GARY P. ELLROD is a research meteorologist with NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) in Camp Springs, Maryland, where he has specialized in aviation weather applications since 1983. Prior to that, Gary was an aviation and marine forecaster with the National Weather Service, a satellite analyst with NESDIS, and performed severe storm research at the University of Wyoming. While serving with the Air Force in the late 1960's, he flew tropical storm reconnaissance missions in the Western Pacific. His awards include the National Weather Association Research Achievement Award (1990), and a Dept. of Commerce Silver Medal (1992) for research on the detection of fog, turbulence, and other hazards using weather satellites, and a DOC group Bronze Medal in 1999 for training activities. He co-chairs the international Committee for Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Volcano Hazards Team. Gary received degrees in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University (B.S., 1965) and the University of Wisconsin (M.S., 1972). He has written articles for a number of publications, including the National Weather Digest, and the ICAO journal.