The Hawaiian Educational Radar Opportunity (HERO)

Abstract

A National Science Foundation sponsored educational deployment of a Doppler on Wheels radar called the Hawaiian Educational Radar Opportunity (HERO) was conducted on O‘ahu from 21 October to 13 November 2013. This was the first-ever deployment of a polarimetric X-band (3 cm) research radar in Hawaii. A unique fine-resolution radar and radiosonde dataset was collected during 16 intensive observing periods through a collaborative effort between University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa undergraduate and graduate students and the National Weather Service’s Weather Forecast Office in Honolulu. HERO was the field component of MET 628 “Radar Meteorology,” with 12 enrolled graduate students who collected and analyzed the data as part of the course. Extensive community outreach was conducted, including participation in a School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology open house event with over 7,500 visitors from local K–12 schools and the public. An overview of the HERO project and highlights of some interesting tropical rain and cloud observations are described. Phenomena observed by the radar include cumulus clouds, trade wind showers, deep convective thunderstorms, and a widespread heavy rain event associated with a cold frontal passage. Detailed cloud and precipitation structures and their interactions with O‘ahu terrain, unique dual-polarization signatures, and the implications for the dynamics and microphysics of tropical convection are presented.

Snowflake Selfies: A Low-Cost, High-Impact Approach toward Student Engagement in Scientific Research (with Their Smartphones)

“…Examples of engaged scholarship include undergraduate student involvement in research and reinforcement of material and concepts learned in core classes during out-of-classroom activities, especially those related to relevant societal issues of interest to the students. Numerous examples of engaged scholarship have been incorporated into the meteorological teaching community, including instruments such as the National Science Foundation educational deployments of the Doppler on Wheels (Richardson et al 2008;Toth et al 2011;Bell et al 2015;Milrad and Herbster 2017;Clark et al 2019).…”

Partnering Research, Education, and Operations via a Cool Season Severe Weather Soundings Program

“…Notably, field work has been shown to produce more engaged students (e.g., Kolb 2014;Milrad and Herbster 2017) while enhancing their understanding of scientific principles (e.g., Knapp et al 2006;Elkins and Elkins 2007;Godfrey et al 2011;Barrett and Woods 2012;Hopper et al 2013). This project further offers unique opportunities for real-time operational decisionmaking, as students often decided whether to continue operating during an event; such autonomy is a critical component of successful student involvement in field work (e.g., Rauber et al 2007;Richardson et al 2008;Godfrey et al 2011;Hopper et al 2013;Bell et al 2015;Milrad and Herbster 2017). Additionally, the sounding club promotes professional growth for students, including providing networking opportunities with faculty, NWS personnel, and other local meteorologists.…”

An Educational Deployment of the NCAR Mobile Integrated Sounding System

“…Milrad and Herbster (2017) used their radar observations for scientific objectives related to the Florida sea breeze, a reliably occurring feature during its May deployment period. Similarly, Bell et al (2015) brought a DOW to Hawaii for the first time, where 10 cloud and precipitation events were sampled in this humid environment over a 20-day period.…”