The Human Element in Science, Illustrated By GATE

GATE yielded not only important scientific results; but it also illustrates the benefits of interactions among people with diverse backgrounds in synthesizing the results, illustrating the often-ignored human element in the so-called “scientific method.” Examples drawn from research on mesoscale convective systems and the fair-weather boundary layer illustrate the importance of bringing together people with different backgrounds, through personal visits before and after GATE, working together in the field, attending conferences, and exchanging ideas in the peer-reviewed publication process. The ideas that emerged or were developed during GATE were often enabled by combining multiple datasets from different platforms (ships, sondes, aircraft) and instruments, each with its benefits and drawbacks. This could not have happened without these (mostly collegial) interactions. The GATE syntheses were followed with the sometimes-challenging task of merging the tropical results in these two fields with what had been found in mid-latitudes.

GATE’s lessons for future field campaigns – new measurement techniques should be thoroughly tested in the environment of interest, data and analyses from complementary platforms should be compared early and often, and results from merging diverse datasets results are important and can delay publication. Moreover, funding should remain available for thorough exploitation of the dataset, both in the years immediately following, and for supporting data archiving and future studies. Finally, it must be mentioned that careers and life-long collaborations and friendships were forged by participation in GATE.