NCAR and UCAR Ignite …

Paul J. KushnerDepartment of PhysicsUniversity of Toronto

… Canadian Research in Atmospheric and Related

SciencesImage: University of Toronto MIE Combustion Lab

Hey! We have 4:45 left together! Let’s …

• Learn what fuels Canadian atmospheric science research …

• Learn how UCAR/NCAR sparks the research fire …

• Think how to keep that fire alight!

• But first …

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 Fuels 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 Fuels 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 Ignite 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 spark our research:– Providing Canadian academics access to world-leading research tools.– Contributing to partnerships between academia and government/private

sectors.

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.

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 characterization.

E.g. 1: NCAR & Canadian University Research

Slide courtesy of John Gyakum

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.

E.g. 2: Government-University Partnerships

CanSISE researchers are evaluating Northern Hemisphere trends in snow cover extent in the context of observational uncertainty and internal climate variability.

We use a large-ensemble framework using CESM1 and CCSM4 simulations, and a large set of observational products.

Mudryk et al. 2013 and in prep.

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.

E.g. 3: Industrial and Commercial Partnerships

Peter Taylor, York

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 (July-Aug. 2015).

Peter Taylor, York

E.g. 3: Industrial and Commercial Partnerships

Keeping the Fire 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 Fire Going

You are invited to McGill University to participate in a one-day workshop sponsored by

the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

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 MontréalDr. 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

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

Morning Presentations by UCAR/NCAR

Afternoon Panels

Afternoon Panels

Heat and Light 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 ThanksUCAR/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 ignite 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 Ignite NCAR for the opportunity to share this perspective