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The AMS Education Program turns 25 this year! In this milestone year, the program highlights its work in fostering Earth science literacy nationwide through in-service K-12 teacher professional development and [...]

The development, operation, and characterization of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) that feature an electrode structure that allows the transfer of charge both horizontally and vertically through the image area is described. The ability of both two dimensional transfer CCDs (2DT CCD) transfer electrode schemes to successfully transfer charge in both horizontal and vertical directions in the image section of the devices is proven, opening up potential new applications for 2DT CCD use.

A description on the irradiation of 95 electron multiplication charge coupled devices (EMCCDs) at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland is presented, investigating the effects of proton irradiation on the operational characteristics of CCDs featuring electron multiplication technology for space use. The main aim was to further investigate the statistical probability of device failure as a result of radiation damage, the large number of devices and high proton fluence used.

During this demonstration project, an overhead portion of a four-wire power distribution circuit was converted to a five-wire system. The fifth wire is an isolated neutral that carries all of the unbalanced return current. The measurements suggested that a ground relay could be set much lower on a five-wire system than a comparable four-wire system for improved high-impedance fault detection. Stray voltage was also much lower when the circuit was operated as a five-wire configuration. Magnetic fields were generally lower on the five-wire circuit than at the same locations during four-wire operation. Conversion of an existing four-wire system to a five-wire system presented several unique concerns including fifth-wire placement, crew safety and operations, and how to interface the five-wire system with the existing four-wire distribution system. Index Terms--Grounding, high-impedance faults, magnetic fields, power distribution, stray voltage.

The Fifth International Conference on School and Popular Meteorological and Oceanographic Education was held 5-9 July 1999 in Ballarat and Melbourne, Australia. Conference delegates included 105 teacher educators, meteorologists, oceanographers, and science communicators representing 13 nations. Principal themes of the conference were weather and ocean studies in the primary and secondary school classroom (K-12), professional development programs for teachers in meteorology and oceanography, using the Internet for schools and public education, and communicating environmental issues to the public. Oral presentations, workshops, poster sessions, and hands-on demonstrations provided information on programs for teacher enhancement, computer-aided instruction, and access to real-time weather information.

The Fourth International Conference on School and Popular Meteorological and Oceanographic Education was held 22-26 July 1996 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Conference attendees included 125 educators, meteorologists, oceanographers, and government officials representing 19 nations. The themes of the conference were the roles of meteorology and oceanography in science education and the benefits derived from improved environmental awareness and scientific literacy, particularly weather awareness, meteorological literacy, and understanding of the ocean. Formal presentations, workshops, poster sessions, and demonstrations provided information on programs for teacher enhancement, computer-aided instruction, and classroom access to real-time weather information through the World Wide Web.

The education program of the American Meteorological Society established a unique partnership in 1994 with the United States Naval Academy and oceanographic agencies of both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Navy. This partnership, called the Maury Project, was formed to promote the study of the physical foundations of oceanography for precollege teachers. The primary activity of the Maury Project has been 2-week summer programs for teachers hosted by the Oceanography Department at the Naval Academy. In addition, a variety of educational materials has been developed to provide participating teachers with topics to conduct workshops for their colleagues in their home states. In the 2 years since the first Maury Project summer workshop, Maury peer trainers have conducted approximately 200 workshops reaching some 3600 teachers at a variety of conferences and other in-service training sessions. This paper focuses on the partnership aspect of the Maury Project. The combination of a variety of organizations involved in both the operational and research activities of physical oceanography provides a network of individuals and resources that can greatly enhance teaching about this discipline. The overall characteristics of the program are described and major outcomes from the first 3 years are outlined.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) held its Fifth Symposium on Education in conjunction with the 76th Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme of this year's symposium was 'Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences: Building the Future on a Solid Foundation.' Thirty-four oral presentations and 41 poster presentations summarized a variety of educational programs or examined issues of importance for both the precollege and university levels. There was also a joint session with the 12th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrography on new technologies for the classroom. Over 200 people representing a wide spectrum of the Society attended one or more of the sessions in this two-day conference, where they increased their awareness of educational initiatives of members and institutions associated with AMS.

For the second consecutive summer, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) conducted four teacher and faculty enhancement workshops in the atmospheric sciences. Project ATMOSPHERE, the K-12 educational initiative of the AMS, conducted two workshops for teachers in the Atmospheric Education Resource Agent program and another workshop for master precollege teachers from across the nation. The AMS, with support from the National Science Foundation, held a fourth workshop for undergraduate faculty members from two- and four-year colleges who teach weather-related topics. These 1995 workshops provided educators at all levels with learning experiences on a variety of atmospheric topics and an introduction to operational and research activities of the meteorological community.

We present analytic procedures for calculating the magnetostatic and response functions of magnetoresistive (MR) recording heads. To apply these methods we make several simplifying approximations, which have been found to be valid for typical recording head geometries. In particular, we show how to calculate the bias magnetization distribution, ideal transition pulse shape, and frequency response for the unshielded MR (UMR) head. To do this, we summarize a method based on conformal mapping and reciprocity, and present a simpler direct method which produces identical results. We extend this alternate method to find analylti expressions for the saturated bias magnetization.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) held its Fourth Symposium on Education in conjunction with the 75th Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas. The theme of the symposium was 'Opening the Doors to the Future: Education in the Classroom and Beyond.' Thirty-eight oral presentations and 53 poster presentations summarized a variety of educational programs or examined issues of importance for both the precollege and university levels. There were also two joint sessions with other meetings. The K-12 education session was held as part of the 24th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology, in recognition of the contributions made by media meteorologists. The second joint session was with the 11th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology on new technologies for the classroom. Over 200 people representing a wide spectrum of the Society attended one or more of the sessions in this two-day conference, where they increased their awareness of educational initiatives of members and institutions associated with the AMS.

Project ATMOSPHERE atmospheric educational resource agents (AERAs) representing the mid-Atlantic states pooled resources to conduct a regional workshop for teachers. This conference used hazardous weather as its central theme. Over 150 people attended this one-day event held in Richmond, Virginia, which included three concurrent sessions of eight presentations each. The workshop included presentations by meteorologists and educators from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Virginia Power, and television stations, as well as the AERAs themselves. The presentations were designed to develop basic understandings about hazardous weather and to provide guidance for establishing hazardous weather emergency action plans for schools. The orientation of the program was hands-on, including a number of activities for teachers to implement in the classroom. This workshop demonstrates how educators and scientists can form partnerships to improve science education.

In recognition of the educational efforts throughout the atmospheric and oceanic science communities, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has instituted an annual forum called the Symposium on Education. The third such symposium was held this year in conjunction with the 74th Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. The theme of this year's symposium was 'Preparing for the Twenty-First Century.' Thirty-one oral presentations and 26 poster presentations summarized a variety of educational programs or examined issues of importance for both the precollege and university levels. In addition, there was a panel discussion on future directions for the undergraduate degree in the atmospheric and marine sciences. One interesting aspect of this year's symposium was a joint session with the 10th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology on new technologies for the classroom. Over 200 people representing a wide spectrum of the Society attended one or more of the sessions in this two-day conference, where they increased their awareness of the educational initiatives of members and institutions associated with the AMS.

The Third International Conference on School and Popular Meteorological and Oceanographic Education was held 14-18 July 1993 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This conference was attended by approximately 150 educators, meteorologists, oceanographers, and government officials representing 12 countries. The themes of this conference were the role of meteorology and oceanography in the formal science education of students in grades K-12 and the enhancement of scientific literacy of the public in order to permit individuals to make better use of products and services provided by the national environmental services and the media. Sixty formal presentations plus two poster sessions and six workshops provided information on educational programs as well as a variety of classroom activities on meteorological and oceanographic topics.

During the summer of 1993, Project ATMOSPHERE, in cooperation with the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology, conducted a workshop to enhance both the meteorological background and leadership skills of AMS Atmospheric Education Resource Agents (AERAs). Fifty-eight teachers representing 39 states and the District of Columbia attended this workshop, which focused on atmospheric water processes and severe local storms. In addition to lectures and laboratory activities, AERAs also visited a variety of research and operational support facilities in the Norman area. This workshop was the third phase of training for AERAs, who represent the AMS in their local areas, providing instructional guidance for teachers and curricular input on the atmospheric sciences to their respective local and state educational agencies.

The American Meteorological Society held its Second Symposium on Education in conjunction with its 1993 Annual Meeting. The symposium centered on outreach programs endorsing precollege science education. It was divided into three sessions. Session 1 tackled Project ATMOSPHERE activities. The project is a nationwide partnership with science teachers. Sessions 2 and 3 covered outreach activities managed by universities and other agencies., 1. Introduction Precollege science education has attracted much attention in recent years. Government agencies, professional societies, universities, private corporations, and concerned individuals have all examined ways in which they might [...]