On behalf of Tim Spangler, I am providing the following announcement:

Greetings all,

The COMET Program is pleased to announce the release of a Webcast entitled "The Use and Misuse of Conditional Symmetric Instability". This Webcast features NSSL researcher David Schultz presenting operationally relevant material based on a paper that will appear in a future issue of the AMS journal Monthly Weather Review. It is delivered as a streaming audio lesson with accompanying text and graphics and may be accessed via http://meted.ucar.edu/export/csi. This lesson was developed for the forecast community based on a similar presentation made by Dr. Schultz during the COMET Program's COMAP residence course for NWS Science Operations Officers.

In this Webcast, Dr. Schultz outlines the subtle and often confusing issues surrounding Conditional Symmetric Instability. Material is then presented to encourage the meteorological community to properly apply these concepts to diagnose actual regions of CSI and apply that knowledge to forecasting banded precipitation. Avenues for future research are also discussed. The presentation is ~30 minutes in length.

This module uses RealNetworks technology to deliver streaming audio over the Web. This audio is synchronized to bookmarked slides in an accompanying Web page. With streaming media, the audio or video file can begin to play after a brief buffer period, without having downloaded the entire file. This means long segments can be played even with limited speed Internet connections.

You will need the RealPlayer plug-in from RealNetworks in order for this Webcast to work with your browser. A link to obtain this free plug-in is available from the main lesson page.

We welcome any comments you may have regarding the content, instructional approach, or use of this material. A short online survey is included under "Send Your Comments" on the homepage, and we encourage users to share their opinions of this new technology. Pat Parrish directed the development of the CSI Webcast. You may reach Pat Parrish or Dave Schultz at the addresses below. The COMET Program would like to acknowledge the participation and support of NSSL and co-author Philip Schumacher from the NWS Sioux Falls, SD Forecast Office in the development of this lesson.

Sincerely,
Timothy Spangler COMET Program Director

For Technical Support assistance for this Webcast contact:
support@comet.ucar.edu

For information on the CSI Webcast contact:

Patrick Parrish, Instructional Designer
COMET/UCAR
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000 USA
(303) 497-8470
pparrish@comet.ucar.edu OR:

Dr. David Schultz
NOAA/NSSL/CIMMS
(405)-366-0453
david.schultz@noaa.gov