Better forecasts in the future?

Science World, Oct 6, 1997

Hurricane forecasters think globally--they track worldwide weather factors like ocean and wind currents. Peggy LeMone, a meteorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, thinks locally. To help improve local forecasts, she's studying changes in temperatures, winds, moisture levels, and a host of other weather factors over a 4,500-square-kilometer (1,738 sq. ml.) tract of land near Wichita, Kansas.

LeMone studies the interaction between Earth's surface and the boundary layer--the lowest few thousand feet of the atmosphere. To collect data, LeMone and her colleagues use weather balloons, radar, and even low-flying planes equipped with computers and atmospheric sensors.

Over the next few years, LeMone hopes to translate her data into mathematical equations that can help meteorologists improve their forecasts.