U.S. Air Force Graduate Research in Meteorology

This presentation describes graduate research opportunities in meteorology for U.S. Air Force Weather officers and the role of Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) in their education. Masters and doctoral degrees are offered through the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The goals of AFIT graduate education programs are to expand the knowledge of students and advance the role of aerospace power. Over 30 M.S. and one PhD students are currently enrolled in graduate school at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) through AFIT. NPS offers programs in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from atmospheric dynamics and numerical weather prediction to radiation and remote sensing. Students make every possible effort to select a thesis topic from a prioritized list of Air Force needs with concurrence of their department advisor. AFWA solicits and aids in the prioritization of the thesis topic list, annually. Recent areas of research have included GOES satellite icing studies for aviation and sand storm detection in the Middle East.