My name is Jennifer Abernethy. I am a PhD student in the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado-Boulder. I work part-time for NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) doing software development of the WRF (Weather Research and Forecast) mesoscale model. I am interested in the intersection of computer science and atmospheric science, and my work at NCAR has provided me many opportunities to see the two fields work together. One great opportunity, offered to me by Bill Kuo, was to attend the summer colloquium and field trip on atmospheric remote sensing using the Global Positioning System. After reading information about the colloquium and the topic itself, I saw that this was a new, exciting area of research that impacts weather modeling, data assimilation, and the whole of atmospheric science. In addition, the amount of new data made available by radio occultations and ground-based GPS stations, while making much new research possible, presents new challenges in data storage and analysis. I realized that Dr. Kuo was giving me a very unique opportunity and that I should take it, even though remote sensing was not an area of research with which I was familiar.

     Now that it is over, I am so glad that I had the chance to attend the ASP/COSMIC colloquium and the field trip. The colloquium was an unparalleled opportunity to learn from and meet the best researchers in this area. Scientists came from all over the world to tell us about the basics of remote sensing using GPS and their current research. A lot of speakers were from the Boulder area, which just reconfirmed how lucky I am to be working and studying here in Boulder.

     There were several aspects of the field trip that I found particularly interesting. A general observation of mine was how much hardware is required for this area of research and how quickly countries are investing to build up their infrastructure to conduct the remote sensing research. This includes the satellites, receiving stations, radars, and the computing infrastructure to store and process the data. I was very impressed with the level of effort and expertise in both Japan and Taiwan. I did not know much if anything about the current research or facilities in either Japan or Taiwan, but our visits showed the highlights quite effectively.

     I was interested in seeing how research was organized in both countries. In Japan, we saw some of the government research institutions like the Geographical Survey Institute, Meteorological Research Institute, and Japan Meteorological Agency and learned what roles each played. In Taiwan, we visited the National Science Council (NSC), the Taiwanese equivalent of the NSF, and learned about their budget and allocations. We also learned about NARL, the National Applied Research Laboratories, which is a combination of six of NSC laboratories into one non-profit institution. The aim is to vertically integrate basic and applied science research in order to promote product development. Strategically, this is very interesting and seems like an excellent plan. We also got to visit two of the six laboratories: the National Space Program Office and the National Center for High Performance Computing.

     These two labs happened to be, in my opinion, the most interesting institutions we visited in Taiwan. At the National Space Program Office, we got to see the mission control room (although nothing was happening at the time). We also got to view the computer room and the room where workers were building the COSMIC satellites. Since I have never seen anything like this before, it was very exciting for me even though we could only look through a glass window at the work. There was a large, almost warehouse-like room, with one partition on the left. Inside, several workers in uniforms were gathered around some small equipment, discussing something. Outside the partitioned area, one of the satellites lay open on a table, half assembled. I was amazed at the small size of the satellite, and how much equipment designers had been able to fit inside at such light a weight.

     At the National Center for High Performance Computing (NCHC), we were welcomed electronically. Since I have an interest in high performance computing, this was a particularly exciting tour. NCHC's goal is to become a world-class supercomputing center. Towards that goal, they aim to keep abreast of all the latest developments in supercomputing and high-performance networking and provide this knowledge and support to other NARL labs and academia. Their newest project is TWAREN, Taiwan Advanced Research and Education Network. This will be both an internet gateway in Asia and a state-of-the-art internet infrastructure for Taiwan. It will connect, via 40Gbps backbone, eleven 10Gpbs regional centers throughout Taiwan. The regional centers are mainly academic institutions. The backbone is made up of four core nodes, three in industrial research parks. The industrial and academic nodes of TWAREN will help foster research in both industry and academia.

     Another goal at NCHC is the development of visualization technologies. On our tour,we got to see their twelve-node visualization setup. Each node handled a part of the total display, and the graphics were displayed twelve small screens arranged to make one large screen. We were shown two applications: biotechnology, with 3D visualizations of animal anatomy, and satellite images. Their data included images taken over Arizona, and one field trip participant, who lived in Arizona, was able to see his roof in the image.

     My favorite tour in Japan was of the MU (Middle and Upper atmosphere) Radar in Shigaraki. I think the remote location of the facility exemplified exactly what I want out of science: knowledge and understanding of nature that brings me closer to it, not farther away from it in an anonymous cubicle in some crowded city. The MU radar is an impressively large facility, with 475 Yagi antenna elements and a sizable building to house the data analysis systems. Given its size, we were all amazed to learn that the MU radar has only one full-time scientist on duty, Dr. Mamoru Yamamoto. He gave us a tour of the building and the antenna field. Since the site was so remote, our tour bus could not drive the road to the facility, so three administrative assistants that work for Dr. Yamamoto drove their own cars down to the highway to pick us up from our bus.

     I think that these scientific visits will help me in both my future research and career development. I know my future research can benefit from any knowledge I gain about atmospheric science or computer science, and I learned things pertaining to both. I plan to do research in atmospheric science applications of computer science, so knowledge of GPS technology, data assimilation algorithms, directions of research, people involved in the research, etc, will be a great resource to have in the future. Also, I saw how willing both Japanese and Taiwanese researchers were to collaborate with U.S scientists. I know that in the future I will consider trying to establish those kinds of collaborations more than if I had not had these experiences and this exposure. I saw how advantageous it was to Dr. Kuo to know all these scientists, and I aspire to have those kinds of connections someday. I think communication in science is very important.

     The aspect of both Japanese and Taiwanese culture that interested me the most was the food. I liked almost all of it. It was great to experience all the different flavors and presentations. Although I have had sushi in the United States quite often, I was glad that there were still plenty of surprises. In Japan, we ate sushi pieces over twice as big as I had ever seen before, and there were some kinds that I had never seen before. One worth mentioning was the baby eels. Another field trip participant and I first thought the sushi piece was rice topped with rice noodles. Then, we saw two eyes on the end of each noodle and our host, Ted Iwabutchi, explained that they were baby eels. I also have never had tofu served in so many delicious ways. In Kyoto, we went to an all-tofu restaurant where we were served ten courses of tofu. This included tofu custard, fresh tofu made in front of us on burners in the table, and even a tofu dessert. I have been eating tofu for years but never realized I had been missing out on so much tofu variety. The culture difference between Japan and where I grew up, South Texas, is phenomenal. In South Texas, there aren't any purposely vegetarian options on menus, and most people would not even consider eating tofu, especially if they found out what it was. An all-tofu restaurant would never be a viable business in that area.

     I really enjoyed seeing the difference in culture and attitude towards food. For the entire trip, I was extremely full. Yet, the portion sizes were very small. This is so unlike the U.S., where the mantra is "bigger is better". I really like small portions of a variety of foods, and I enjoyed the artistic presentations at all the meals. I think it allowed for a different kind of appreciation of the food.

     Another aspect of the culture I enjoyed was the pottery. After the tour of the MU radar in Shigaraki, we went on a tour of a local ceramics center, So To En. The town of Shigaraki is famous for its pottery. The So To En center is steeped in Japanese tradition. It has the last wood-fired Noborigama kiln in operation in all of Japan. The Noborigama kiln is a climbing kiln, with connected rooms going up an incline. We learned that only local wood has the right minerals and salts that give the Shigaraki pots their uniqueness. We had a short tour and pottery lesson, both translated by our host Ted Iwabutchi, and then we got to make a piece of pottery ourselves. Their local clay is very different from that I've seen in the U.S. I am excited to receive my piece of pottery that was fired in the Noborigama. After making the pottery, the master potter, Mr. Ueda, invited us to have tea with him. The tea was very bitter, and he didn't speak any English, but it was a great experience nevertheless.

     We also learned about the Tenuki, or raccoon-dog, an animal that is the subject of myths in the area. All sizes of ceramic Tenuki, ranging from 4in figurines to 6ft tall statues, lined the streets in Shigaraki. There was also a statue of a Tenuki at the MU radar, signifying that science is not completely separated from culture.

     This was my first exposure to East Asian culture, and I found to it to be very educational. This trip helped me begin to learn about East Asian culture, and sparked my interest in learning more. I think that being more knowledgeable about the culture will help in future collaborations with Asian scientists, and encourage me to find a way to travel there again.

     In addition to learning about the culture, we had great personal interactions with the scientists and Taiwanese students. Truthfully, all the scientists at all the institutions we visited were so friendly and happy to have us. They all made us feel very welcome and our effort appreciated. I appreciated all the effort they put forth to give us tours and presentations, all in English. In addition, we were always served tea and sometimes more good food. Several of the institutions hosted dinners, and these were some of the most beautiful and delicious dinners I've ever had, as I discussed earlier. In Taiwan, National Central University arranged for a group of atmospheric science graduate students to accompany the field trip participants around Taipei. This was a great idea, and we all made friends very quickly. The students took us to the Sunday morning markets where they bargained for us, showed us around Snake Alley, introduced us to more delicious (and some not so delicious) local foods. and went out with us to karaoke bars. This arrangement was very successful and many of us are still keeping in touch.

     Overall, the ASP/COSMIC colloquium and field trip was a wonderful experience. The work of Dr. Kuo, his colleagues at NCAR, and his counterparts in Japan and Taiwan made the field trip a very special cultural and scientific experience that I could never have had otherwise.