Precipitation Initiation in Warm Clouds

Official entry into the AAAS Science Dance Contest.

Name: Jennifer D. Small

PhD Title: Precipitation Initiation in Warm Clouds

PhD Institution: University of California Santa Cruz

Date: 2009 (expected)

Current affiliation: graduate student, Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of California Santa Cruz

This dances shows how a rain drop can form when one slightly larger rain drop is present among a large population of smaller drops. The large drop only forms after mixing occurs.

Here the women represent water molecules while the men represent cloud condensation nuclei. Additional women dance in a manner suggestive of mixing processes in order to create the slightly larger drop, called a collision coalescence initiator.

The dancers in the video are from Tangroupe - The Tango Society at UCSC

Jennifer Small
Brett Griswold
Ruby Aguirre
Kat Sundquist
Michael Stevens
Matthew Grabowski
Nicole Mosher
Sage Doshay
Luis Flores
Samantha Gomez
Nicole Simons
Yvette Kolodji
Ariel Rios
Bethany Friedel

Filmed by Scott Rohlf

Category:

Education

Tags:

• precipitation
• initiation
• AAAS
• Science
• Dance
• Contest
• tango
• dance
• nuevo
• Tanghetto
• Immigrante
• baldosa
• blue
• white
• brown
• rain
• drop
• splash
• squish
• splat
• dancing
• Santa
• Cruz
• UCSC
• slugs
• follow
• lead
• follower
• leader
• particles
• particulate
• cloud
• condensation
• nuclei
• PhD
• Thesis
• CCN
• improvisation
• touching
• passion
• sexy
• intimate
• legs
• footwork
• ballroom
• wooden
• floow
• Argentine
• Argentia
• style
• technique
• intense
• Tangroupe
• group
• troupe
• formation
• team
• teamwork
• choreography
• workshop
• lesson
• waiting

[jendsmall]

This was for the "Dance your PhD" competition. You needed to try to convey something about your thesis using dance. Mine was on precipitation initiation. The dacers made a cloud, coalesced and then the big blob at the bottom was the rain drop that splashed onto the "ground." The guy dancers were the aerosol particles and the girls were the water molecules that condensed on to them.

[farsi3001]

what's the song?

[jendsmall]

Immigrante by Tanghetto

[YawarakaiRonin]

Wow, the description sounds so elegant, the language so robust. However, what is a dacer? When it comes to a rain dance we ought to leave it to the natives, tango strictly for the floozies and science for the classroom.

A better song would've been "rain" by the pretty things, then I could forgive

[cocoscokie]

i don`t get it....

[f1u2c3k4]

squash court>.>

[scottzona]

FANTASTIC! I loved it, and it made perfect sense.

[rachelstein58]

Wow, that was amazing!

[elleygirl]

very cool...hope you win!

[Rubynery]

THis is the most awesome portrayal of rain I've ever seen.