Debra Molenar received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Colorado State University in 1979. After graduation, Debra worked for the National Science Foundation Antarctic Research Program for 2 years. Prior to joining NESDIS in 1995, Debra was employed at Environmental Research and Technology, Air Resource Specialist, and the Colorado State University NOAA Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA). All positions involved IT support for environmental and meteorological monitoring and research.
Debra leads the IT support group at the NESDIS RAMM Branch (RAMMB) at CIRA. Highlights of Debra's accomplishments include:
- Development of several software tools used in tropical and severe storm research, such storm relative motion investigation and automated Dvorak intensity analysis.
- Development, deployment and maintenance of RAMSDIS workstations at over 50 NWS Forecast Offices as a satellite training tool prior to AWIPS installation;
- Development, deployment and maintenance of RAMSDIS workstations in several international research programs, including Hurricane Mitch Relief, the Regional Meteorological Training Centers in Central America, and the WMO Virtual Lab program, which included workstations in Europe and Asia.
- Implementation of Distance Learning tools for meteorological training, including maintenance of a “pseudo-AWIPS” workstation in support of the Virtual Institute for Satellite Interpretation and Training project at RAMMB.
- Support of over 40 meteorological workstations providing tools and data ingest in the Linux, Unix, and Windows environment.
Publications
Refereed Publications
Molenar, D.A., K.J. Schrab, and J.F.W. Purdom, 2000: RAMSDIS contributions to NOAA satellite data utilization. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 81:5, 1019-1029.
Non Refereed and Informal Publications
Molenar, D.A., K.J. Schrab, and J.F.W. Purdom, 2000: RAMSDIS Contributions to NOAA Satellite Data Utilization. CIRA Magazine, 18-20.
Molenar, D.A., J.F.W. Purdom, C.E. Vaughn, B.H. Connell, and J.F. Dostalek, 1997: RAMSDIS use in regional meteorological training centers. 13th International Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology. 2-7 February, Long Beach, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88- 90.
Johnson, J.T., G. DiMego, D.A. Molenar, L.P. Rothfusz, J. Snook, and P.A. Stamus, 1996: Weather information display, analysis and product generation tools used for support of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games: mesoscale analysis tools. Proceedings from the 12 Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology, 28 January-2 February, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. So., 13-16.
Molenar, D.A., K.J. Schrab, J.F.W. Purdom, and H. Gosden, 1996: RAMSDIS in digital satellite data training and analysis. 12th International Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology. 28 January-2 February, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 160-163.
Schrab, K.J., D.A. Molenar, P.N. Dills, and J.F.W. Purdom, 1996: The Use of Digital Satellite Data in NWS Field Offices. Proceedings from the 8th Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, 28 January-2 February, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 50-53.
Molenar, D.A., J. Yang, K.J. Schrab, and J.F.W. Purdom, 1995: The use of digital satellite data using PC based workstations. 11th International Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology., 15-20 June, Dallas, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 145-148.
Dills, P.N., J. Jiang, J. Yang, J.F.W. Purdom, and D.A. Molenar, 1994: Applications of manual cloud tracking and height assignment to the diagnosis of mesoscale wind fields and convective systems. Proceedings from the 7th Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, 6-10 June 1994, Monterey, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 385-388.
Schrab, K.J., D.A. Molenar, J.F.W. Purdom, L. Dunn, and B. Colman, 1994: The use of digital satellite data via a menu system in NWS offices. Proceedings from the Seventh Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, 6-10 June, Monterey, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 448-451.
Hillger, D.W., J.F.W. Purdom, and D.A. Molenar, 1993: A noise level analysis of special multiple-spin VAS data during STORM-FEST. NOAA Technical Report NESDIS-65, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 30 pp.
Lubich, D.A., and J.F.W. Purdom, 1992: The use of cloud relative animation in the analysis of satellite data. Preprints, 6th Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, January 5-10, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 120-122.
Purdom, J.F.W., and D.A. Lubich, 1991: Improved satellite derived cloud motion winds through cloud relative animation. Presented at Workshop on Wind Extraction from Operational Meteorological Satellite Data, September 17-19, Washington, D.C. NOAA, WMO, and EUMETSAT, p. 34.
Purdom, J.F.W., and D.A. Lubich, 1991: Improved analysis of animated satellite imagery through cloud/storm relative animation. Presented at XX General Assembly IAMAP/IUGG, August 11-24, Vienna, Austria, p. 152.
Hillger, D.W., J.F.W. Purdom, and D.A. Lubich, 1991: A noise level analysis of special 10- spin-per-channel VAS data. NOAA/NESDIS Technical Report No. 56, 50 pp.
Hillger, D.W., J.F.W. Purdom, and D.A. Lubich, 1990: An optimal spin budget as determined from special VAS data. Preprints, 5th Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, September 3-6, London, England, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 169-172.
Lubich, D.A., and R.M. Zehr, 1989: Quantitative satellite analysis of four tropical cyclones during AMEX/EMEX. Preprints, 4th Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, May 16-19, San Diego, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 63-66.
Lubich, D.A., and R.M. Zehr, 1988: The use of polar orbiter data in tropical weather system analysis. Preprints, 3rd Conf. on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, January 31 - February 5, Anaheim, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 209-214.
Davis, W.S., D.A. Lubich, and G.G. Campbell, 1987: Fractal techniques in satellite cloud imagery. Preprints, 3rd Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology and Hydrology, January 12-16, New Orleans, LA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 211-214.
Purdom, J.F.W., D.W. Hillger, T.H. Vonder Haar, C.A. Johnson, D.A. Lubich, and P. Laybe, 1986: Development of mesoscale forecast products from satellite microwave sounding data. Preprints, 2nd Conf. on Satellite Meteorologic/Remote Sensing and Applications, May 13-16, Williamsburg, VA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 376-381.
Green, R.N., J.F.W. Purdom, and D.A. Lubich, 1986: Assessment of a personal computer workstation for satellite meteorology. Preprints, 2nd Conf. on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology and Hydrology, January 14-17, Miami, FL, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 326-331.