Billed as the largest international meeting of atmospheric scientists, the American Meteorological Society’s 86th Annual Meeting ventured south this year to the Peach State. Held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this year’s meeting drew more than 2,200 academics, government officials, private researchers, and leading atmospheric scientists, who participated in 1500 scientific sessions. These sessions, held January 29 through February 2, covered a broad range of weather and climate-related topics including climate change, space weather, drought, flash floods, aviation weather, wildfires, and meteorological history.

Joining more than 100 exhibitors demonstrating the latest products and services, ARM exhibit staff shared ARM science with interested attendees and answered questions about using the ARM in between sessions. Visitors to the booth were interested in learning about the latest ARM Mobile Facility deployment, the ongoing field campaign Tropical Warm Pool – International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE), ordering ARM data, how to submit a proposal to conduct their own field campaign, and the 2005 Annual Report.

To kick off the meeting, representatives for the ARM Education and Outreach Program participated in the 5th Annual WeatherFest, a public science fair sponsored by the AMS. Throughout the 4-hour event, visitors to the ARM Education and Outreach booth inquired about the ARM’s online Education Center, and viewed a copy of the North Slope of Alaska kiosk. In addition, more than 400 information packets were handed out to teachers and students.