Paul Dawson

Bio

Dr. Paul Dawson taught at Boise State from 1993 to 2011. Before that, he worked for the University of Idaho, Boise campus, as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

Dr. Dawson received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Washington State University in 1987. His dissertation involved computational fluid dynamics applied to modeling air pollution in complex terrain. This project enhanced his background in meteorology. He had previous training in the atmospheric sciences at the University of Wyoming and had taught meteorology as an assistant professor at Montana State University in the early 1980s. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Previous work experience included working as a civilian engineer for the Navy in the Washington, D.C., area and teaching junior college and high school science subjects in the Boston area.

Education

• Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Washington State University in 1987
• Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C

Research

• Winter Inversions

Awarded Grants and Contracts:

• “Boise Valley Inversion and Air Pollution Study,” EPA EPSCoR Grant, 2002, $519,000
• “Investigation of Physical Process Dynamics during Cold Season Flooding” (with M. Seyfried, D. Tarboton, J. McNamara, G. Flerchinger, and C. Hanson), 1998, NASA Land Surface Hydrology Program, 3-year project, $300,000.
• “Characterization and Modeling of Snow Distribution and Associated Land Surface Hydrology Over Mountainous Watersheds” (with Greg Johnson, USDA Agricultural Research Service), 1993, NOAA Climate and Global Change Program, $123,000.
• 1993 EPA contract to participate in Panel Review Discussions of Cooperative Agreement Proposals submitted to the Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory of EPA.
• “The modeling of turbulent airflow and pollutant dispersion over hills and buildings using a three-dimensional finite element code” (with John Finnie, Civil Engineering), UI FY 1992 Seed Grant Program, $6,000.
• “Finite Element Analysis of Airflow and Pollution Over Land Forms and Buildings” (with John Finnie, Civil Engineering), 1992, Idaho NASA Space Grant Program, $5000.
• UI travel grant in 1992 to present a paper at the annual ASME meeting in Anaheim, California.
• 1991 grant and contract from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide software, an instructional manual, and training support for the modeling of airflow and pollutant dispersion around buildings.
• “A higher order turbulence model to simulate the atmospheric transport and diffusion of pollutants over complex terrain” (with Brian Lamb and Dave Stock, Washington State University), 1985, $77,000, Environmental Protection Agency.
• “A meteorological approach in determining snowpack accumulation at snow course sites in a Montana watershed” (with Bob Yaw, Montana State University), 1980, $17,000, Office of Water Research and Technology, Department of the Interior.
• “Montana Earth Sciences series,” a 1982 grant to develop earth sciences manuals as supplements for elementary science education in Montana public schools. Montana Office of Public Instruction, Helena, Montana. I developed the manuals in meteorology and astronomy.

Publications

Refereed Publications:

• Finnie, J.I., S. Rangaraj, and P. Dawson. 1994. “Solution of Turbulent Fluid Flow Using a Variable Substitution with the k-e Turbulence Model.” Proceedings, Symposium on Advances in Computational Methods in Fluid Mechanics of Turbulent Flow, ASME Fluids Engineering Div., Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
• Dawson, P., J. Finnie, and D. Stock. 1992. “Observations, analyses, and simulation of an atmospheric ‘hydraulic jump.'” Measurement and Modeling of Environmental Flows, FED-Vol. 143/HTD-Vol. 232, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, 87-93.
• Beyerlein, S., and P. Dawson. 1992. “Developing pre-engineering problem solving skills through the use of computer technology.” Proceedings, ASEE Annual Conference, Toledo, Ohio.
• Dawson, P.,D. Stock, and B. Lamb. 1991. “The numerical simulation of airflow and dispersion in three- dimensional atmospheric recirculation zones.” Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 30, 1005-1024.
• Dawson, P., and D. Gaylord. 1990. “Numerical simulations of airflow over an eolian surface in Wyoming.” GSA Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 22, No. 6, April 1990.
• Gaylord, D., and P. Dawson. 1987. “Airflow-terrain interactions through a mountain gap-with an example of eolian activity beneath an atmospheric ‘hydraulic jump’.” Geology, Vol 15, 789-792.
• Marwitz, J.D., and P.J. Dawson. 1984. “Low level airflow in southern Wyoming during wintertime.” Monthly Weather Review, 112, 1246-1262.
• Dawson, P.J., and J.D. Marwitz. 1982. “Wave structures and turbulent features of the winter airflow in southern Wyoming.” Interpretation of Windflow Characteristics from Eolian Landforms, R.W. Marrs and K.E. Kolm, Eds., The Geological Society of America, Special Paper 192, pp 55-63.

Theses:

• Dawson, P. 1987. “A numerical model to simulate the atmospheric transport and diffusion of pollutants over complex terrain.” Ph.D. Thesis, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 258 pp.
• Dawson, P.J. 1970. “Analysis of the start-up of a flutter vane in a chamber caused by the impingement of a jet.” Master’s Thesis, Catholic University of America, 34 pp.

Publications Submitted to Journals:

• Morehead, M., and P. Dawson, 2001. High Resolution Modeling of Cold Season Orographic Precipitation, Submitted to the J. Hydrometeorology.

Other Publications:

• Morehead, M, and P. Dawson, 2000. “Evaluation of a Mesoscale Atmospheric Model to Initialize Hydrologic Models in Mountainous Terrain,” Proceedings, American Geophysical Union, Vol. 81, #48, Nov., 2000, San Francisco, CA.
• Morehead, M., D. Levinson, M. Seyfried, and P. Dawson, 1999. “Estimating Snowfall in Mountainous Terrain using RAMS”, Proceedings, American Geophysical Union, Nov. 1999, San Francisco, CA.
• Johnson, G., P. Dawson, and D. Wang, 1997. “Simulation of Watershed-Scale Precipitation During a Hydrologically-Significant Winter Storm,” Proceedings, 13th Conference on Hydrology, American Meteorological Society, February, 1997, Long Beach, CA.
• Dawson, P., G. Johnson, C. Hanson, and D. Wang, 1995. “Meteorological Studies in a Mountainous Watershed,” Proceedings of the ASME Heat Transfer and Fluids Engineering Divisions, HTD-Vol. 321, FED-Vol. 233, 147-152, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Nov., 1995, San Francisco, CA.
• Wang, D., P. Dawson, and G. Johnson, and M. Molnau, 1995. “Simulation of a Winter Storm Over a Mountainous Watershed,” Proceedings of the Seventh Conference on Mountain Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, August, 1995, Breckenridge, CO.
• Johnson, G., P. Dawson, and D. Wang, 1995. “Derivation of Wind and Precipitation Fields at the Watershed Scale Using Two Atmospheric Models,” Proceedings of the USDA-ARS Workshop on Weather and Climate Research, July 17-19, 1995, Denver, Colorado.
• Dawson, P., G. Johnson, C. Hanson, and D. Wang, 1995. “Analysis and Simulation of a Winter Storm in Idaho”, International Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Workshop on Cold-Season/Region Hydrometeorology, Canadian Geophysical Union, May 22-26, 1995, Banff, Alberta, Canada.
• Dawson, P., B. Lamb, and D. Stock. 1986. “A numerical model to simulate the atmospheric transport and diffusion of pollutants over complex terrain.” Preprints, Fifth Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology with APCA, American Meteorological Society.
• Dawson, P., B. Lamb, D. Martin, and D. Stock. 1986. “Modeling of exhaust fume concentrations near buildings.” Preprints, Proceedings of the Tenth Symposium on Turbulence, University of Missouri-Rolla.
• Dawson, P.J., and J.D. Marwitz. “Wind characteristics in southern Wyoming, Part III: Aircraft case studies.” Report No. 129, Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 70 pp.
• Dawson, P.J., and J.D. Marwitz. 1978. “An investigation of winter winds in southern Wyoming.” Preprints, Conference on Climate and Energy: Climatological Aspects and Industrial Operations, American Meteorological Society, 72-79.
• Dawson, P., 1982. “Meteorology: Montana Earth Science Series,” Office of Public Instruction, Helena, MT., 86 pp.
• Dawson, P., 1982. “Astronomy: Montana Earth Science Series,” Office of Public Instruction, Helena, MT., 78 pp.