John Forsythe headshot
John Forsythe

Sr. Research Associate

John.Forsythe@colostate.edu


Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
John Forsythe
Colorado State University
1375 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1375

970-491-8589

ACRC 103

John Forsythe received his B.S. in Geology from the University of Maryland (1987), and his M.S. in Atmospheric Science (1993) from Colorado State University. His thesis topic was on the first satellite detection of a warm core in a polar low, an intense sometimes hurricane-like type of storm which forms in the Arctic. Extracting new information from satellites for weather analysis and forecasting continues to be a top research interest. He specializes in using satellite data to improve our understanding of the atmosphere. Remote sensing of clouds and water vapor from passive microwave sensors are one of his principal interests. He has led the development of several multisensor blended satellite products for operational forecasters such as Advected Layer Precipitable Water and Blended Total Precipitable Water. He is actively involved in the production of the global climate data record of atmospheric water vapor. He participated in several studies of the global occurrence of clouds and the creation of high resolution satellite cloud climatologies. He enjoys instructing students on satellite meteorology and scientific programming.

Teams:

Publications

Satellites provide the best means to track the evolution of atmospheric moisture over large regions… – Thursday, March 13, 2014

Satellites provide the best means to track the evolution of atmospheric moisture over large regions...

Satellites provide the best means to track the evolution of atmospheric moisture over large regions. Panel (A) above shows the CIRA analysis of total precipitable water (TPW) in mm on June 25, 2006. Panel (B) shows the percent of weekly normal product, where blue areas are moister than average and brown regions reflect a dry atmosphere. Notice the abnormally moist plume (roughly 50 mm TPW) flowing from near Hispaniola to the Mid-Atlantic states. This moisture provides the fuel for heavy precipitation, and severe flooding occurred in the Washington D. C. region. CIRA combines several satellite microwave sensors (AMSU and SSM/I) onboard polar orbiters with TPW measurements from GOES and GPS to allow forecasters to visualize the flow of atmospheric moisture. Mr. Forsythe has partnered with colleagues Andy Jones, Stan Kidder, Dan Bikos and SHeldon Kusselson of CIRA to develop these operational products.  This work lays the foundation for future multisensor, multispectral products a variety of platforms in the coming years.