User:Milton Beychok/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

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The predecessor of the ARL was the Special Projects Section (SPS) of the United States Weather Bureau (now NOAA's [[National Weather Service]]). The SPS was created in 1948 as the nuclear era emerged and it became apparent that the transportation, dispersion and fallout of radioactive substances from the use of nuclear weapons posed dangers that mankind had never faced before.<ref name=History>[http://www.arl.noaa.gov/history.html History of the ARL]</ref>


The SPS was created to engage in [[meteorological]] research  to assist the emerging atomic energy progams of the United States, much of which involved weapons testing.
The first director of the SPS was Dr. Lester Machta who was joined by four other meteorologists. Initially, funding came from the [[Department of Defense]] and later from the [[Atomic Energy Commission]], the predecessor of the [[Department of Energy]]. A great deal of funding also came from outside financial support.<ref name=History/>
One of the most important contributions of the SPS was publication of the book ''Meteorology and Atomic Energy'' in 1968, edited by David H. Slade. That book summarized the state of the science about the [[Planetary Boundry Layer]] (PBL) processes and the applied meteorology of [[Air pollution dispersion terminology|air pollution plume rise and dispersion]], and [[Air pollution dispersion terminology|turbulence]] and [[Air pollution dispersion terminology|atmospheric stability]]. With contributions from SPS scientists and other experts, that book was the primary source of information about air pollution dispersion for many decades.<ref name=History/>
[[Image:ARL Headquarters.jpg|right|thumb|350px|{{#ifexist:Template:ARL Headquarters.jpg/credit|{{ARL Headquarters.jpg/credit}}<br/>|}}ARL location in Silver Spring, Maryland]]
In the early years, the SPS was headquartered in [[Washington, DC]]. When the SPS became part of NOAA and was named the Air Resources Laboratory, the headquarters moved a number of times and ended up in its current location in  Silver Spring, Maryland.<ref name=History/>

Revision as of 23:19, 2 February 2008

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