The University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies has announced the recipients of the first annual CIMMS awards.
The three awards are for Outstanding Publication, Outstanding Achievement in Research or Research Support by an Individual or Team and Outstanding Achievement in Outreach, Education, or Service by an Individual or Team.
The award for Outstanding Publication went to Andrew Rosenow and José Meitín for their paper “Gap-filling Mobile Radar Observations of a Snow Squall in the San Luis Valley” demonstrating the importance of incorporating gap-filling radar observations to improve weather prediction and observation in areas with poor radar coverage. Their work has led to providing a platform for adding gap-filling radars to the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor System, in addition to the installation of new radars in critical water resource regions.
Rosenow said he was honored to receive the award.
“It means a lot to be recognized like this with all the good work published by my colleagues at CIMMS,” he said.
Meitín agreed and said the award was a complete surprise.
“The credit belongs to the lead author, Andrew Rosenow, who happened to be sitting in the radar truck through the brunt of the storm we studied,”
Meitín said. “This was part of a small, focused winter snowpack study that yielded great results culminating in a new weather radar installation in Alamosa Colorado. Personally, it was a great opportunity for me to continue to be involved after retirement from NOAA.”
The award for Outstanding Achievement in Research was awarded to Brett Roberts for software development that has revolutionized the operational capabilities for post-processing and visualizing output from convection-allowing model. This includes the development of a web viewer for High Resolution Ensemble Forecast guidance and renovation of web-based visualization for the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Forecast Experiment.
Roberts said he was surprised to receive the award at CIMMS All-Hands Meeting.
“It was quite an unexpected honor to be selected for this year’s CIMMS Research Award!,” Roberts said. “There are a lot of talented and dedicated people working together to make our annual Spring Forecasting Experiment possible, and I’m thankful to be a part of it.”
The award for Outstanding Achievement in Outreach, Education or Service went to Tanya Riley for her outstanding service providing all CIMMS staff, students and visitors with exceptional assistance with travel and providing a level of care that adds to a positive image for the CIMMS brand.
Riley was also surprised and very appreciative to receive the award.
“We in the CIMMS office try our hardest to take care of everything, except the science, and it’s very nice to know that it doesn’t go unnoticed,” Riley said. “Thank you all so much!”
Award recipients were nominated by a CIMMS team lead or technical advisor.