David Atlas
American Meteorological Society Oral History Project
The American Meteorological Society Oral History Project (AMSOHP) aims to capture the history of the atmospheric sciences as told by scientists, administrators, and others working in the field. The collection is especially rich in interviews that capture the memories of scientists who launched much of the innovative meteorological research in post-war America.
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On September 30, 1987, Robert Serafin interviewed David Atlas for the American Meteorological Society’s Oral History Project. Dr. David Atlas recounts his early aspirations to science; the graduate education he received at the City College of New York, the New York University Air Force MeteorologyProgram, Harvard, and MIT; and his preliminary involvement in meteorology during World War II, including his contributions to radar technology while assigned to the All-Weather Flying Division (AWFD) at Wright Field, Ohio. He describes his work and colleagues at the Air Force Cambridge Research Labs, now the Air Force Geophysics Lab; the formation of the Joint Laboratory for Atmospheric Probing during his tenure at the University of Chicago; his role and that of colleagues in the progress of Doppler Radar research in the 1960s; and his decision to join NCAR in 1972. Dr. Atlas also details his directorship of the National Hail Research Experiment (NHRE) during hail suppression and seeding experiments. Finally, he discusses his accomplishments at NASA Goddard. "Eye of the Storm: A Weatherman's Story" by David Atlas, an unpublished autobiographical monograph, is available in David Atlas's subject file at the NCAR Archives.
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