ACADEMIA

Today, the Great Alaska Weather Symposium will kick off with a mid-morning panel discussion on the future impact of climate change to be chaired by Greg Newby, acting chief scientist at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center (ARSC) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Several panelists, including internationally acclaimed author and climate change expert Tim Flannery, will join Newby. The group will discuss climate modeling as a long-term component of weather forecasting 10, 50 and 100 years into the future, and examine weak spots in current models that could impact climate change predictions. The symposium will bring about 50 scientists to the Geophysical Institute for a three-day conference, beginning Tuesday, to analyze how improvements can be made in the realm of weather modeling. Alaska’s diverse landscape, propensity for wildfires, and volcanic nature combine to create distinctive atmospheric conditions. To better understand these conditions, scientists often use supercomputers at ARSC to create sophisticated weather models of Alaska. These supercomputers are among the top high-performance computing machines in the academic world. Pairing information from established computer models permit greater understanding and improved forecasting. For instance, coupling a fire danger prediction model of Alaska, with a weather forecast model will enhance fire weather forecasts. In addition, pairing volcanic ash dispersion models with weather forecast models allows improved warnings to air traffic when there’s an active volcano spitting ash into the atmosphere.