Longmont Museum - Antarctica: Catching snow in the world’s southernmost desert
NASA
7:15 – 8:30 pm MDT
Measuring snowfall anywhere is a challenge — but perhaps nowhere more so than Antarctica. Accurate snowfall measurements there are critical for understanding how the continent’s ice sheets are changing, but hurricane-force winds and frigid temperatures have made such measurements nearly impossible. NSF NCAR Scientist Scott Landolt is testing new technologies that might finally make accurate snowfall measurements in Antarctica possible. Come and learn about his project and the challenges of working in such an extreme environment.
Scott Landolt
Scott Landolt is an associate scientist at NSF NCAR and has worked in the Research Applications Laboratory for over 20 years. One of his primary research areas focuses on improving snowfall measurements and observations. He was an active participant in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) to establish a world standard for snowfall measurement. More recently, Scott has been actively working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on developing methods to utilize snowfall measurements with aircraft deicing practices. In addition to his research, Scott oversees the NSF NCAR Pre-College Internship Program (PRECIP) that brings high school students to NSF NCAR for the summer to do research with scientists. Outside of NSF NCAR, Scott is a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver in the meteorology program.