Roy Rasmussen

Roy Rasmussen
Senior Scientist Section Head

National Center for Atmospheric Research
Research Applications Laboratory (RAL)
The Institute for the Integrative & Multidiciplinary Earth Sciences (TIIMES)

Programs:

Water Systems (WS) - Lead

Hydrometeorological Applications Program (HAP) - Director

Snowfall and Freezing Precipitation - Lead

Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making (WSDDM)

NCAR/RAP's Marshall Field Site

Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, H2O, Organics & Nitrogen (BEACHON)

Contact Information:

Mailing: P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO USA 80307-3000

Office: FL2 - 3088

Phone: 303.497.8430
Email: rasmus@ucar.edu

Brief Biography

Roy Rasmussen is a senior scientist at NCAR with appointments in both RAL and TIIMES. He is the director of the Water System Program (WS) and the Hydrometeorological Applications Program (HAP) as well as a lead scientist in the Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, Water, Organics & Nitrogen (BEACHON) project. He led the FAA funded effort to develop the Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making (WSDDM) winter weather nowcasting system that is currently being deployed commercially at a number of U.S. airports and was awarded the Government Technology Leadership award in November 1999. He led an effort to develop a new artificial snowmaking machine that is currently being used to test the performance of de/anti-icing fluids under snow conditions. He also co-developed a new hotplate snowgauge. His scientific research has encompassed studies of hail formation and melting, mesoscale flow past topography, winter storms, aircraft icing, improved microphysical parameterizations for freezing drizzle, and the relationship between snowfall rate and visibility. His papers on the latter subject were awarded the NCAR outstanding publication in 2000, and he was recently recognized as an AMS Fellow. He holds three patents from his work with the FAA and NCAR.

Research

Yankee Environmental System Hotplate Snowgauge:

Real-time liquid equivalent sensor
Hotplate Snowgauge Presentation

WSDDM System

Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making

(Winter Weather Report)

Presentations

Which Causes the Greatest Aircraft Ground-Icing Threat?

For the answer to this and other intriguing questions,
please look through the How Snow Can Fool Pilots document.

An Small Assortment of Other Presentations:

• Northeast Winter C&V Program

• Winter Weather Report

• Hotplate Snowgauge

• Consolidated Summer/Winter Storm Forecast

• Snow and drizzle intensity estimates based on visibility and reported in METARs (which are currently used operationally) are inaccurate!

• Current Status of Making Liquid Equivalent Snow Fall Rate Operationally Available every minute

• Weather support to deicing decision making (WSDDM): A winter weather nowcasting system

• Winter weather research PDT

• The relationship between snowfall rate & visibility

• Winter weather issues

• Update on the use of liquid equivalent for determination of snowfall & drizzle rates of light, moderate, & heavy

In The News:

Scientists set out to debunk cloud seeding myth

8 December 2008 | Wyoming Public Radio audio clip & story
Some might try to blame this week's snowy weather on a cloud seeding program underway in Wyoming. But the scientists running the project say let's wait til the results are in. They're doing the nation's only scientific study on whether cloud seeding increases snowfall and in the process, they hope to banish some misconceptions about seeding the clouds. Wyoming Public Radio's Addie Goss reports...Time will tell whether this seeding project will actually increase snow pack. Roy Rasmussen at NCAR is one of the scientists looking into that question. He says it's hard to tease apart the effect of cloud seeding from natural changes in weather. For example, did the project cause some of this week's snowfall? Or was the snow just heavy on its own?...more

Ice Capades - Behind Travel Mess: New Rules for Sleet - Airlines, FAA Battle

Wall Street Journal - 23 March 2007, by S. Carey & A. Pasztor
Most of the usual suspects figured in this winter's air-travel fiascoes: wicked storms, jam-packed planes and missteps by airlines. But this year, the problems were exacerbated by an obscure meteorological condition: ice pellets...more

NTSB to decipher Denver windshield failure puzzle...

Flight International - March 5, 2007-John Croft
Cold front suspected of causing cracks to windscreens of 14 aircraft in one afternoon US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators are trying to determine what caused a rash of airline windshield failures at or near Denver International Airport on 16 February...more

New Technology Could Enhance Safety in Rain and Snow

Yankee Environmental Systems, Inc.
BOULDER—The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Foundation has awarded an exclusive manufacturing license to Yankee Environmental Systems to manufacture an electrical gauge that calculates real-time rates of snow, rain, and other types of precipitation. Because it is small and requires little maintenance, the Hotplate™ Total Precipitation Sensor can be strategically placed along airport runways or busy highways to help track weather conditions and ensure the safety of travelers...more

Whether to Fly: The Ice Issue

Airport Technology - March 2006
A new system being introduced in many US airports is able to provide real-time, weather-based information. Huw Kidwell reports on how this will assist airport operators in their de-icing decision making. Weather Support to De-icing Decision Making (WSDDM) is a concept being introduced at many airports across the world, particularly in the USA...more

New Detection System Prevents Cold-Weather Aircraft Damage

FAA-funded research influenced pilot training, on-ground procedures
America.gov 29 October 2004
Scientists at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have developed a system for airlines that can accurately identify potentially damaging heavy freezing drizzle, according to an October 27 NCAR press release...more

DRI Scientist involved in development of new precipitation gauge licensed by UCAR New Technology Could Enhance Safety in Rain and Snow

DRI - 8 October 2003
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Foundation has awarded an exclusive manufacturing license to Yankee Environmental Systems to manufacture an electrical gauge that calculates real-time rates of snow, rain, and other types of precipitation. Because it is small and requires little maintenance, the Hotplate™ Total Precipitation Sensor can be strategically placed along airport runways or busy highways to help track weather conditions and ensure the safety of travelers...more

US Water Resources

UCAR Communications - webcast

A Bad Day for Freezing Drizzle and Flying

Live Science

Wet snow can be dangerous to aircraft before takeoff

USA Today

New Research Helps Protect Airplane Engines From Drizzle

Science Daily

New Help For Deicing Decisions ...

Science Blog

Putting travel risk on ice

UCAR Communications

HotPlate™ Advanced Precipitation-Measuring System

DRI

Freezing drizzle: An aviation hazard that's no longer hard to see

UCAR Communications

New research helps protect airplane engines from drizzle...

Science Blog