RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Lander’s primary research interests center on water quantity with emphasis on tropical rainfall, El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), tropical climate and climate variability, and tropical cyclones. He leads the UOG component of the Pacific ENSO Applications Center (PEAC) at WERI and is currently providing operational long lead-time (1 year) forecasts of rainfall and typhoon activity for the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands. Some of his recently completed works deal with the distribution of rainfall on Saipan and also on Pohnpei. In a recent project, Dr. Lander installed electronic rain gages on top of the highest mountain (Nahna Laud) in the interior of Pohnpei Island. Since 2003, these gages indicate annual rainfall totals of nearly 350 inches, establishing this location as one of the wettest on earth.

PROJECTS

Ongoing projects:

• Pacific ENSO Applications Center:

The Pacific ENSO Application Center (PEAC) was formally established in 1994 and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was among the first areas of the world to develop such a center. This center has been a collaborative effort between NOAA’s Office of Global Programs (OGP), NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) – Pacific Region, University of Guam (UOG), the University of Hawaii (UH), and the Pacific Basin Development Council (PBDC). The goals of PEAC are to tailor products of global ENSO prediction models to the Pacific region and to interpret and dissemination regional forecasts to public and private policy officials in the Pacific islands.

To achieve these goals, the activities of PEAC revolve around two components, research and outreach. The research components include:

• A study of the regional climatology.
• Development and publication of regional synoptic climatology.
• Development of a statistical rainfall forecast model.
• Development of sea level statistics and correlations.
• Evaluation of and feedback on the performance of climate models from other agencies and institutions.
• Evaluation of the forecasts in the PEAC Newsletter.

The outreach components include:

• Providing tailored ENSO advisories and forecasts.
• Publishing a quarterly bulletin which includes information on El Nino and climate predictions for the region.
• Presenting on-island workshops to interpret the predictions for decision makers and to offer suggestions for local water resources management.

This project was initiated in response to relatively high levels of mercury being detected in fish from the Micro Beach area in the northern section of Garapan Lagoon, Saipan. Soil from drainage basins within the Garapan area and sediments from the coastal belt are currently being analyzed in an attempt to locate possible terrestrial source of contamination and identify drainage pathways into the lagoon. Biotic representatives from this popular fishing spot are also being considered. Potential sources of mercury contamination so far identified include the local hospital and a newspaper printing press. Soil from a drainage ditch in the grounds of the former site contained in excess of 1200 ng Hg/g dry weight of soil -- approximately 40 times higher than normal background levels. Expected completion date: Summer 2008. (Funding source: NOAA).

• Rainfall and Stream Flow Measurements on Pohnpei Island:

The USGS sponsored a project to study the weather and climate of Pohnpei to include: general rainfall statistics, a summary of the annual distribution of rainfall, and an examination of the return periods of short-term high-intensity rainfall events; the effects of ENSO on the climate and weather of Pohnpei; a summary of tropical cyclones affecting the island; and, an examination of month-to-month, inter-annual, and inter-decadal variations in mean annual rainfall. The distribution of rainfall on Pohnpei is affected by the topography, and the mean annual rainfall totals among recording stations on Pohnpei differ by as much as 150 inches! The region in the vicinity of Pohnpei’s international airport receives the lowest annual total of about 120 inches. The highest measured annual average of approximately 325 inches occurs atop Nahna Laud in the highland rainforest of Pohnpei’s interior. Charts of Pohnpei’s mean annual rainfall were produced from the first year of data collected from the WERI/CSP rain gage network. Earlier charts of Pohnpei’s mean annual rainfall using PRISM were found to be quite accurate. Future refinements are expected. The Pohnpei rain record is too short to develop accurate return periods of extreme rainfall events (although attempts were been made for this project and by others that may be refined as more data is gathered). More rain records need to be collected in typhoons and throughout the ENSO cycle to produce reliable tables of return periods for short-term extreme rain events. In any case, intensity-duration-frequency tables were generated with the existing short Pohnpei rainfall data sets. The rainfall data is now complementing a network of stream flow gages. A thorough study of several of Pohnpei Island’s major watersheds is now possible. Important questions to be addressed include the impact of human activities on the freshwater resources of the island. Local residents believe that the stream flows on the island have been altered by natural and human causes to include such things as: (1) Forest clearing for sakau growing; (2) Dug wells for municipal water; (3) Residential construction and expansion; and lastly, (4) Climate change.

• Ground Water Under the Direct Influence of Surface Water Determination for Guam.

The highly fractured nature of Guam’s ‘karst’ limestone aquifer allows for rapid recharge of groundwater reserves during storm events.  This characteristic can also facilitate the transport of sediments and other waterborne contaminants into the aquifer including pathogenic organisms associated with human and animal waste.  Not surprisingly then, it has been suggested that Guam’s aquifer should be classified as ‘groundwater under the direct influence of surface water’ (GWUDI) in accordance with recent USEPA guidelines.

The implications of a GWUDI designation are clear. Wells within the northern Guam lens aquifer (NGLA) would require regulation under the Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) as “Subpart H” surface water systems, would have to be appropriately monitored and disinfected, and would either have to install and operate filtration systems, or meet filtration avoidance criteria. In addition, long-term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR) requirements would mean Cryptosporidium, E. coli and turbidity monitoring for each well. This would be an expensive and problematic burden for Guam, and would not obviously provide commensurate additional public health protection. A recent cost estimate for complete GWDUI compliance by the Guam Waterworks Authority (GWA) was $145 million.

In the absence of any data highlighting the necessity for implementing such measures, the USEPA agreed to a deference of the GWUDI declaration pending the completion of a sound, scientific investigation to determine seasonal water quality changes in the NGLA. Correlating measurable increases in aquifer turbidity with significant storm events is of fundamental importance to the success of such a program. Other indicators of aquifer vulnerability during wet season conditions include changes in temperature, conductivity, hardness, microscopic particle characteristics, coliform bacteria detections and coliphage detections.

This project addresses the collection and analysis of the rainfall data necessary to provide a meaningful interpretation of all other parameters measured in the GWUDI program. It also addresses collection, analysis and correlation of coliphage data with the rain event data. (Funding source: US Environmental Protection Agency and Guam EPA).

Recently Completed Projects:

• Rainfall Climatology for Saipan: Distribution, Return Periods, El Niño, Tropical Cyclones, and Long-term variations.

Completed in 2004, the principal findings of this project were:

1. The distribution of mean annual rainfall on Saipan is affected by the topography, and the mean annual rainfall totals among recording stations on Saipan differ by as much as 15 inches (380 mm).

2. The region in the vicinity of Saipan’s International Airport receives the lowest annual total of about 75 inches (1900 mm). The highest mean annual rainfall of approximately 90 inches (2300 mm) occurs at Capitol Hill, and extends along the high ground from Marpi to Mount Tagpochau.

3. Intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) tables were generated using the short Saipan rainfall data sets, and with consideration of rainfall properties of typhoons. The intensity values at most durations and frequencies are higher than others have reported.

4. It is likely that typhoons are the cause of the highest rainfall intensities at all durations (from 15 minutes to 24 hours). Typhoon rainfall is negligibly affected by the topography of the island. Therefore, the return periods of extreme rain rates should be considered uniform across the whole island.

5. More rainfall on Saipan occurs in the 12-hour span between midnight and sunrise than in the 12-hour span between noon and midnight; with an absolute minimum in the evening. This is the typical rainfall distribution over the open ocean undisturbed by the effects of island heating, and is caused by diurnally varying radiative processes in the tropical oceanic atmosphere.

6. Month-to-month fluctuations of rainfall on Saipan are influenced by the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO).

7. Inter-annual variations of Saipan’s rainfall are closely linked to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. To some extent, the occurrence of typhoons in Saipan is also linked to ENSO.

8. Large inter-decadal variations in rainfall (and also in the distribution of typhoons) are noted. The causes of these remain unknown. Inter-decadal variations of rainfall and other hydro-meteorological phenomena render the search for signals of long-term climate change very difficult. (Funding source: U.S. Geological Survey)

PUBLICATIONS

Five Most Recent Publications

Lander, M.A. (2007).  Current Conditions and Local U.S. Affiliated Pacific Island Weather and Climate Summaries and Forecasts.  Pacific ENSO Newsletter.  NOAA National Weather Service.

Lander, M.A., Velden, C., Harper, B., Wells, F., Beven, J.L. II, Zehr, R. Olander, T. Mayfield, M., Guard, C., Edson, R., Avila, L., Burton, A., Turk, M., Kikuchin, A., Christian, A., Caroff, P. and McCrone P. (2006).  The Dvorak Tropical Cyclone Intensity Estimation Technique: A Satellite-Based Method that Has Endured for over 30 Years.  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 87: 1195-1210.

Khosrowpanah, S., Lander, M.A. and Heitz, L.F. (2005).  Pohnpei-the Wettest Island on Earth?  Tools for Managing Watersheds.  Proceedings of the Institutions for Sustainable Watershed Management, American Water Resources Association, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 27-29, 2005.

Lander M.A., Duval, P., Beven, J., Clark, D., Lulofs, H., Marra, J., Mojica, R. and Waters K. (2003).  Service Assessment: Super Typhoon Pongsona (December 8, 2002).  U.S. Dept. Commerce, NOAA/National Weather Service.  32 pp. plus appendices.

Lander, M.A., Guard, C.P. and Chiu, A.N. (2003).  Meteorological Assessment: Super Typhoon Pongsona (December 8, 2002).  US Dept of Commerce, NOAA/National Weather Service.  54 pp.

Lander, M.A. and Guard, C.P. (2001).  Western North Pacific, North Indian Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclones of 1997.  Monthly Weather Review,   129: 3015-3036.

Lander, M.A. (2001). Tropical Cyclones: Meteorological Aspects.  Horticultural Science, 36: 242-246.

Publications List

Journal Articles:

2003:  (With P. Duval, J. Beven, D. Clark, H. Lulofs, J. Marra, R. Mojica, and K. Waters)
Service Assessment, Super Typhoon Pongsona (December 8, 2002).  US Dept of Commerce, NOAA/National Weather Service.  32 pp plus appendixes.

2003:  (With C.P. Guard and Arthur N. Chiu) Meteorological Assessment, Super Typhoon Pongsona (December 8, 2002).  US Dept of Commerce, NOAA/National Weather Service.  54 pp.

2002: Tropical Cyclone Formation Definitions.  Section 4.4.1 of the Global Guide to Tropical Cyclone Forecasting.  Rapporteur Report.  5th International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones, Cairns, Australia, December, 2002.

2002: (With R.T. Edson, C.E. Cantrell, J.L. Franklin, P.S.Chang, and J.D. Hawkins) Operational Use of Quickscat over Tropical Cyclones.  Proceedings of the 25th AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, May 2002, San Diego, California.   pp 41-42.

2002:  A Look at Global Tropical Cyclone Activity with respect to the Atlantic Change-point Year of 1995.  Proceedings of the 25th AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, May 2002, San Diego, California.  pp 142-143.

2002:  (With B.D. Ward Jr.)  Distal and Sympathetic Surface Trough Development Induced by TUTT Cells: A Case Study.  Proceedings of the 25th AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, May 2002, San Diego, California.  pp 446-447.

2002: (With R.T. Edson) Evaluation of Microwave Imagery in the Life Cycle of Tropical Cyclones.  Proceedings of the 25th AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, May 2002, San Diego, California.  pp 477-478.

2001-2003:  Principal Author of Pacific ENSO Applications Center (PEAC) ENSO Newsletter.  Quarterly publications of the Pacific ENSO Applications Center.

1993-1997:  Principal Author of Chapter 3 (Summary of Western North Pacific and North Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones) of the Annual Tropical Cyclone Report issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

2001:  (With Charles P. Guard) Western North Pacific, North Indian Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclones of 1997.  Monthly Weather Review.   In press.

2001:  Tropical Cyclones: Meteorological Aspects.  Horticultural Science.   In Press.

2001:  Global Tropical Cyclone Activity During the 1990’s: Pronounced Effects of ENSO and Inter-decadal Changes.  Proceedings of the 10th Pacific Science Inter-Congress.  June 2001.  Tumon, Guam.

2001:  Responses of Well Levels on Northern Guam to Short-term and Long-term Variations of Rainfall and Tide. Proceedings of the 10th Pacific Science Inter-Congress.  June 2001.  Tumon, Guam.

2000:  The Tropical Cyclone Distribution in the western North Pacific during the El Niño-La Niña swing of 1997-99: Extraordinary Interannual Changes.  Proceedings of the 24th AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, June 2000, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

1999:  (With Charles P. Guard) A Scale Relating Tropical Cyclone Wind Speed to Potential Damage for the Tropical Pacific Ocean Region:  A User’s Manual. Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI) Technical Report 86.  University of Guam, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam, 96923.

1999:  (With Charles P. Guard, Michael P. Hamnett, Charles J. Neumann, and H. Galt Siegrist) Typhoon Vulnerability Study for Guam. Water and Environmental Research Institute (WERI) Technical Report 85.  University of Guam, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam, 96923.

1999: A tropical cyclone with an extremely large eye. Monthly Weather Review.  127, 137-142.

1999: A Tropical Cyclone with an Enormous Central Cold Cover, Monthly Weather Review. 127, 132-136.

1999: (With E.J. Trehubenko and C. P. Guard) Eastern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclones of 1996. Monthly Weather Review.  127, 1274-1300.

1999: (With Charles P. Guard) The maximum winds on Guam during Super Typhoon Paka – further arguments for reassessing western North Pacific wind-pressure relationships.  Proceedings of the 23rd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, January 1999, Dallas, Texas.

1999: (With Bill Ward) Upper Tropospheric outflow patterns over some very intense tropical cyclones of the western North Pacific as revealed by soundings, Doppler radar, and water-vapor winds.   Proceedings of the 23rd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, January 1999, Dallas, Texas.

1999: (With Charles P. Guard) A look at global tropical cyclone activity:  basin inter-comparisons and relationships with ENSO, QBO, and other large-scale climate.  Proceedings of the 23rd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, January 1999, Dallas, Texas.

1999:  Some characteristics of tropical cyclone intensification as revealed by hourly digital Dvorak.  Proceedings of the 23rd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, January 1999, Dallas, Texas.

1999: (With S.B. Cocks and R. Edson) Techniques for incorporating SSM/I imagery into Dvorak tropical cyclone intensity.  Proceedings of the 23rd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, January 1999, Dallas, Texas.

1999: (With G. McCulloch, S.B. Cocks and P. Hildebrand) Evaluation of a simple technique for predicting the peak intensity and the timing of peak intensity for tropical cyclones of the western North Pacific.  Proceedings of the 23rd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, January 1999, Dallas, Texas.
1998: (With Michael Angove) Eastern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclones of 1995. Monthly Weather Review.  126, 257-280.
1998: (With C. P. Guard) A Look at global tropical cyclone activity during 1995: contrasting high Atlantic activity with low activity in other basins. Monthly Weather Review: Special 1995 Hurricane Issue, 126, 1163-1173.
1998: Some characteristics of tropical cyclone intensification as revealed by hourly digital Dvorak analysis.
Proceedings of the 78th AMS annual meeting, January 1998, Phoenix, Arizona.

1997: On the ability of operational dynamic models to predict tropical cyclone intensity. Proceedings of the 22nd AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, May 1997, Fort Collins CO.

1997: Technical writing support for the 1996 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report published by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.1997: (with C.P. Guard) High Wave Events: NAVSTA Family Housing Project., report prepared for Moffat & Nichol Engineers, Long Beach, CA, 65 pp.

1997: (with T.R. Crume) Updating tropical cyclone satellite-derived Position Code Number criteria. JTWC/SATOPS Technical Note 97-001.1997: (with D.W. Miller) Intensity estimation of tropical cyclones during extratropical transition. JTWC/SATOPS Technical Note 97-002.

1996: Specific tropical cyclone track types and unusual tropical cyclone motions associated with a reverse-oriented monsoon trough in the western North Pacific. Weather and Forecasting, 11, 170-186.

1996: (With John Rupp) A Technique for estimating recurrence intervals of tropical cyclone-related high winds in the tropics: results for Guam. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 35, 628-637.

1996: Technical writing support for the 1995 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report published by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

1996: Large fluctuations of tropical cyclone intensity as revealed by the "Digital Dvorak" algorithm: implications for operations and research. Presented at the 1996 EGPACOM Tokyo Typhoon Conference, and at the 1996 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference in Miami.

1995: The merger of two tropical cyclones. Monthly Weather Review, 123, 2260-2265.

1995: Unusual tropical cyclone motion associated with reverse orientation of the monsoon trough of the western North Pacific. Preprints of the 21st Conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, April 24-28, 1995, Miami FL. pp 213-215.

1995: Technical writing support for the 1994 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report published by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Guam.

1994: Description of a monsoon gyre and its effects on the tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific during August 1991. Weather and Forecasting, 9, pp 640-654.

1994:  An Exploratory Analysis of the Relationship between Tropical Storm Formation in the western North Pacific and ENSO.  Monthly Weather Review, 122, 636-651.

1994: The origins of drought on Guam. Water and Energy Research Institute of the western Pacific, Technical Report No. 75, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam, 96923.

1993: Comments on, "A GCM Simulation of the Relationship between Tropical-Storm formation and ENSO". Mon. Wea. Rev.

1993: (with Greg Holland) On the interaction of tropical cyclone scale vortices, Part I: Observations, Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc., 119, 1347-1361.

1993: (with Greg Holland) On the meandering nature of tropical cyclone tracks, J. Atmos. Sci., 50, 1254-1266.

1992: (with Charles Guard) A scale relating tropical cyclone wind speed to potential damage for the tropical western Pacific Ocean.  Preprint of the 1992 NSC-NSF Joint Seminar on Prediction and Damage Mitigation of Meteorologically Induced Natural Disasters. National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, May 21-24, 1992.

1991: (with Charles Guard) Towards a consensus and public understanding of the definitions of maximum sustained winds in tropical cyclones. Preprint for the Second Workshop on Natural Disaster Reduction, Karuizawa, Japan, 23-27 September, 1991.

1990: Monthly averaged surface wind and anomalies. A near-real time analysis of Pacific surface wind and anomalies published in the Monthly Climate Diagnostics Bulletin issued by the Climate Analysis Center, World Weather Building, Room 605, 5200 Auth Road, Washington, D.C. 20233. Project duration: FEB 89 to MAY 90.

1990: Evolution of the cloud pattern during the formation of tropical cyclone twins symmetrical with respect to the equator, Mon. Wea. Rev. 118, 1194-1202.

1989: A comparative analysis of the 1987 ENSO event, Tropical Ocean Atmosphere Newsletter, 49, March, 3-6.

1989: (with J.C. Sadler, J.A. Maliekal, and A. Hori) Tropical Wind Stress from Time-averaged Winds. J. Appl. Meteor., 28, 904-912.

1988: (with M. L. Morrissey) Climatology of west wind bursts in the equatorial Pacific and their relationships to El Nino. Proc. Climate Diagnostics Workshop, Boston Mass.

1988: (with M. L. Morrissey) Do Equatorial Westerlies Precede El Nino?, Tropical Ocean Atmosphere Newsletter, 46, Sept., 1-5.

1988: (with M. L. Morrissey and J. A. Maliekal) A Preliminary Evaluation of Ship Data within the Equatorial Western Pacific.  J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 5, 251-258.

1987: (with M. L. Morrissey) Unexpected Duplicate Ship Reports in the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS). Tropical Ocean Atmosphere Newsletter, 38, March, 5-7.

1987: (with J.C. Sadler, A. Hori, and L. Oda) Tropical Marine Climate Atlas, Vols. I and II, UHMET publication 87-01, Dept. of Meteor. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu HI.

1987: An Investigation of the Large-scale Changes of the Wind, Sea- level Pressure, and Clouds Associated with Tropical Cyclone Twins Symmetrical about the Equator in the Western Pacific. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, Miami, April 1987.

1986: Theory and Observation of the Relationships Among the Wind and Relevant Forces in the Tropical Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer. Ph.D. dissertation. Dept. of Meteor. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI.

1986: An Anomalous Wind-pressure Relationship Along the Long-term Mean Subtropical Ridge Axis and its Probable Cause.  Proceedings of COADS workshop in Boulder CO., NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL ESG-23.

1986: An Effect of the Thermal Wind on the Boundary Layer Shear in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Proceedings of COADS workshop in Boulder CO., NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL ESG-23.

1983: (with J.C. Sadler, B.J. Kilonsky, A. Hori, and L. Oda) Surface Winds, Wind Stress, and Weather Over the Tropical Pacific During the FGGE Hawaii to Tahiti Oceanographic Shuttle -- January 1979 to June 1980. University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteor., Publication UHMET 83-01.

Technical Reports:

Lander, M.A. (2004). Rainfall climatology for Saipan: distribution, return-periods, El Niño, tropical cyclones, and long-term variations. WERI Technical Report No. 100: 58 pp.

Lander, M.A. and Khosrowpanah, S. (2004). Rainfall Climatology for Pohnpei Island, Federal State of Micronesia. WERI Technical Report No. 100: 58 pp.

Lander M.A. and Guard, C.P. (2003). Creation of a 50-Year Rainfall Database, Annual Rainfall Climatology, and Annual Rainfall Distribution Map for Guam. WERI Technical Report No. 102: 31 pp.

Lander, M.A. (2001). Responses of Well Water Levels on Northern Guam to Short-Term and Long-Term Variations of Rainfall and Tide. WERI Technical Report No. 94: 41 pp.

Conference Proceedings and invited lectures

2003:
* 9th Annual SPREP Regional Meteorological Services Directors Meeting.  Vava’u, Tonga.  August.
* Invited lecturer to WMO Typhoon Committee Roving Seminar Series.  Hong Kong and Shanghai, China.  October.

2002:
*25th Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology.  San Diego, California.  May.  
* Invited participant to the 8th Annual SPREP Regional Meteorological Services Directors Meeting.  Nandi, Fiji.  April.
* Invited participant at the 5th International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones.  Cairns, Australia, December.

2001:
* Invited Keynote Speaker to World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA) workshop on Typhoon Forecasting Research 25-28 September, 2001 on Cheju Island, Korea

2000:
*24th AMS Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology.  Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  June.  (Oral presentation accepted, but unable to attend because of surgery).
    *Guam Representative to South Pacific Regional Workshop on Pacific Global Ocean Observing Systems (Pacific GOOS).  Hosted in Samoa by the South Pacific Applied Geosciences Commission (SOPAC). Apia, Samoa.  August.

1999:
*Invited participant to a workshop on Remote Sensing, Image Processing, and GIS.  Tucson, Arizona.  April.  Sponsored by the University of Arizona and NASA Earth Science Education Program.
*23rd Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology.  Dallas, Texas.  January.   
*Invited participant to the WMO/ONR Workshop on the Extratropical Transition of Tropical Cyclones, Kaufbeuren, Germany, May

1998:
*Typhoon Conference, Tokyo, Japan.  March.
*Invited participant to the Fourth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones (IWTC IV), sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Haikou, Hainan Island, China, April

1997:
*Invited instructor for the National Weather Service's satellite meteorology workshop.  National Weather Service, Honolulu, Hawaii, December 9-13.
* Typhoon Conference, Tokyo, Japan.  February.
* 22nd Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology. Ft. Collins, Colorado. May.
* ONR workshop on TC-trough interactions.  Bad Tolz, Bavaria, Germany.  Aug.

1996:
* Typhoon Conference, Tokyo, Japan.  February.
*Inter-departmental Hurricane Conference, Miami, Florida. February.

1995:
* Invited instructor for the National Weather Service's tropical mesoscale meteorology workshop. National Weather Service COMET program, Honolulu Hawaii, February 4-17.
* Typhoon Conference, Tokyo, Japan. March.
* 21st Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, Miami, Florida, April.

1994:
* Inter-departmental Hurricane Conference, Miami, Florida. February.
* Typhoon Conference, Tokyo, Japan. March.

1993:
* Typhoon Conference, Tokyo, Japan. February
* Inter-departmental Hurricane Conference, Miami, Florida. February.
* 20th Annual Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, San Antonio, Texas. May.
* Third International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones, Huatulco, Mexico.   November.

1990:
* Annual tropical cyclone conference hosted by the JTWC, Guam. Presented topic: Problems with the Dvorak scheme in estimating intensities of tropical cyclones.
*Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA. ONR symposium on the Accelerated Tropical Cyclone Research Initiative.
* Workshop for the joint U.S. - Japan program for the Decade of Natural Disaster and Hazard Reduction held on the Big Island of Hawaii. Presented topic: The problem of typhoon forecasting in the western North Pacific.

1989:
* EPOCS advisory council meeting hosted by the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in Miami, FL. Presented topic: A comparative analysis of recent El Nino events.
Meeting, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 11-15, 1990.

COURSES TAUGHT

Hurricanes and Typhoons: an overview of Tropical Cyclones (EV 535, spring semester, even-numbered years, 3 credit hours)

This Graduate course is a study of the world’s tropical regions. Natural and anthropogenic variations in the global climate are studied. Mechanisms for short-term fluctuations and long-term changes are presented. Short-term climate fluctuations in the tropics due to such things as El Niño, La Niña, and the Quasi-biennial Oscillation dominate time series of tropical climate variables (e.g., rainfall and sea level), and make the assessment of long-term secular changes very difficult with the historical records that are available. Also discussed are the physical mechanisms of climate change, and contemporary theories on the changes to the tropical climate in a warmer world. This graduate course covers the fundamental principles and mechanisms governing the interaction of pollutants with natural systems. The basic concepts of classical and environmental toxicology are also addressed with emphasis on contaminant absorption, distribution, metabolism, systemic toxicology, carcinogenesis, toxicity testing, and risk assessment. The course concludes with a general introduction to air, land and water pollution.

• Tropical Climate and Climate Variability (EV 535, fall semester, even-numbered years, 3 credit hours)

This Graduate course is a study of the world’s tropical regions. Natural and anthropogenic variations in the global climate are studied. Mechanisms for short-term fluctuations and long-term changes are presented. Short-term climate fluctuations in the tropics due to such things as El Niño, La Niña, and the Quasi-biennial Oscillation dominate time series of tropical climate variables (e.g., rainfall and sea level), and make the assessment of long-term secular changes very difficult with the historical records that are available. Also discussed are the physical mechanisms of climate change, and contemporary theories on the changes to the tropical climate in a warmer world.

Hurricanes and Typhoons: an overview of Tropical Cyclones (EV 536, spring semester, even-numbered years, 3 credit hours)

    This Graduate course is a study of the tropical cyclones of the global tropics with emphasis on the typhoons of the western North Pacific.  Basic concepts of tropical cyclone motion, structure, and structure change are taught.  The history of tropical cyclones affecting Guam is presented along with practical knowledge of how to prepare for typhoon hazards, which are common to life on Guam and other islands of Micronesia.  The affects of climate change on the distribution and characteristics of tropical cyclones is an important contemporary problem.

Applications of Remote Sensing to Weather and Climate   (EV 537, spring semester, odd-numbered years, 3 credit hours)

This graduate course focuses on the applications of remote sensing platforms for observing and forecasting the weather, and for monitoring earth’s climate system.  Commonly used remote-sensing platforms include the various meteorological satellites and weather radar.  In the tropics of the western North Pacific, conventional surface observations of weather conditions are widely spaced.  Most of the information on weather systems, such as typhoons, monsoons, squall lines and other severe local weather is obtained from the weather satellite and weather radar.  Atmospheric ozone, volcanic emissions, sea-level, sea-ice coverage, soil moisture, atmospheric liquid water content, and many other weather and climate variables are measured by instruments onboard meteorological satellites.  This course explores the history of the international meteorological satellite programs and the United States’ effort to modernize its weather satellite constellation.  The history of the weather radar is explored, which culminates in the nationwide installation of NEXRAD Doppler weather radars (one of which is on Guam).  Principles of satellite and radar physics are introduced.  Interpretation of the structure of weather systems from satellite and radar imagery will be covered.  The use and function of the many instruments onboard satellites are described.  Students participate in real-time investigations of local and regional weather patterns using satellite and radar imagery.