Iowa State University established a UNIDATA system using State funds. The system will be enhanced under this award. UNIDATA plays an important role in the teaching and research programs for both the atmospheric science and agricultural meteorology programs. For example, the jointly taught Introduction to Meteorology course with a yearly enrollment in excess of 800 students uses McIDAS products in the weather discussion which begins each lecture. Several research projects depend upon "real-time" data input including a project which uses upper-air data, radar observations and satellite imagery in an operational forecast mode to predict insect pest movements in the boundary layer. The equipment to be acquired will accomplish five main objectives: 1. Update the four IBM PS/2 model 60 computers with three IBM PS/2 model 70 computers. This will allow Iowa State University to continue receiving McIDAS weather products after the UNIDATA support for the DOS version of PC-McIDAS terminates; 2. Obtain networking software (TCP/2) for the OS/2 operating system for the IBM PS/2 model 80 (which will act as the ingester) and the four model 70's; 3. Obtain PC X-Window software to use with the existing IBM PS/2 model 60 computers as X-Window systems. An existing Sun 3/160 which now manages UNIDATA SDM will act as the X-Window server; 4. Add a 700 megabyte hard disk unit to improve the ability to archive McIDAS and SDM products; 5. Initiate the introduction of COMET computer based learning models as an educational resource for undergraduate and graduate instruction at the university and to foster synergism between the UNIDATA and COMET Programs.
