GESTAR II researchers have published as lead author and co-author during the past couple weeks. Here are some select citations.

Barahona, D., K. H. Breen (610.1/MSU), H. Kalesse-Los, and J. Rottenbacher (2024), Deep learning parameterization of vertical wind velocity variability via Constrained Adversarial Training, Artif. Intell. Earth Syst., https://doi.org/10.1175/AIES-D-23-0025.1.

Grecu, M. (612/MSU), and J. E. Yorks (2024), Synergistic retrievals of ice in high clouds from elastic backscatter lidar, Ku-band radar, and submillimeter wave radiometer observations. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 41, 79-93, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-23-0028.1.

Silva, S. J., and C. A. Keller (610.1/MSU) (2024), Limitations of XAI methods for process-level understanding in the atmospheric sciences, Artif. Intell. Earth Syst.,

https://doi.org/10.1175/AIES-D-23-0045.1.

Massound, E.C., Y.-K. Lim (610.1/UMBC), L. C. Andrews, and M. Girotto (2024),  Connecting global modes of variability to climate in High Mountain Asia, Atmos., https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15020142.

Learn more here on X, about the coverage and interviews with climate scientists and oceanographers.

You can view the launch and learn more about the mission here on YouTube: "SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches NASA's PACE-Payload."

Be sure to keep up with the PACE spacecraft mission on the PACE mission blog!

(PACE image credit: NASA)

To quote Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum, Director of the Earth Sciences Division at NASA GSSFC, "This represents an impressive culmination of 21 years of vision, hard work, and dedication from a multi-disciplinary team across Goddard and HQ, our domestic and international partners, and the SpaceX and Kennedy launch teams." Among those team members are researchers at UMBC and Morgan State. A key part of the spacecraft is the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) and the two polarimeters, Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone) and Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 (HARP2); the latter was built at UMBC's Earth and Space Institute. Learn more about these instruments in this visualization by the NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio: "PACE orbit with swaths and instrument fields of view."

Abstract:

"Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) are a type of digital twin framework used to simulate the potential impact of future observing networks on numerical weather prediction. This talk will give an overview of how data assimilation and OSSEs work, along with best practices for designing and conducting OSSEs. Available products and resources for building an OSSE framework will be described. Some challenges particular to developing OSSEs for polar regions will also be discussed."

Learn more about UMBC's iHARP here.

The 104th American Meteorological Society (AMS) Meeting was held in Baltimore, MD, from January 29 - February 1, 2024. Several students from University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Morgan State University gave presentations, most in-person and one virtually. Congratulations to all!

Benaya Berhane (UMBC) "Analysis of Local Land- Atmosphere Interactions in Beltsville, MD" (Benaya is with the Information Systems Department, and working with Dr. Belay Demoz and Kylie Hoffman on a grant.)

Ethan Chiao (Purdue Univ./UMBC) "Analysis of Local Land- Atmosphere Interactions in Beltsville, MD" (Note, Ethan presented virtually. As a summer intern, he worked with Dr. Demoz and Benaya Berhane on this project, and continued the research at Purdue.)

Kylie Hoffman (UMBC): "Theoretical Framework for Symmetric Convergence Using Active and Passive Remote Sensing"

Sharad Pandey (UMBC) "Comparative Analysis of the Planetary Boundary Layer during the PECAN campaign, using the WRF model for Low-Level Jets Events"

Joshua Richards (UMBC) "20 Years of Ozonesonde Profiles from Beltsville, MD: Data Quality Assurance and Insights into Tropospheric Ozone Pollution"

Maurice Roots (UMBC), giving an oral presentation, with Dr. Demoz (right): "Observational Classification and Climatology of Nocturnal Low-Level Jets in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States"

(Photo Credits: D. Footes, SURA)

GESTAR II's booth, all set to go.

GESTAR II Leadership: Ms. Carolyn Wilson (Assoc. Dir., SURA), Dr. Belay Demoz (Assoc. Dir., UMBC), Dr. Sonia Kreidenweis (Assoc. Dir., CSU), Dr. Jose Fuentes (Assoc. Dir., PSU), Ms. Margo Young (Dir., ESRA/UMBC), Dr. Charles Ichoku (Dir., UMBC).

Not shown: Dr. Daniel Laughlin (Assoc. Dir., MSU), Dr. Vernon Morris (Assoc. Dir., ASU), Dr. Jingli Yang (Assoc. Dir., ERT), Dr. Jaynesh Patel (Assoc. Dir., NG).

(Photo credits: A. Houghton, J. Hale, A. Collow.)

On Friday, February 2, 2024, the NASA GSFC Climate and Radiation Laboratory (Code 613) held its annual winter party and award ceremony. Among the awardees were several GESTAR II scientists. Each recipient received a plaque from Lab Chief Dr. Lazaros Oreopoulos. Congratulations to all!

Daeho Jin (613/UMBC), Best First-Author paper: "For a paper unveiling how the seasonally asymmetric effects of ENSO obscure true cloud feedback."

Guoyong Wen (613/MSU), Best First-Author paper: "For a paper where biases of passive aerosol property retrievals amidst clouds are thoroughly assessed and corrected.”

MAIAC Group Award, which includes Myungje Choi (613/UMBC), Sergey Korkin (613/UMBC), Sujung Go (613/UMBC), and Yujie Wang (613/UMBC): "For a true team effort that culminated in the v3 MAIAC EPIC algorithm and the re-processing of EPIC data." 

Join us for a virtual seminar by Dr. Greg McFarquhar, Director of the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High Impact Weather Research and Operations and faculty member of the School of Meteorology at University of Oklahoma. His talk is titled "Use of Airborne Cloud Measurements and Model Simulations to Inform About Ice Multiplication."

Date and Time: Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 11:00am

Join us via Teams.

Abstract: 

Biography:

Greg McFarquhar received his B.Sc. in mathematics and physics from the University of Toronto, Canada in 1987. Thereafter, he changed his field of study to atmospheric sciences and received his M.Sc. (1989) and Ph.D. (1993) also from the University of Toronto, but specializing in cloud physics. Greg spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California (1993-94) and worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado (1995-2001; 2015-16), the University of Illinois (2001-17) and the University Blaise Pascal in Clermont, France (2012) before joining the faculty at the University of Oklahoma in Aug. 2017 where he also serves as Director of the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO). He is a former chair of the American Meteorological Society Committee on Cloud Physics and currently President of the International Commission on Clouds and Precipitation. He is the chief editor for the American Meteorological Society's Monographs Collection, an associate editor for the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, and has active research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He has formerly served as the Chief Scientist for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Aerial Facilities (AAF). He has 237 publications in the refereed literature, an h-index of 65, and he and his group have made over 750 presentations at conferences and working group meetings. He has participated in or led 37 different air- or ship-based cloud measurement field campaigns, and is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and of the American Geophysical Union.

For more information on the GESTAR II Seminar Series, click here.