Department of Geography & Meteorology

Valparaiso Department of Geography and Meteorology

Department of Geography & Meteorology > About the Department > Facilities

: Videos about Geography and Meteorology at Valparaiso University Department of Geography & Meteorology About the Department of Geography and Meteorology Faculty and Staff Facilities Photo Gallery Home Department History Kallay-Christopher Hall Departmental Statement on Diversity GEO/MET Teaching Resource Center

Geo/Met Facilities and Equipment

	Kallay Christopher Hall The new home of the Department of Geography and Meteorology includes classrooms, departmental and faculty offices, the VU Weather Center, a Weather Observation Deck as well as plenty of spaces for students, faculty, and visitors to gather and to work collaboratively.
	Classrooms State of the art classrooms in Kallay-Christopher Hall include a 60 seat tiered classroom, a small classroom with moveable seats designed to facilitate discussion, two laboratory classrooms and a conference room. All classrooms offer full multimedia capabilities and Internet access.
	VU Weather Center A high-tech laboratory where students gain "hands-on" experience and provide weather information and forecasts for Northwest Indiana. This facility has an excellent array of meteorological equipment, including a 55-foot instrumented tower, UNIDATA McIDAS and GEMPAK data retrieval and display systems, Meteorologix and WeatherTap NWS Doppler radar, satellite and data feeds, as well as portable sensors and computers.
	F.P. Kallay Geographic Applications Laboratory This facility, outfitted with more than twenty Pentium 4 desktop computers, provides access to powerful GIS, cartography, and remote sensing software including ArcView, ArcGIS, and Adobe Illustrator. Located in Schnabel 34. This is not an open lab and access is limited to Geo/Met majors/minors and other students taking classes in the lab. Geo/Met students who would like access should see Rusta Ault.
	LINUX Cluster A five Pentium IV LINUX cluster for faculty/student research and education. Each LINUX system has the specs of Pentium IV 2.4 GHz processor, 2GB DDR2 memory, 250 GB ATA 100 7200RPM hard drive, Nvidia 64MB video, 52X CD-ROM reader.
	VU Doppler Radar A Simultaneous dual-polarization Doppler radar. Located on the west side of campus. It is used for student research and coursework.
	Weather Observation Deck The weather observation deck offers an unobstructed view of the southern and western horizon. Located next to the Meteorology lab classroom and the weather center the weather deck is an ideal place for doing hands-on labs. In combination with the windows in the Weather Center, it is possible to observe all 360 degrees of the sky from the second floor of Kallay-Christopher Hall. the Radiosonde Launcher is also located on the weather observation deck.
	Radiosonde Launcher An automated radiosonde launcher used for coursework and student research. Inflates weather balloons and launches intstrument packages. It can be controlled from the VU Weather Center.
	Storm Chase Vehicle A Honda Pilot used during summer storm chases. Outfitted with a variety of instruments during field studies.
	Weather TV Studio Located in Schnabel Hall, the Weather Studio gives Meteorology students the chance to learn the art of TV weather broadcasting.
	Total Sky Imager Located on the roof of Kallay-Christopher Hall, the Total Sky Imager takes pictures of the entire sky that can be used to measure cloud cover.
	Christopher Center Map Collection The map collection located on the second floor of the Christopher Center includes maps from the U.S. Geological Survey, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, CIA and Departments of Agriculture and Interior. The collection also contains National Geographic maps, maps of cities in Indiana, the United States and the world.
	Departmental Map Collection Located in the map cabinets in the downstairs lab, the departmental map collection includes selected USGS topographic maps for all 50 states.
	Student Study Area An area adjacent to the Weather Center on the second floor of Kallay-Christopher Hall where all students in the Department of Geography and Meterology are welcome to study. Includes a wall sized map of the world as well a display area for posting daily weather maps.
	Faculty Suite Area outside of faculty offices designed to encourage interaction among faculty, students, and visitors. Location of faculty mailboxes, 120 v. 2.0 amp high-speed, electric pencil sharpener with shaving collection capabilities, and a two volume dictionary. Often a very lively place!
	Conference Room The conference room has seating for 12 and is located adjacent to the GEO/MET office. Also location of refrigerator and microwave oven.