Steve Albers - CIRA - Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

Steve Albers

Research Associate IV, Meteorologist

Office: Rm 2B139, D.Skaggs Resch. Cntr.
Phone: (303) 497-6057
Fax: (303) 497-7262
Email:

Mailing Address:

Steve Albers
D.Skaggs Resch. Cntr.,  Rm 2B139
Global Systems Division/Forecast Applications Branch
325 Broadway, Boulder, CO  80305-3328

Biography

Steve Albers received his BSc in Physics from the State Univ. of New York at Albany (1978), and MS (1986) in Atmospheric Science from the University of Oklahoma.

Between 1976 and 1977 he worked as part of the Viking Intern program connected with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Brown University. He did some image processing of Viking Mars Lander Images at JPL's Image Processing Laboratory as part of the Viking Lander Imaging Team. He also performed some data reduction for the Meteorology Team. During the summers from 1980-1985 Steve worked as a Field Meteorologist for the North Dakota Cloud Modification Project. He directed hail suppression and rain enhancement cloud seeding with fleet of six aircraft utilizing ice nucleation seeding materials and operated an Enterprise WR-100 5cm weather radar. Between 1983 and 1985 he worked as a Research Assistant at the School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma. His research topic was the development of a statistical severe weather forecast package. He served as a teaching Assistant for Meteorological Measurements and did some storm chasing.

Since 1986 Steve has worked at various NOAA facilities in Boulder, CO , including the PROFS program, Forecast Systems Laboratory, and the Earth System Research Laboratory. In this context he came on-board CIRA in 1989. His work includes extensive development and implementation of meteorological analyses of wind, clouds, temperature, and microphysical variables for the Local Analysis and Prediction System. A variety of remotely sensed and in-situ data are ingested, quality controlled, and merged in the analyses. The analyses are used for initializing NWP models and are displayed on workstations for nowcasting, and they are fielded at ESRL, other government agencies as well as private companies. He has worked on satellite image processing algorithms, including photometric correction that depends on viewing geometry, as well as image processing to produce global planetary, meteorological, and geophysical maps using IDL and other display software for NOAA's Science On A Sphere ^TM (SOS). Steve gives SOS presentations and daily weather briefings. He's participated in meteorological workstation and World Wide Web display software. Radar experience includes development of radar Doppler velocity de-aliasing algorithm, testing and evaluation of algorithms to be run on the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), and radar data interfacing for the Regional Radar Volume Project. Steve takes on some CIRA supervisory duties as well.

Selected Publications

1. Tollerud, E. I., F. Caracena, S. E. Koch, B. D. Jamison, R. M. Hardesty, B. J. McCarty, C. Kiemle, R. S. Collander, D. L. Bartels, S. Albers, B. Shaw, D. L. Birkenheuer, and W. A. Brewer, 2008: Mesoscale moisture transport by the low-level jet during the IHOP Field Experiment. Accepted by Mon. Wea. Rev.

2. Kim, O., C. Lu, S. Albers, J. McGinley, and J. Oh, 2007: Improvement of LAPS wind analysis by including background error statistics. 22nd Weather Analysis and Forecasting Conf., Park City, Utah, AMS

3. Hiemstra, C.A., G.E. Liston, R.A. Pielke, Sr., D.L. Birkenheuer, S.C. Albers 2006: Comparing Local analysis and prediction system (LAPS) assimilations with independent observations. (Accepted for publication in Weather and Forecasting, April 2006)

4. Albers, S., D. Himes, and A. E. MacDonald, 2005: Displaying Planetary and Geophysical Datasets on NOAA's Science on a Sphere ^(TM). AGU Fall 2005 Conference, San Francisco, CA, Poster session.

5. Koch, S., Y. Xie, J.A. McGinley, and S. Albers, 2005: Nowcasting applications of the Space-Time Mesoscale Analysis System. 21st Conf. on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Washington, D.C., Amer. Meteor. Soc.

6. Tollerud, E.I., F. Caracena, D.L. Bartels, S.E. Koch, B.D. Jamison, R.M. Hardesty, B.J. McCarty, W.A. Brewer, R.S. Collander, S. Albers, B. Shaw, D.Birkenheuer, and C. Kiemie, 2005: Mesoscale moisture transport by the low-level jet during the IHOP field experiment. 11th Conf. on Mesoscale Processes, Albuquerque, NM, Amer. Meteor. Soc.

7. Xie, Y., S.E. Koch, J.A. McGinley, S. Albers, and N. Wang, 2005: A sequential variational analysis approach for mesoscale data assimilation. 21st Conf. on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Washington, D.C., Amer. Meteor. Soc.

8. Shaw, J., S. Albers, D. Birkenheuer, J. Brown, J. McGinley, P. Schultz, J. Smart, and E. Szoke, 2004: Application of the Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS) diabatic initialization of mesoscale numerical weather prediction models for the IHOP - 2002 field experiment. 20th Conf. on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Seattle, WA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., CD-ROM, P3.7.

9. Koch, S.E., S.G. Benjamin, J.A. McGinley, J.M. Brown, P. Schultz, E. J. Szoke, T.G. Smirnova, B. L. Shaw, D. Birkenheuer, S. Albers, S. Peckham, and G. Grell, 2004: Real-time applications of the WRF model at the Forecast Systems Laboratory. 16th Conference on Numerical Weather Prediction, Seattle, WA, Amer. Meteor. Soc.

10. Karl Zeller, John McGinley, Ned Nikolov, Paul Schultz, Brent Shaw, Steve Albers, and John Snook, 2003: A Consortium for Comprehensive Mesoscale Weather Analysis and Forecasting to Monitor Fire Threat and Support Fire Management Operations. 5th Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology Orlando, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc.

11. Shaw, B. L., S. A. Albers, J. A. McGinley, L. S. Wharton, T. L. Wilfong, C. L. Crosiar, and D. E. Harms, 2002: A completely integrated, cost-effective local data assimilation and forecasting system to support space launch range operations. Interactive Symposium on the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), Orlando, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 15-19.

12. Birkenheuer, D., Shaw, B.L., Albers, S., and E. Szoke, 2001: Evaluation of local-scale forecasts for severe weather of July 20, 2000. Preprints, 14th Conf. on Numerical Weather Prediction, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc.

13. Schultz, P., and S. Albers, 2001: The use of three-dimensional analyses of cloud attributes for diabatic initialization of mesoscale models. Preprints, 14th Conf. on Numerical Weather Prediction, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc.

14. McGinley, J., Albers, S., Birkenheuer, D., Shaw, B., Schultz P., 2000: The LAPS water in all phases analysis: the approach and impacts on numerical prediction. Presented at the 5th International Symposium on Tropospheric Profiling,, Adelaide, Australia, December 2000.

15. Bennett, D. A., Hutchison, K., Albers, S. C., and R. D. Bornstein, 2000: Preliminary results from polar-orbiting satellite data assimilation into LAPS with application to mesoscale modeling of the San Francisco Bay Area. Preprints, Tenth Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, Long Beach, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 118-121.

16. Liang Q., S. C. ALBERS, W. F. Roberts, and R. C. Lipschutz, 1997: One-Dimensional De-aliasing of Doppler Radar Velocities: A Reliable and Simple Method for Real-Time Use. Preprints, 28th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Austin, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., pp?.

17. Roberts W. R., Q. Liang, S. C. ALBERS, and A. E. MacDonald, 1997: Implementation of a Small Regional Radar Volume from the WSR-88D Doppler Radar Network. Preprints, 28th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Austin, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., pp?.

18. CRAM J.M., S.C. ALBERS, and D. Devenyi, 1996: Application of a Two-Dimensional Variational Scheme to a Meso-beta scale wind analysis. Preprints, 15th Conf. on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Norfolk, VA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 227-230.

19. ALBERS S., J. McGinley, D. Birkenheuer, and J. Smart 1996: The Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS): Analyses of clouds, precipitation, and temperature. Weather and Forecasting, 11, 273-287.

20. Roberts W., S. ALBERS, and M. Jackson, 1995: Regional Radar Volume Development from the WSR-88D Doppler Radar Network. Preprints, 27th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Vail, CO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 71-73.

21. Brewster K., S. ALBERS, F. H. Carr, M. Xiue 1995: Initializing a Nonhydrostatic Forecast Model Using WSR-88D Data and OLAPS. Preprints, 27th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Vail, CO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 252-254.

22. ALBERS S. 1995: The LAPS wind analysis. Weather and Forecasting, 10, 342-352.

23. Cram, J., S. ALBERS, D. Birkenheuer, J. Smart, and P. Stamus, 1995: Meso-beta-scale assimilation in LAPS. Preprints of the Second International Symposium on Assimilation of Observations in Meteorology and Oceanography, Tokyo, Japan, World Meteor. Org., WMO/TD - No. 651, 343-348.

24. Cram, J., S. ALBERS, M. Jackson, and J. Smart, 1995: Three recent moisture-related analyses and modeling studies in LAPS. WMO International Workshop on Imbalances of Slowly Varying Components of Predictable Atmospheric Motions, Beijing, China, World Meteor. Org., WMO/TD - No. 652, 23-28.

25. ALBERS S., J. McGinley and D. Birkenheuer 1994: LAPS analyses of clouds and precipitation. Preprints, Sixth Conf. on Mesoscale Processes, Portland, OR, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 158-161.

26. Cram, J., and S. ALBERS, 1994: The use of meso-beta scale analyzed cloud cover to initialize a numerical model. Preprints, Sixth Conf. on Mesoscale Processes, Portland, OR, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 130-133.

27. Cram, J., S. ALBERS, and J. Snook, 1994: Four-dimensional data assimilation experiments at NOAA/FSL using LAPS and RAMS. Preprints, Second RAMS User's Workshop, Fort Collins, CO, Colorado State University Press, 47-50.

28. Politovich M. K., Rasmussen R. L., Haagenson P., Sand W. R., McGinley J. A., Westwater E. R., Smart J, and S. C. ALBERS, 1993: The FAA aircraft icing forecasting improvement program. Thirty First Annual Aerospace Sciences and Exhibit, Reno, NV.

29. Wilson, W., R. Cole, J. McGinley, and S. ALBERS, 1993: Real-time multiple single doppler analysis with NEXRAD data. Preprints, 26th International Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Norman, OK, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 460-462.

30. Cole, R., W. Wilson, J. McGinley, and S. ALBERS, 1993: ITWS terminal gridded analysis. Preprints, Fifth Conf. on Aviation Weather Systems, Vienna, VA, Amer. Meteor. Soc.

31. Cram, J., J. Snook, S. ALBERS, and J. McGinley, 1993: A brief description of, and preliminary results from, the LAPS modelling/4DDA system. Preprints, Fifth Conf. on Aviation Weather Systems, Vienna, VA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 16-20.

32. Cairns, M., R. J. Miller, S. C. ALBERS, D. L. Birkenheuer, B. D. Jamison, C. S. Hartsough, J. L. Mahoney, A. Marroquin, P. T. McCaslin, J. E. Ramer, J. M. Schmidt, 1993: A preliminary evaluation of aviation-impact variables (AIVs) derived from numerical models. NOAA Tech Memo ERL FSL-5, 165 pp. [Available from NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory, R/E/FS1, Boulder CO.]

33. McGinley J., ALBERS S., and P. Stamus, 1992: Local Data Assimilation and Analysis for Nowcasting. Adv. Space Res., 12, no. 7, 179-188.

34. ALBERS S. 1992: Photometric correction of GOES visible satellite images. Preprints, Sixth Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 223-225.

35. ALBERS S. 1992: The LAPS wind analysis. Fourth Workshop on Operational Meteorology, Whistler, B.C., Canada, Canadian Air Weather Service., 186-195.

36. Jackson M., and S. C. ALBERS, 1992: Application of a local data analysis and product system to short-term convective forecasting. Fourth Workshop on Operational Meteorology, Whistler, B.C., Canada, Atmospheric Environmental Service, 235-244.

37. Olson D., Doescher R., and S. ALBERS, 1992: A medieval mutual planetary occultation. Sky And Telescope, August 1992, 207-209.

38. McGinley J., ALBERS S., and P. Stamus, 1991: Validation of a composite convective index as defined by a real-time local analysis system. Weather and Forecasting, 6, 337-356.

39. McGinley J., and S. ALBERS, 1991: Validation of liquid cloud water forecasts from the Smith-Feddes method derived from soundings and LAPS analyses. Preprints, Fourth International Conf. on Aviation Weather Systems, Paris, France, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 228-233.

40. ALBERS S. 1991: The detection of isolated tornadic vortex signatures with NEXRAD algorithms. Preprints, 25th International Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Paris, France, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 123-126.

41. Smart J., and S. ALBERS, 1991: An evaluation of an objective technique for diagnosing snowfall. Preprints, 25th International Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Paris, France, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 103-106.

42. Jesuroga R. T., Ramer J., ALBERS S., and R. D. Wright, 1991: Validation of aviation weather products for the Advanced Traffic Management System. Preprints, Fourth International Conf. on Aviation Weather Systems, Paris, France, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 287-290.

43. ALBERS, S. C., 1989: Two-dimensional velocity de-aliasing in highly sheared environments. Preprints, 24th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Tallahassee, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 411-414.

44. Wilczak J. M., Wolf D. E., and ALBERS S. C., 1989: The 2 July 1987 tornado observed during CINDE: Implications for NEXRAD. Preprints, 24th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Tallahassee, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 251-254.

45. ALBERS, S. C., 1989: A severe weather forecast scheme incorporating mesoscale analyses. Preprints, 12th Weather Analysis and Forecasting Conference, Monterey, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 242-246.

46. Bergen, W. R. and S. C. ALBERS, 1988: Two- and three-dimensional de-aliasing of Doppler radar velocities. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 5, 305-319.

47. ALBERS, S. C., 1987: A severe weather forecast software package. Proc. Symp. Mesoscale Analysis and Forecasting, Vancouver, Canada, 333-338.

48. ALBERS, S. C., 1987: A severe weather forecast software package. Preprints, Tenth Conf. on Probability and Statistics, Edmonton, Alta., Canada, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 32-38.

49. ALBERS, S. C., 1986: A statistical severe weather forecast package. M.S. Thesis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 66pp.

50. Tull T., Jewett B., and S. ALBERS, 1985: A meteorological graphics display system. Preprints, Int'l Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology, Los Angeles, CA, 129-131.

General Themes