Dr. John Hallett, Desert Research Institute, to Present Seminar 10/21/10

Dr. John Hallett, Desert Research Institute, will present a seminar on October 21, 2010, as part of the Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Seminar Series. The seminar will be presented in Streibel Hall, room 106, at 3:00 p.m. Dr. Hallett’s talk title and abstract are:

Measurement of surface precipitation.

Measurement of surface precipitation, by depth of water in a suitable cylindrical container, is one of the earliest quantitative measurements of a significant meteorological importance and having significant societal application. Yet a closer look at this measurement reveals uncertainties both in terms of the deployment of the sensing instrument itself but also in terms of analysis of the collected information, together with a cautionary tale having similarities to the uncertainty principle for an atom, that the measurement may itself have a disturbing influence on the very quantity in which we are interested. These considerations are becoming (by the day) of increasing importance in our ability to define and assess a changing moisture climate – whether it be used in a meteorological setting, or more questionably perhaps, in a political setting for making far reaching decisions on on our way of life.