Reception begins at 3:30pm. Talk begins at 4pm.

Dr. Brian Argrow, the Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder, comes to speak to us about "Supercells to Supersonics: Aerospace Engineering Applied to Atmospheric & Weather Research."

In June 2010, the University of Colorado and University of Nebraska collaborated for the first collection of thermodynamic data in a supercell thunderstorm using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) as part of the “Second Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment” (VORTEX-2), co-sponsored by NSF and NOAA. Last spring 2019, the CU-NU UAS team again deployed to the Great Plains with new and improved UAS for the NSF/NOAA-sponsored project “Targeted Observations by Radars and UAS of Supercells” (TORUS). The 2019 TORUS field campaign was highlighted by intercepts of supercells that produced tornadoes while UAS were sampling the storms. The field campaign also provided an opportunity to deploy balloon-borne instruments to begin to characterize how supercells, that can grow above 70,000 feet, generate disturbances in the stratosphere as part of the Hypersonic Flight in the Turbulent Stratosphere (HYFLITS), a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The objectives of HYFLITS research are to measure turbulence and particulates in the stratosphere to refine models for simulations and design of hypersonic aircraft, and aero-optical propagation. This talk will discuss the TORUS and HYFLITS research goals, results from the spring 2019 field campaigns, and look forward to the 2020 field campaign.

Brian Argrow is Professor and Schaden Leadership Chair of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, Director of the Integrated Remote & In-Situ Sensing Program (IRISS), and founding Director (emeritus) of the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV).  His research ranges from the design and deployment of small UAS to high-speed aerodynamics and hypersonics. He is an AIAA Fellow and has served on numerous National Academies, NASA, USAF, and NOAA committees. He received the Department of the Air Force Exemplary Civilian Service Award for service on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, and is a current member of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.