11th Annual Science Expeditions Packs AOSS

The Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences (AOSS) building opened its doors to the public on Saturday, 06 April 2013, from 10am to 2pm for the 11th Annual Science Expeditions event.

Despite the threatening gray skies, a bumper crop of over 400 excited explorers made their way to the AOSS Building where they were guided through several displays, demonstrations, and spectacular views of satellite dishes and the Madison campus from the roof. Experts in many of the fields studied in the building were on hand to answer questions and deliver some hands-on educational activities.

A couple of very young proto-researchers find their way to the Antarctic Meteorological Research Center's display where Joey Snarski (center) prepared them for what to expect if and when they make the trip to Antarctica.

Sam Batzli presented the impressive aerial and satellite imagery of WisconsinView
both on touchscreen and on the iPad.

Tom Whittaker's educational weather applets enchanted explorers of all ages as they tested their knowledge of weather concepts by, among other activities, custom-making their own tornadoes.

Rick Kohrs (left) used the 3D Science on a Sphere to illustrate how satellite meteorology works, showing a wide range of imagery from hurricane paths to satellite orbits to infrared views of our Earth's atmosphere.

Margaret Mooney, Patrick Rowley, Wayne Feltz, and Mark Hobson delivered the goods with fantastic views of Madison from the roof, and fielded questions about the satellite dishes.

The sun finally appeared in the afternoon, but the flow of explorers was steady all day. The open house lasted longer than scheduled, but everyone left the building smiling.

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