Richard 'Rit' Carbone

Founding Director

The Institute for the Integrative &
Multidiciplinary Earth Sciences (TIIMES)

Senior Scientist

National Center for Atmospheric Research

Contact Information:

Shipping: NCAR - TIIMES
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO USA 80307-3000

Office: Foothills Laboratory
TllMES FL2 - 3083
3450 Mitchell Lane
Boulder, Colorado 80301

Phone: 303.497.8936
Email: carbone@ucar.edu

Breaking News:

Rit Carbone: the newest member of the AMS Executive Committee

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of more than 11,000 professionals, professors, students, and weather enthusiasts. AMS publishes nine atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic journals — in print and online — sponsors more than 12 conferences annually, and offers numerous programs and services.

The Executive Committee is the executive arm of the Council (the principal governing body). The Committee meets as often as necessary and is empowered to interpret and execute Council policies when the Council is not in session to ensure that reasonable actions are taken to accomplish the purposes of the Society - scientific, fiscal, and organizational. It is composed of six past AMS Presidents and two rotating positions. Dr. Carbone has been appointed until 2010.

Chairman, NRC Committee

Dr. Carbone is the Chairman of The National Research Council's (NRC) Committee on Developing Mesoscale Meteorological Observing Capabilities to Meet Multiple National Needs. The publication is due Summer 2008.

This committee is charged to develop an overarching vision for an integrated, flexible, adaptive, and multi-purpose mesoscale meteorological observation network and seek to identify specific steps to help develop a network that meets multiple national needs in a cost-effective manner. Starting from existing information, the ad hoc committee appointed to conduct the study will:

• characterize the current state of mesoscale atmospheric observations and purposes;
• compare the U.S. mesoscale atmospheric observing system to other observing system benchmarks;
• describe desirable attributes of an integrated national mesoscale observing system;
• identify steps to enhance and extend mesoscale meteorological observing capabilities so they meet multiple national needs; and
• recommend practical steps to transform and modernize current, limited mesoscale meteorological observing capabilities to better meet the needs of a broad range of users and improve cost effectiveness.

The study will focus primarily on mesoscale observational requirements over the United States and adjacent coastal zones, with emphasis on characterizing the planetary boundary layer (defined as extending from approximately 2 meters below the surface to 2-3 kilometers above), forecasting on time scales up to 48 hours, and the needs of urban areas. The study will provide a practical approach, stressing applications and how to design and implement an enhanced atmospheric observation system in a manner that the resulting information significantly improves users' decision-making. The study will address the roles to be played by federal, state, and local government and by commercial entities. In essence, the study will provide a framework and recommendations to engage the full range of weather-sensitive information providers and users in the development of an integrated, multi-purpose national mesoscale observation network.

The National Research Council (NRC) functions under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The NAS, NAE, IOM, and NRC are part of a private, nonprofit institution that provides science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln that was originally granted to the NAS in 1863. Under this charter, the NRC was established in 1916, the NAE in 1964, and the IOM in 1970. The four organizations are collectively referred to as the National Academies.

The mission of the NRC is to improve government decision making and public policy, increase public education and understanding, and promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in matters involving science, engineering, technology, and health. The institution takes this charge seriously and works to inform policies and actions that have the power to improve the lives of people in the U.S. and around the world.

Brief Biography

Richard (Rit) Carbone is a Senior Scientist and current & founding director of the TIIMES Institute at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. He has authored more than 100 scholarly works. A pioneer in Doppler radar, he has published on physical processes in clouds and storms, topographically-influenced circulations, predictability of warm season rainfall, convection on tropical islands, and severe storms.

Carbone led the United States Weather Research Program until 1999. He chaired the World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Research Programme (Geneva, CH) from 1994 - 2001 and served as vice-president for the International Union of Geodesy & Geophysiscs (IAMAS)

He earned an S.M. (Atmospheric Physics, '69) at the University of Chicago and was elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 1994. Among other honors, in 2001, Carbone received the Cleveland Abbe Award, For Distinguished Service to Atmospheric Science by an Individual. Dr Carbone was cited for "building consensus in the weather research community on problems of major national and international importance, and for fostering the conduct of collaborative and coordinated weather research." Additional information about Cleveland Abbe.

He was also awards with the 2003 NCAR Publication Prize while in 2004 he gave a seriest of Sigma Xi Public Lectures on Science & Science Issues (2004):

• Got Weather? Swirls, Splashes and Waves in the Atmosphere (P)
  Unlike the surface of water, air motions are often difficult to see with the naked eye. Animations of radar and satellite images and computer simulations reveal some amazing flows. How these flows relate to familiar clouds and storms helps to put human experiences in perspective.
• When It Rains It Pours: A Tale of Two Islands (G)
  Tropical islands are among the rainiest places on earth. Why is this so? Do all islands produce rainfall in a similar manner? These issues will be explored in a comparative study of Hawaii and the Tiwi Islands of Australia.
• Will Thunderstorms Ever Be Predictable? (S)
  There is not much skill associated with summertime rainfall prediction. Compared to other types of weather, thunderstorm forecasts are the worst, by far. Why is this? Why is it important to society? Can the science of meteorology and the technology of numerical weather prediction do something about it soon?

Research Interests:

Professional interests:

• Research in atmospheric science with emphasis on experimental meteorology, weather prediction, observing system technologies.
• Management of science and technology.
• Leadership of national and international R&D programs.

Personal research interests include:

• dynamical and microphysical processes in precipitation systems
• topographically influenced circulations
• warm season rainfall prediction
• island and coastal weather phenomena
• optimal sensing strategies from ground, air and space

Contributions to the literature encompass aspects of radar meteorology, precipitation physics,  mesoscale dynamics and precipitation climatology.  Specific topics include: electromagnetic signal theory, Doppler radar analysis techniques, mid-latitude convection, evolution of raindrop size distributions, frontal dynamics, warm season rainfall episodes, tropical convection, sea-, land-, and mountain-valley breezes.  Current research is focused on statistical/dynamical techniques to improve prediction of warm season rainfall

"This [storm chasing] is one of the last frontiers for meteorology and mankind on earth. No armament or other device can protect the field meteorologist in search of tornadoes. Not just bravado, these studies are shown to produce valuable findings with an air of excitement unsurpassed in the pursuit of science."

Excerpts from articles and reports of interest

ATD Director's Message - Toward An Earth Observing Laboratory (2004)

A excerpt from October 2002 Discover Magazine, page 13:

Rolling Thunder

Summer thunderstorms in the Midwest are confounding: They materialize out of nowhere. "If you look at a radar screen, it looks like a storm happens in one place, goes away, then a whole group of totally unrelated storms grow up a few hundred miles away," says meteorologist Richard Carbone of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. But when Carbone and his colleagues analyzed 50,000 radar images of thunderstorms that occurred between 1997 and 2000, they uncovered a previously undetected pattern. "As systems die, they cause the birth of new groups of thunderstorms in a very systematic way," he says. One storm triggers another and so on, creating ripples of rain that move west to east from the eastern edge of the Rockies to the Appalachian Mountains.

Carbone suspects that the ripple effect is driven by enormous atmospheric waves resulting from differences in the buoyancy of air masses. "Once we understand it, perhaps we'll be able to make the kind of precision predictions-say, that there is a 90 percent chance of rain in a metropolitan area in 18 hours-that will impact business decisions and human welfare," Carbone says. Just recognizing the pattern should improve forecasts: "We may not know where the storms will start, but once they get going, the near future is much more predictable."  -Kathy A. Svitil

Other Interests

A few nights each year, Walt Dabberdt (former associate NCAR director) plays host to former NCAR director Bob Serafin; Rit Carbone; Bob's son-in-law, John LeHew; and Geoff Dabberdt, Walt's son. They join forces to ferment and press grapes (frozen and shipped from California), rack the bottles, and take care of other winemaking tasks. The 700 or so bottles produced each year by Bear Mountain Cellars aren't for sale—"that's illegal"—but, Walt adds, "We've been known occasionally to make a trade.