BEST WEATHER EDWARDS BASE METEOROLOGIST WINS AWARD.

Byline: Daily News

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Meteorologist Philip Harvey has received the Air Force 2001 Best Award.

Named for Brig. Gen. William H. Best Jr., commander of Air Weather Service from 1970 to 1973, the award recognizes individual excellence by a member who provides aerospace weather staff support at the squadron level or higher.

``I was happy and surprised - I didn't expect it,'' said Harvey, a Weather Flight staff meteorologist with the 412th Operations Support Squadron. ``To me it means that others appreciate the work I do here.''

Harvey, who has been at Edwards for nearly 14 years, received the Air Force Materiel Command Best Award nomination in February for the second time.

Harvey won the civilian category.

He said he finds his job very interesting and believes it is unique in the weather business.

``I like it here because there aren't too many places in the country where you can work with all the new technology we have,'' he said. ``The diversity and uniqueness of our job allows us to do a lot of neat things.''

As a meteorologist, Harvey works as a technical consultant coordinating current or statistical weather data to support test mission planners and other customers.

His job also entails providing unusual services. He has been involved in numerous special projects, including six Titan IV rocket motor tests, Global Hawk support for Operation Enduring Freedom, and 80 shuttle landing support missions.

Often these special projects, such as the Titan IV tests, demand pinning down specific weather conditions in a small window of time.

He developed a way to retransmit weather radar information, known as Next Generation Weather Radar, from base weather station feeds to the Federal Aviation Administration's High Desert air traffic control facility.

The system allows air traffic controllers to display near real-time precipitation intensity data directly on their display screens - a first in the country.

``Everyone in the squadron goes to him with questions and programming problems,'' said 2nd Lt. Darren Murphy, 412th OSS Weather Flight Wing weather officer. ``We call the weather station and the balloon launch site 'Phil's Weather Station.'''

Harvey, a native of Hornell, N.Y., graduated from the State University of New York College at Oneonta in 1983 with a bachelor's of science in meteorology. He and his wife, Ellie, a critical-care registered nurse at the Antelope Valley Hospital, have been married eight years and have three pet Chihuahuas named Fang, Charro and Killer.

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(color) Meteorologist Philip Harvey, who has served at Edwards Air Force Base for nearly 14 years, won the Air Force 2001 Best Award for his work analyzing weather for flight tests.