An equipment proposal is submitted to the NSF UNIDATA program for the purchase of a microcomputer system capable of running the PC-McIDAS software developed by the University of Wisconsin. The PC-McIDAS hardware/software system will provide real-time visible, infrared and water vapor satellite imagery in an animated form in color on an IBM color graphics screen. Applications of this system to teaching, research and the meteorological community are described in the proposal. This system will be integrated with our current MASSCOMP mini- computer, which presently handles data from the FAA-604 data line, to permit our students to fully diagnose and analyze weather systems down to mesoscales of motion. In addition, this system will broaden our areas of research potential in mesometeorology, severe storm prediction, tropical meteorology, satellite meteorology and radiative processes. Finally, examples of developed lab-menus and other meteorological software are given to demonstrate ways in which St. Louis University may contribute to the total UNIDATA effort. Overall, the goal of this proposal is to update St. Louis University's weather receiving equipment and create an interactive graphics computing environment for the education of future meteorologists. The proposed system will help us maintain a strong, relevant meteorology program necessary for the training of meteorologists in the 1990's.
