2019 05/30

Southwest Michigan AMS/NWA

30 May 2019

West Michigan Aviation Academy

5363 44th ST

Grand Rapids, MI 49512

President Warren Wheeler called the meeting to order at 7PM. A total of 16 people were present including all of the board members.

Treasurer William Marino gave the treasurer’s report. As of 30 May, the club had funds of $1127.11 with a total of 20 paid members.

Secretary Craig Woods mentioned we have been having problems with our Google Groups email list. We have not been able to directly add new members email addresses and there has been some question as to whether all members are actually receiving email from the club. These issues will be looked into.

Vice President Cort Scholten declared the winners of the winter forecast contest. They are William Marino for lowest GRR temperature and Jim Carpenter for the closest to the final snowfall totals for both MKG and GRR. The snowfall total for LAN was invalidated due to data errors. Cort has already sent out an email to club members about the summer forecast contest with a deadline entry date of 7 June.

Cort Scholten made a motion that if no new nominations for board members are received by midnight May 31, the current members will remain on the board. The motion was seconded by Warren Wheeler and approved.

Our speaker for the evening was Mark Benoit from InterMet Systems here in Grand Rapids. They make radiosondes and other atmospheric sensing equipment. While the National Weather Service uses Vaisala and Lockheed Martin radiosondes, they do use InterMet receiving antennas. InterMet systems are currently being used in over 50 countries worldwide to monitor weather and climate.

Radiosondes are carried into the air by latex weather balloons filled with helium or hydrogen. They measure atmospheric pressure, air temperature, water vapor plus wind speed and direction. They contain a radio transmitter to send this data back to the ground. This data is the backbone of the Numerical Weather Prediction models. Depending upon the size of the balloon, the equipment can ascend to a height of 100,000 feet before the balloon breaks and the equipment parachutes back to earth.

Mark gave us a hands on look at the equipment that is used. There is some possibility of our being able to witness an actual balloon launch in the near future.