblay, and R. B. Neale,
2014: How Well Are the Distribution and Extreme Values of Daily
Precipitation over North America Represented in the Community Climate
System Model? A Comparison to Reanalysis, Satellite, and Gridded
Station Data. J. Climate, 27, 5219–5239.
E.g. 2: Government-University Partnerships
The Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
supports the Canadian Sea Ice and
Snow Evolution Network (CanSISE.ca).
This research network, led out of the
University of Toronto, seeks to improve
Canada’s capacity to predict and
assess snow cover, sea ice, and related
climate variability.
This work is enriched by joint analysis
of NCAR CESM and Environment
Canada’s CanESM.
E.g. 2: Government-University Partnerships
The Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
supports the Canadian Sea Ice and
Snow Evolution Network (CanSISE.ca).
This research network, led out of the
University of Toronto, seeks to improve
Canada’s capacity to predict and
assess snow cover, sea ice, and related
climate variability.
This work is enriched by joint analysis
of NCAR CESM and Environment
Canada’s CanESM.
CanSISE researchers
are evaluating Northern
Hemisphere trends in
snow cover extent in the
context of observational
uncertainty and internal
climate variability.
We use a largeensemble framework
using CESM1 and
CCSM4 simulations, and
a large set of
observational products.
Mudryk et al. 2013 and in prep.
E.g. 3: Industrial and Commercial Partnerships
York researchers partner with NSERC, Canadian
Space Agency, Pelmorex (Canadian TV’s “The
Weather Network”), MITACS, AXYS, MDR, Zephyr
North and other international partners.
These partnerships support research in radar
nowcasting, short-range forecasting, seasonal
prediction, NASA/Arizona Mars lander instrumentation,
lidar and VHF wind profilers, and wind turbine
modeling.
Peter Taylor,
York
E.g. 3: Industrial and Commercial Partnerships
Pelmorex and MITACS are partnering with York researchers
to assimilate data from York’s network of VHF wind profiles
into a WRF based forecast of southern Ontario for
operational forecasting during the PanAm games (JulyAug. 2015).
Peter Taylor,
York
Keeping the
Going
• Can we strengthen this partnership and further promote the
UCAR/NCAR community model?
• This summer UCAR and McGill U hosted a workshop gathering
UCAR/NCAR staff, Canadian academics and government reps together.
• We reviewed UCAR/Canada partnerships, explored new directions for
collaboration, and discussed building the Canadian atmospheric
research community.
Keeping the
Going
You are invited to McGill University
to participate in a one-day workshop sponsored by
the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Friday, August 22, 2014 – 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Leacock Room 232, McGill University
845 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The purpose of this workshop is to explore and discuss possible collaborations
between UCAR and the Canadian science, research and education communities.
There is no registration fee, but participants will pay for their travel and lodging.
An RSVP is needed by May 15 and should be sent to Gloria Kelly at gloriak@ucar.edu
Workshop Program Committee
Dr. Paul Kushner, Committee Chair, University of Toronto
Dr. Thomas Bogdan, UCAR President • Dr. Paul Charbonneau, Université Montréal
Dr. Y. Chen, York University • Dr. John Gyakum, McGill University
If you have questions, please contact:
Dr. Paul Kushner, Professor, Department of Physics, University of Toronto paul.kushner@utoronto.ca
Hanne Mauriello, Senior Advisor, UCAR President’s office hanne@ucar.edu
8:30 – 8:45
8:45 – 9:00
Opening remarks by the Workshop Programme Committee
Morning
Presentations
by
UCAR/NCAR
Welcome by Dr. Martin Grant, Dean of Science, McGill University
9:00 – 9:30
Participant introductions
9:30 – 12:00
Partnering with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Presentations from:
Tom Bogdan, UCAR President
Jim Hurrell, NCAR Director
Emily CoBabe-Ammann, Director, UCAR Community Programs
Mohan Ramamurthy, Director, Unidata Program, UCAR
Rich Jeffries, Director, The COMET Program, UCAR
Bill Large, Division Director, Climate and Global Dynamics Division,
NCAR Earth System Laboratory
12:00 – 1:00
Lunch
Panel Discussions – Each panel will be 50 minutes in duration, with a 10-minute switch/break.
1:00 – 2:00
Panel 1 – Canada’s University Community and UCAR: Moving forward in
Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences Research
John Gyakum, Chair, McGill University
NCAR Earth System Laboratory
12:00 – 1:00
Lunch
Afternoon Panels
Panel Discussions – Each panel will be 50 minutes in duration, with a 10-minute switch/break.
1:00 – 2:00
Panel 1 – Canada’s University Community and UCAR: Moving forward in
Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences Research
John Gyakum, Chair, McGill University
Pierre Gauthier, Centre ESCER, Université du Québec à Montréal
Bill Large, NCAR Earth System Laboratory
Nigel Roulet, Canadian Geophysical Union, McGill University
Roland Stull, Geophysical Disaster Computational Fluid Dynamics Center,
The University of British Columbia
NCAR Earth System Laboratory
12:00 – 1:00
Lunch
Afternoon Panels
Panel Discussions – Each panel will be 50 minutes in duration, with a 10-minute switch/break.
1:00 – 2:00
Panel 1 – Canada’s University Community and UCAR: Moving forward in
Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences Research
John Gyakum, Chair, McGill University
Pierre Gauthier, Centre ESCER, Université du Québec à Montréal
Bill Large, NCAR Earth System Laboratory
Nigel Roulet, Canadian Geophysical Union, McGill University
Roland Stull, Geophysical Disaster Computational Fluid Dynamics Center,
The University of British Columbia
and
from the UCAR-Canada Montreal
Workshop
• This was a valuable community building exercise for Canadian
atmospheric science.
• UCAR involvement greatly enhanced the visibility and appeal of the
meeting.
• We are working on next steps, including bringing in new Canadian
UCAR members and developing long-range research plans.
• Continued partnership with UCAR is key to our efforts.
Conclusion and Thanks
UCAR/NCAR has helped research in atmospheric and related sciences
beyond the borders of the U.S. – particularly in Canada.
NCAR provides critical research resources for Canadian atmospheric
science research, and UCAR provides an excellent model for an
effective research community.
We look forward to future opportunities to
our science.
Thanks to John Gyakum, Peter Taylor, Yongsheng
Chen, Tom Bogdan, Rachel Hauser, Gloria Kelly, and
all the NCAR participants at our Montreal workshop …
and to
for the opportunity to share this
perspective