The microburst challenge: A story of science, innovation, and safer aviation
6:30 – 8:30 pm MDT
For decades, microburst wind shear was one of the least understood and most hazardous threats in commercial aviation. Since 1943, these sudden, violent downdrafts have claimed over 1,400 lives worldwide, with more than 400 of those occurring in the U.S. in just a 12-year span. Those tragedies sparked an urgent need to better understand these events and provide solutions for safer flying.
Join us for this special Explorer Series event to learn about NSF NCAR's critical role in microburst research and the implementation of airport wind-shear detection systems. Hear from current and former NSF NCAR scientists through a series of short talks and a discussion panel about this remarkable research-to-operations success story. Arrive early to meet fellow attendees and NSF NCAR scientists, enjoy refreshments, and participate in hands-on activities.
Bill Mahoney
Bill Mahoney led weather related research and development programs at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for more than 37 years on a variety of topics including aviation safety, surface transportation, intelligent forecast systems, wildland fire behavior prediction, and renewable energy. He has written or co-authored more than 50 papers and frequently presented NCAR’s work at national and international fora. Bill is a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), served as AMS Commissioner of the Weather, Water and Climate Enterprise Commission, and is an AMS Fellow.
Larry Cornman
Larry Cornman is a scientist at the NSF NCAR. He started working at NSF-NCAR in 1983 in support of the FAA's Low Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS). From 1983 to 1990, Larry was involved in the development of the Phase II and Phase III LLWAS algorithms and the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) algorithms. In 1989, he developed the TDWR/LLWAS Integration algorithms, for which he holds numerous U.S. and International patents.
Since 1990, Larry's research focus has been on atmospheric turbulence. He has developed turbulence detection algorithms for remote sensors including ground-based and airborne Doppler radars, lidars and wind profilers; as well as developing a methodology for making in situ measurements of turbulence from commercial aircraft. More recently, Larry has been involved in developing turbulence detection algorithms using Aircraft Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out data. Viewing the 10,000-15,000 aircraft flying at a given time as a potential source of turbulence reporting is a paradigm-shifting scenario. The algorithm efforts have been successful, showing that the vertical rate (VR) field from ADS-B reports can be used to provide operationally useful turbulence information. This ADS-B turbulence project has matured to the point of operational deployment of the algorithm for US airspace with the FAA, and globally with Aireon LLC, both in 2026.
Bob Barron
Bob Barron worked at NSF NCAR from 1978 through 2018 as a Student Assistant, a Software Engineer, a Project Manager, and the Deputy Director for Engineering at the Aviation Applications Program. Mr. Barron’s technical interests over the years have included computer graphics, user interface design, meteorological radar systems, wind profiling radars, meteorological data visualization, and the architecture and design of meteorological systems.
He has participated in the design of systems for and the execution of meteorological data collection field projects in in Montana, North Carolina, Alabama, Kansas, Colorado, California, and Alaska using radars, aircraft, anemometers, lidars, and wind profilers. These field projects investigated a broad range of phenomena such as convective storms, winter storms, microbursts, and terrain induced windshear and turbulence.
Bob has worked on a variety of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projects during his career at NSF NCAR including the Low Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS) Project, the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) Project, the Terminal Area Surveillance System (TASS) Project, the Aviation Digital Data System (ADDS) Project, the Common Support Services - Weather (CSS-Wx) Project, the Weather Technology in the Cockpit Mobile Met and Tactical Turbulence Projects, and the Juneau Airport Winds System (JAWS) Project.