instruments aboard skylab to view kohoutek

D CO P

NCAR StaffNo tes:op A f~f

No. 388 November 30, 1973

NCAR INSTRUMENTS ABOARD SKYLAB TO VIEW KOHOUTEK

Kohoutek's encounter with our swun is shown here.

Today will be only nine hours and twenty minutes long. But, the longer nightwill give you more sky-gazing time. Although Kohoutek is still a morning comet,visible a few hours before dawn toward the southeastern horizon, it will soon comeinto view as a spectacular evening comet.

Among NCAR's plans for Kohoutek's visit is a special viewing attempt by the

FEB14

White Light Coronagraph Experiment (WLCE) on the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM).Ernie Hildner of HAO says, "Since no one had any idea that a comet might come along,nobody designed Skylab instruments specifically for comet-viewing. However, boththe viewing program and the ATM instruments have been jury-rigged as quickly aspossible to take advantage of this unique opportunity." The biggest obstacle isthat ATM's instruments were never intended to look anywhere but toward the sun, and

* in fact, were arranged to lock onto the sun. The WLCE, designed to view the rela-tively dim corona of the sun, is perhaps the best suited instrument for looking atComet Kohoutek.

0

NCAR Staff Notes/No. 388

A comet is analogous to a large, dirty snowball--a small thickly packed ballof frozen gases and ice with a sprinkling of meteoric dust. When it reaches theorbit of Mars, it begins to respond to solar radiation and energy and the cometnucleus begins to evaporate. The gases and bits of dust thus freed begin tostream along with the nucleus of the comet creating a cloudlike halo called acoma.

Classic comets develop two tails. The tail made up of dust is yellow andoften slightly curved because it is heavier and follows the path of the comet'sorbit. The second tail is, in reality, a plasma of ions and electrons, electri-cally charged, and therefore subject to being "blown" by the solar wind of space.Hence, the plasma tail stretches out straight, as a glowing blue tail.

HAO solar wind specialists hope to gain some information on the behavior ofthe solar wind between earth and the sun by observing the winds' effects onKohoutek as it travels through space.

Kohoutek will be moving rapidly through the star field reaching Antares inScorpio on December 19. From there it will move north and east into Sagittarius,where, on the day before Christmas, it will be about 50 north of Sigma Sagittarius.Soon after it will disappear behind the sun only to make a startling reentry onDecember 30. All this time, Kohoutek's long gaseous tail will be growing nightlyuntil January 15 when it will swoop within 75 million miles of earth. This willbe the time for enthusiastic amateur photographers to break out their color filmto catch the yellow dust tail and the blue plasma tail which should be quitedistinct.

BBC WRITER AND PRODUCER VISIT NCAR AND NOAA

Nigel Calder and Alec Nisbett of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)spent a couple of days in Boulder this week talking with a number of scientists atNCAR and NOAA. Calder is the scriptwriter and Nisbett the producer for a two-hourtelevision program on weather and climate that BBC plans to release next fall. Thetwo Britishers are on a round-the-world trip, gathering information on atmosphericresearch in many countries. Nisbett plans to be back in Boulder next spring witha camera crew to do some filming for the program.

Calder, who recently shared UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of

Science with Philip Abelson, editor of Science magazine, wrote the scripts for anumber of BBC science programs that have been well received in this country. Ac-cording to Nisbett, the program will be released in a number of countries besidesGreat Britain, with the narration translated from English into several foreign

languages, including American. The program will be shown in this country throughthe Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which is supporting part of the cost of

producing it.

SNCAR Staff Notes/No. 388

Representatives of 15 Boulder-area employers andNCAR staff members heard Gloria Golbert on Tues-day, November 27, at the Mesa Lab. Ms. Golbertis co-founder of SHARE employment, inc., a newDenver-based employment agency designed to placeprofessional women and minorities in part-timejobs.

SLET'S POOL OUR TRANSPORTATION RESOURCESGasoline shortages, pollution, and the spectre of rationing have combined to

bring car pooling back into fashion. Companies around the nation are helpingemployees form and fit their schedules into car pools, according to a recentarticle in Nation's Business. In Pasadena, the Burroughs Corporation and "Opera-tion Oxygen," a local environmental group, set up a car pool locating program thathas cut car density in the Burroughs plant parking lots by 35%. In St. Louis,McDonnell Douglas Corporation found it could no longer provide adequate parkingfor the 47,000 workers who often arrived in separate vehicles. By coupling carpool locating with a parking priority system that favors cars with three or morepassengers, McDonnell Douglas raised the average number of employees per car to2.8. In St. Paul, the 3M Company took car pooling a step further by providing thecar as well as the pool. The company bought 12 passenger "compute-a-vans" to trans-port workers to and from homes at modest fares. Where large numbers of workers areinvolved, computers are being used to match the riders with rides; in Boston, Wash-ington, D.C., and Connecticut this has been particularly helpful.

A recent informal count of car-to-passenger ratios on the NCAR road indicatedthat our staff could do with a bit of car pooling, particularly with the comingcrunch in gasoline. Accordingly, a match-a-ride service has been initiated and isbeing coordinated by Lee Fortier, a member of the Technical Illustrating group.Recognizing that not all employees keep the same schedule, there will be an at-

Sempt, nonetheless, to match would-be ride sharers. There is a place on the formon the next page to note unusual working hours. Lee emphasizes that the pool isstrictly voluntary but that a conscience toward the nation's ecological and energyplight should motivate a break from old habits. Lee has extra copies of the infor-mation form and will keep the ride-matching file continuously up to date, so thatstaff members can join the pool at any time.


(Please print or type)Name __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ NCAR ext. _ __ _

Address ________________________ Home phone________

Work location

Will your work location change in the next three months? _____ If so, final

work location will be______________________________

Check one:

___I want to share driving. My car seats___ people.

___I want to ride regularly with another staff member(s).

___I want to ride occasionally with another staff member(s).

___I want to take riders. My car seats___ people.

My usual working hours are ___to___

My usual driving route is_____________________________

Possible alternate routes are ___________________________


VISITORS' SEMINAR SCHEDULEPlace: Fleischmann Building Seminar Room, NCAR

Time: 3:45 - 4:45 p.m.

CALENDAR

Fri.

General Presentation of the NationalHail Research Experiment (NHRE)

7 Design and Execution of the HailSuppression Experiment

Studies of the Dynamics of SevereConvective Storms

14 Physics of Hail Formation

Short Introduction on Aerosol ProjectResearch

Transport Models for the Aerosol Project

Production of Soil Wind Erosion AerosolsHaving the Potential for Long-RangeTransport

21 Mathematical Theory of Coagulation

W. Swinbank

C. Lovell

G. Foote

C. Knight

I. Blifford

E. Danielsen

D. Gillette

R. Drake

(to be continued in January and February)

"ICE IN THE ATMOSPHERE" TO BE SHOWN TUESDAY

Staff members are invited to see the award-winning NCAR film "Ice in the Atmo-sphere" at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 4, in the Seminar Room. You may alsoborrow a copy of the film frow a copy of the film from the Information Office, and non-staffers can rent itfor $5.00. Purchase price is $90.00.

"Ice in the Atmosphere" won the top award in the scientific/technical categoryat the San Francisco International Film Festival and a silver award from the Infor-mation Film Producers of America. It has also been selected for showing at theScience Film Theatre at the American Association for the Advancement of Scienceannual meeting in February.

December

Mon. Wed.

5

12

17

19


ESIG CIRCULATES WIND FORECAST QUESTIONNAIRE

Approximately 200 Boulder households have been randomly selected to receive aquestionnaire designed to investigate how residents would respond to more accurateforecasts of Boulder area windstorms. The survey is being conducted by the Environ-mental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG) in an attempt to explore how Boulder arearesidents might receive and use improved windstorm forecasts and to assess the use-fulness of this information to them and to Boulder business and government.

Bill Bergen, who is carrying out the survey, indicates that each residence inthe random sample has received a letter explaining the purpose of the survey. Thisletter will then be followed by a phone call to arrange an appointment for a per-sonal interview. As Bill explains, "We're taking this rather time-consumingapproach to insure a high rate of response and to minimize misunderstandings on thepart of the public regarding the possible implications of the study." Each respon-dent in the survey will remain anonymous, and Bill anticipates that the results ofthe survey will be made available in early January.

The study, developed as a result of research being conducted by NCAR's Small-Scale Analysis and Prediction Group, is expected to lead to the development of amore accurate technique for forecasting Boulder's damaging windstorms. AlthoughNCAR will not issue windstorm forecasts, the National Weather Service can beexpected to use this technique after it has been tested on an operational basis.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE NAMED

Jeri Miller, NCAR's EEO Coordinator, announces the appointment of the Affirma-tive Action Advisory Committee members: Harriet Crowe, Bill Curtis, Peter Gilman,Barbara Hill, Justin Kitsutaka, Vin Lally, Peggy LeMone, Carlos Lucero, and WarrenWashington.

The committee will assist Jeri in the development of UCAR's Affirmative ActionPlan and monitor progress in achieving the goals specified in the plan. This willinclude, but will not be limited to, periodic review of NCAR's performance inachieving its Affirmative Action Plan goals, advice and assistance in developingand implementing the manner in which to meet those goals, and assistance in thecommunication of UCAR's Affirmative Action Program. The committee will not be in-volved in responding to complaints, but will alert Jeri to situations that may bediscriminatory.

The committee will hold its first meeting next week and staff members areencouraged to begin directing comments and questions regarding NCAR's AffirmativeAction Program to either Jeri or the committee members.0


NEW WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION FORM REQUIRED

The federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Acts as well as the StateDepartment of Labor rules for accident reporting require that NCAR use a new "FirstReport of Accident" form. The new form has additional questions and is 14 incheslong rather than 11 like the previous form. If you have occasion to complete thisform, use pen or pencil and send it to the Personnel Office where it will be re-viewed and typed. Accidents must be reported to the employer within two days; theemployer is required to submit the report to the state within 10 days.

LOUDSPEAKER IS ASTRAY

A Magnavox speaker from the former motion picture studio in Room 028 waserroneously released to an NCAR staff member for use elsewhere in the building;it should be returned to Randi Opsahl, to whom it has been consigned along withthe second speaker of the set. Randi can be reached at ext. 279.

WEEKLY MOVING REPORT

The moving activity will accelerate considerably next month in order to vacatethe Colorado Building by December 31. Please bear with us if you experience minorconfusion or delays in the painting of walls, hanging of blackboards, etc.

The following moves have been made since the last report:

Phone Room Phone Room

Climate Group

J. BonelliB. Fogle

Upper Air

F. Fernald

346352

333

602425

365

C. Shelden

A. Lazrus

NHRE

L. McElhaneyI. Paluch 623

596576B

R. SchreckL. Udick

*Temporarily, call on 627

352

331

426

362

*

*580596


The FOF group has moved from PSRB2 on 30th Street to the second floor of thenew addition to PSRB3. Phone numbers are the same.

Rooms 213 and 213A are being converted to a combination logistics, operations,and data analysis center in support of GATE, TWERLE, and CBS programs. Personnelwill move in and out as the programs begin and then phase out.

During the week of Decembver 3, NHRE offices will be moved from the 100 areato the 460 area of B tower. Time permitting, Computing Facility personnel willmove into the 100 area.

NEW STAFF MEMBERS

Lenee L. E. Arnold: Bindery Worker working with Administrative Services, MLroom 36, ext. 271.

Dianne J. Bernier: Secretary working with Computing Facility, ML room 7, ext. 521.

Vasumati A. Deshpande: M.S. Scientist working with Swinbank, AQM, ML room 146A,ext 507.

Mindy Sue Grubaugh: Travel Clerk working with Financial Services, CB room 609,ext 655.

Sharon Kay Schrader: Bindery Worker-Trainee working with Administrative Services,ML room 36, ext. 270.

Margaret A. Schroeder: Student Assistant working with Climate, ML room 402D,ext. 675.

Clyde F. Shindledecker: Security Guard working with Physical Plant, ML room 35,

ext. 341.


VISITORS

Richard A. Anthes, Penn State University. November 29-December 7.--Computing Facility

Philip C. S. Chen, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. November 29-December 3.--Computing Facility

John Diercks, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. November 29-December 7.--Computing Facility

James Hoke, Penn State University. November 29-December 7.--Computing Facility

Fred J. Kopp, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. November 29-December 3.--Computing Facility

David A. Mathews, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver. November 27-February 28, 1974.--Computing Facility

Tsuyoshi Nitta, University of Tokyo, Japan. November 26-29.--A. Kasahara

David Norcross, JILA, University of Colorado. November 19-May 19, 1974,--Computing Facility.

Joseph Sobel, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. November 29-December 7.--Computing Facility.

JOB OPENINGS

As of 29 November 1973

REGULAR (FULL-TIME):

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT (Admin. Range II or III) . . .

AEROSOL SCIENTIST (BS/MS Curves) ..................

APPLICATIONS PROGRAMMER (Programmer Scales) . . ..

BUDGET ANALYST (Admin. Range V) ............

S COMPUTER COURIER-MAILPERSON (Clerical Range I) . ....

DIGITAL DATA ENGINEER (Engineer Curves) ........

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL ASSEMBLER (2.75/hr. experienced2.25/hr. inexperienced) .

COMPUTING FACILITY (FAL)

ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS (AQM)

COMPUTING FACILITY (FAL)

BUDGET-PLANS (BPI)

OFFICE SERVICES (ADMN)

RSF (FAL)

GAMP (AAP)

0NCAR Staff Notes/No. 388

ELECTRONICS TECHNICIANS (2)(Technician Ranges I-II) . . FOF (FAL)

METEOROLOGIST (MS/BS Curves) ..... .............. .GARP (AAP)

PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHERS (2)(Ph.D. Curves) .. ....... .. CLIMATE PROJECT (AAP)

PLANT ENGINEER (Palestine)(Local Area Maintenance Rates) BALLOON FACILITY (FAL)

PROJECT LEADER (Ph.D. Curves) ..... ............. .CLIMATE PROJECT (AAP)

SCIENTIFIC VISITOR (6-24 months)(Ph.D. Curves) ..... .. GATE (AAP)

SCIENTIST (Ph.D. Curves) ...... ................ GARP (AAP)

SECRETARY (Clerical Range III) ..... ............. .TWERLE (AAP)

SECRETARY (Clerical Range IV) ..... ............. .ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (ADMN)

SECRETARY (Clerical Range IV) .................... .UCAR

SECURITY GUARD (Guard Range Minimum) ............... .PHYSICAL PLANT (ADMN)

SYSTEMS PROGRAMNER (Programmer Scales) ............. .COMPUTING FACILITY (FAL)

CASUAL:

CUSTODIAN (Custodian Range Minimum) .............. .PHYSICAL PLANT (ADMN)

For more information, please call the Personnel Office (Ext. 514 or 511).

NCAR IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. A COPY OF OUR

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW.

* NCAR Staff Notes/No. 388

Calendar NotesDecember 3 to December 10, 1973

MONDAY, December 3

Open

TUESDAY, December 4

* Special Movie -- Ice in the Atmosphere

11:00 a.m.NCAR Mesa Laboratory, Seminar Room

0 Meeting -- Council for NCAR Women

12:15 p.m.NCAR Mesa Laboratory, Chapman Room

0 AAP Seminar -- Diffuse Cloud Model Climatology: Preliminary Results,Fred Snell, State University of New York at Buffalo

1:30 p.m.NCAR Mesa Laboratory, Seminar Room

WEDNESDAY, December 5

0 New Staff Orientation Program

10:00 a.m.NCAR Mesa Laboratory, Seminar Room

0 Boulder Aeronomy Group-UAP Seminar -- The Excitation of the A6300 andA5577 Emission Lines in the Twilight, R. C. Schaeffer, Aeronomy Lab,NOAA, Boulder

10:30 a.m.Fleischmann Building

* Luncheon Meeting - - Solar Energy Group

11: 30 a.m.NCAR Mesa Laboratory, Damon Room


WEDNESDAY, December 5 (continued)

0 Visitors' Seminar -- General Presentation of the National Hail ResearchExperiment (NHRE), William Swinbank, AQM

3:45 p.m.

Fleischmann Building

THURSDAY, December 6

* Equipment Demonstration -- Denver Valve and Fitting Company

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noonNCAR Mesa Laboratory, Damon Room

* HAO Colloquium -- Latitude Dependent Non-Linear Solar Wind Streams,S. T. Suess, NOAA

11:10 a.m.

HAO Classroom 138

FRIDAY, December 7

NHRE Seminar -- Current Research in Atmospheric Physics-Cloud Physicsand Atmospheric Electricity at the University of Auckland, C. D. Stow,University of Auckland, New Zealand

1:30 p.m.NCAR Mesa Laboratory, Seminar Room

* Visitors' Seminar -- Design and Execution of the Hail Suppression Experiment,Clifton Lovell, AQM

3:45 p.m.

Fleischmann Building

MONDAY, December 10

Open

Calendar Notes announcements may be called to Vonda Giesey, extension 281. OtherStaff Notes information or comments should be addressed to Lynne Mesirow, extension373. Wednesday at 12:00 noon is the deadline for items to be included in eitherWthe Calendar or Staff Notes.

instruments aboard skylab to view kohoutek

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