Taneil Uttal

Taneil Uttal, a NOAA scientist from Boulder, Colorado, serves as the Atmosphere Team Coordinator on Leg 2, Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Liaison and Federal co-investigator on an NSF-funded communications and coordination project. Uttal, whose key science focus is surface energy balance, will be working on tasks assigned by the NSF Flux Project. During the expedition, Uttal will serve to facilitate NOAA Coordination with DOE and NASA, and also align MOSAiC with YOPP to actualize modeling experiments that will support the U.S. Weather Service Improvement Act. Uttal explores key science questions such as: 

  • How is Arctic change affecting the mid-latitudes?

  • How do model time-step processes contribute to accumulating biases in NWP models? 

  • What is the net energy flow through the Arctic system (terrestrial and ocean) and how is it changing? 

  • How can data be amalgamated to serve rapid information response needs?

Q: What instrument(s) will you be working on, and what is your favorite one?

A: "Surface energy balance flux stations and tower are my assigned instruments. The cloud radar in the ARM mobile facility is my favorite."

Tasks

Tasks as assigned by the NSF Flux Project. NOAA Coordination with DOE and NASA, align MOSAiC with YOPP to actualize YOPP modeling experiments that will support the U.S. Weather Service Improvement Act.

Science Questions

How is Arctic change affecting the mid-latitudes? How do model time-step processes contribute to accumulating biases in NWP models? What is the net energy flow through the Arctic system (terrestrial and ocean) and how is it changing? How can data be amalgamated to serve rapid information response needs?

What are you most excited about the expedition?

The opportunity to do synthesis science with new measurement and computational technologies and integrate observations and model outcomes.

What do you love most about the Arctic?

Close proximity and interaction of water in all it's phases - liquid, ice, gas (fogs, clouds, precipitation, the ocean, melt ponds, myriad ice types, etc.