Introduction

     My name is Daniel Steinhoff and I am a second-year Masters student in the Atmospheric Sciences program at The Ohio State University. I obtained my B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. In late 2004 I began work with Dr. David Bromwich of the Polar Meteorology Group at the Byrd Polar Research Center here at Ohio State. My research focuses on Antarctic meteorology, and currently I am studying a severe wind event that struck McMurdo (U.S.) Station in May 2004.

     A reoccurring problem in my analysis of the May 2004 case study, along with other work that myself and the Polar Meteorology Group undertake, is the lack of traditional upper-air observations in Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean. For the May 2004 case study, no upper-air observations are available during the critical time period of the case. The dearth of observations forces us to rely on numerical forecast model output as almost .ground truth. for upper levels of the troposphere. This is a dangerous practice, as the limited availability of observations leads to a degraded set of initial conditions for the forecast model. Poor initial conditions have been shown to be the dominant factor for forecast model errors in the Antarctic. Improved upper-air observational coverage through remote-sensing applications like GPS radio occultation (RO) allows for more accurate meteorological analysis as well as improved model performance when GPS RO data is assimilated into numerical forecast models.

     The main focus of GPS RO research has been the applied mathematics, physics, and engineering necessary to turn theory into reality. Although work remains on the logistics of radio occultation, more focus will shift to the application of GPS RO data in atmospheric operations and research. Application of GPS RO data from projects like COSMIC will undoubtedly benefit Antarctic atmospheric research.

     The purpose of the COSMIC/UCAR Science Summer Camp was to educate and get students involved in GPS RO research. I was only slightly familiar with the concept of GPS radio occultation before the program, but was aware of the great potential that it held for Antarctic atmospheric research. My personal goals for the program were to obtain a background of the physical logistics involved in GPS RO and to assess possible uses of the data for the work that my research group performs.

Scientific Experience

     My scientific interests for this program involved application of GPS RO data for atmospheric research. The round of talks on Monday 30 May was mainly an introduction to GPS RO, which was very beneficial for a novice to the subject like myself. Richard Anthes (UCAR) gave a great talk on the history of GPS RO and the many uses it will serve for atmospheric operations and research. Stig Syndergaard (UCAR) presented the basic mathematic principles of GPS RO, which is beyond the scope of my research, but the background information is important for later interpreting GPS RO data. The talk by Martin Lohmann (UCAR) on data quality control brought up many points regarding QC that I deal with in my research. Quality control of GPS RO data is and will continue to be an important topic for the use of GPS RO data.

     On Tuesday 31 May, Sean Healy.s (ECMWF) talk on forecasting results using RO data from CHAMP (another GPS RO mission) was beneficial in regards to the large errors in the upper-troposphere analyses over Antarctica. These errors are due to large surface topography gradients and extreme cold temperatures. The application of GPS RO to alleviate the dearth of current upper-air observations over Antarctica is very exciting to me, and I appreciated hearing about the initial problems of using GPS RO data that remain to be solved. Another of my favorite talks was on Friday 3 June when Dale Barker (NCAR) spoke about research involving WRF-VAR, which is the assimilation of variational data (such as GPS RO data) into the Weather Research and Forecasting model, WRF. The Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) is a forecast model used heavily by my research group. AMPS will be transitioning from MM5 to WRF in the near future, and assimilation of observations such as GPS RO data to provide credible forecasts for the Antarctic community is a hot topic at the present time, and I was glad to have background on that research before I came back to Columbus for the annual AMPS meeting the week following the COSMIC trip. There were also several talks where I was not familiar with the subject at all, which were most of the talks on ionospheric research on Thursday 2 June. However I also enjoyed these talks in that they broadened my horizons on atmospheric research.

     A responsibility of each U.S. student prior to the trip was the creation of a poster highlighting our research, whether it involved GPS RO or not. I found this exercise to be very beneficial. Creation of this poster helped me organize the ideas and data I have for my research that will be written up for publication this summer. What I also found helpful was the poster session on 31 May. Having to explain the details of my project to colleagues not involved in Antarctic research forced me to think through the process of explaining my findings to those outside of the field. This will also be beneficial for the publication write-up. During the poster session I noticed that most of my audience was Taiwanese students. They seemed genuinely interested in the poster of my Antarctic case study even though most had little or no background in Antarctic research. I reasoned that they have a much broader interest in atmospheric science and science in general compared to myself and other U.S. colleagues I know, who at times feel uncomfortable outside of our niche of research.

     I also had appreciable interaction with other U.S. students and with the speakers. Throughout the week I conversed with other students about the challenges they face with their research and graduate school in general, and found them to be similar to mine. The diversity of graduate programs represented by the students led me to learn more about the workings of each program. I had heard about many of these atmospheric sciences programs in the past but had not met anyone from them until this trip. The best interaction with a speaker I had was with Dr. Jens Wickert (GFZ-Potsdam). I sat with him at dinner on Thursday 2 June and we had a great conversation regarding the importance of attending scientific conferences. We also talked about his stay in Antarctica (where I hope to visit soon) and about my love for German food.

     The field trips outside of Taipei were also fulfilling. Just getting out of the city to see the rest of the country was almost reason enough. The visit to the radar station at Hua-Lien on Saturday 4 June was good in that it let the U.S. students compare the Taiwan weather operations facilities to those in the U.S. The trip to NSPO on Friday 3 June had a direct benefit to the program, as we got to see the facilities used to build and test the low-earth orbiters (LEO.s) used with the COSMIC program.

Cultural Experience

     The trip to Taiwan was my first venture outside of North America, and I was a bit apprehensive when I thought about being halfway across the world, dealing with a language barrier, and eating strange food. Afterwards I now know I had no reason to worry. My first impression of Taiwan was how .Americanized. it is. Road signs and phrases inside major commercial establishments are in English. U.S. corporations such as 7-Eleven, McDonalds, and KFC are well represented in Taipei. Seeing familiar sights like these were comforting, however over the week I was impressed with how the Taiwanese people are accepting of other cultures while maintaining their own Taiwanese and Chinese traditions.

     The strongest impression I have of Taiwan is the interaction I had with the Taiwanese students that were with us all week. I cannot describe in words how much help they were to me and other U.S. students. With every trip to a restaurant we were faced with choosing unfamiliar food from a menu printed in Chinese. The Taiwanese students had no hesitation going through menus with us, and by the end of the week knew our likes and dislikes and pretty much ordered food for us. Being a meat-and-potatoes Midwesterner, food was a big worry of mine before the trip, however one of the greatest rewards I brought back from the trip was my experience of trying so many new items of food. The assistance of the Taiwanese students also included getting us around the Taipei subway and bartering for us at the jade markets, among other situations. Several of them commented on how weak their English was, however they had no problem whatsoever communicating with us. All of them began learning English at the elementary school level, and welcomed having us around to practice their English. I can remember my struggles attempting to learn basic Spanish when I was younger, and now realize what a feat it is for the Taiwanese students with us, and also for foreign students who come to the United States and communicate effectively in English.

     Along with the language assistance, the Taiwanese students realized how easy it is to get lost in the crowds of Taipei. During our excursions to the street markets the students actively made sure that we did not become separated from our groups. On Wednesday 1 June we all went to karaoke, and on the way out I got separated from the group by a full elevator. It was no problem, I just took the next elevator down, but when I got downstairs with the group I found out that two Taiwanese students went right back up the elevator to get me. I was most appreciative of their concern for us during the trip, especially when I wandered off at the mall food court to go to KFC.

     During the week the Taiwanese students and scholars taught us customs and manners that I found to be beneficial for future dealings with Taiwanese people. The most intriguing customs were in restaurants, regarding proper use of chopsticks and dealings with wait staff. We also learned the cultural value of promptness during the scientific meetings during the day. I was also very impressed with the overall patience of the Taiwanese people. During our bus rides to the meetings in the mornings, for which I was very thankful I was not driving, we encountered many close calls between motorbikes and/or automobiles. These encounters seemed routine to the populace and were handled in a very tasteful manner, unlike the .road rage. common to U.S. roadways. I noticed this patience and acceptance to be present in almost all of my dealings in public and I was quite impressed.

     My favorite excursions during the week were the trips to Taipei 101 skyscraper (Sunday 29 May) and to Taroko Gorge (Saturday 4 June). The engineering of Taipei 101, from the high speed pressurized elevators to the giant stabilizing system near the top of the building, was spectacular. The natural beauty of Taroko Gorge was something I could not properly record with photographs, it was breathtaking.

Concluding Remarks

     My experience with the COSMIC/UCAR summer camp far exceeded my expectations prior to the trip and leaves me with memories for a lifetime. This program was unique in the interaction it fosters among U.S. students, Taiwanese students, and the invited speakers. I am thankful to have been selected to visit a country that I would likely not have had a chance to otherwise visit. It was exciting to learn from and interact with the experts in the field of GPS radio occultation, a field that holds so much promise for future atmospheric research. The ingenuity of the men and women involved in GPS RO is fascinating, as the concept originated from the .nuisance signal. from GPS geodesy research several decades earlier, and has now progressed to be operational.

     The only suggestion I have for future programs is that visits to university research facilities would have been desired. I got a sense of the operations side of meteorology in Taiwan, but besides the trip to NSPO, did not get an impression of the atmospheric research facilities. However I could not have asked for a better experience, both scientifically and personally, than I came away with from this trip. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to Bill Kuo and UCAR for selecting me for this program, to Kim Prinzi-Kimbro for her impeccable planning and logistical oversight of the trip, and to Prof. Huang and the Taiwanese students for all of their assistance and support throughout the week.