The Synoptic Lab
The Synoptic Laboratory is a central facility supporting teaching and research in Meteorology, Oceanography and Climate, providing access to weather related data.
Website:
http://synoptic.mit.eduThe Synoptic Lab, located on the 16th floor of the Green Building, comprises a cluster of interconnected workstations, mass-store devices and a large hyperwall for the analysis and display of synoptic data. Real time meteorological observations, analyses and forecasts are received through the Internet within the IDD - the Internet Data Distribution system - managed by Unidata/UCAR. Advanced meteorological software packages, such as GEMPAK and IDV, are used to access and display the data. These facilities are integrated in to the Rotating Fluids Dynamic Laboratory.
The laboratory is used extensively in undergraduate and graduate courses:
- 12.003: Atmosphere, Ocean and climate Dynamics (Undergrad-Fall)
- 12.310: Introduction to Weather Forecasting (IAP)
- 12.307: Climate and Weather Laboratory - (Undergrad-Spring)
- 12.804: Large-scale Dynamics Laboratory (Grad-Fall)
- 12.818: Intro to Atmospheric Data and Synoptic Meteorology (Grad-Fall)
The Synoptic Lab is also a hub for extra-curricula meteorology activities, including:
The Weather and Climate Club. Read more here
The MIT's Weather Forecasting Club. Read more here