Weekly Report for the Week of September 22, 2008
Print 
Noteworthy science achievements/awards
- Most noteworthy achievement/award.
Matthew McGill (613.1) and Gerry Heymsfield (613.1) received NASA group achievement awards from Langley Research Center for his work as part of the CALIPSO validation team. In particular, the awards were for achievement in planning and executing aircraft field experiments to validate CALIPSO satellite lidar measurements.
Noteworthy personnel awards and staff changes
- Most noteworthy item.
Prof. Manfredo H. Tabacniks, University of São Paulo, Brazil and UMBC/JCET Yoram J. Kaufman Goddard Visiting Fellow, will collaborate with Prof. Vanderlei Martins (UMBC/JCET) on the development of a GSFC/UMBC facility, in collaboration with the Laboratory for Ion beam Analysis of Materials - LAMFI from the University of São Paulo, for the study of outstanding questions involving aerosols, interaction with clouds, and optical properties to fill gaps between the microphysical models of aerosols and the development of remote sensing algorithms for satellite retrievals. The project includes the development of new and original experimental facility for the manipulation of aerosol samples and for the measurement of aerosol properties.
External interactions (HQ, universities, other Gov't organizations, etc.)
- Most significant interaction.
Santiago Gassó (613.2/GEST/UMBC) visited the city of Cordoba in Argentina. Under a program to improve collaborations with the international research community sponsored by CONICET (the Argentine NSF), Prof. Diego Gaiero of the University of Cordoba invited Dr. Gassó to teach an introductory course on MODIS data and its applications. The objective was to introduce and expose the student and faculty of the University of Cordoba to the myriad of data sets (with emphasis on atmospheric products) available from MODIS. In addition to graduate students and faculty, regional disaster managers attended the class. The one week visit included a lecture by Dr. Gassó to a general audience on the subject of smoke and dust in South America. One morning was dedicated to visiting the ground satellite station Teofilo Tabanera, run with the Argentine space agency CONAE near the city of Cordoba. Dr. Gassó learned about the existing platforms managed by CONAE and the upcoming deployment including SAC-D/Aquarius in partnership with NASA. Given the station receives direct broadcast from MODIS, Dr. Gassó met with Chief Engineer Platzcek (Head of the Data Distribution Division) and with Mr. Marcelo Colazo (Chief of the ground station) and agreed on collaborating for expanding the use of MODIS data within the Argentine community. Finally, during his visit to the city of Buenos Aires, Dr. Gassó met with the chief of the remote sensing division of the Argentine weather bureau (Ms. Gloria Pujol).
Accepted papers
- Most noteworthy papers.
Remote sensing of mineral dust aerosol using AERI during the UAE2: A modeling and sensitivity study, Hansell, R. A.; Liou, K. N.; Ou, S. C.; Tsay, S. C.; Ji, Q.; Reid, J. S., J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 113, D18202, doi:10.1029/2008JD010246, 2008 [Published]
Noteworthy talks/presentations
- Comparisons of Aerosol Type Derived from the CALIPSO Level 2 Feature Mask and GEOS-5, Ellsworth J. Welton (613.1), Peter R. Colarco (613.3), and Arlindo da Silva. Deriving aerosol type from satellite measurements is important to accurately describe the scene for climate assessment, air quality applications, and for comparisons and analysis with aerosol transport models. CALIPSO and the proposed lidar for the NRC ACE mission both are required to provide profiles of aerosol type. This study assesses the current capability of CALIPSO and the GEOS-5 model to accurately provide 3D aerosol type (sea salt, sulfate, dust, smoke, and mixtures of those), with consideration to the measurement requirements for the proposed ACE lidar.
- CALIOP Data Assimilation in the Tropical Atlantic for Saharan Dust Modeling Initiatives, James R. Campbell, Jeffrey S. Reid, and Ellsworth J. Welton (613.1). The bridge between applied meteorology and numerical modeling is building rapidly in the era of NASA Earth Observing System datasets. In this presentation, we describe new techniques for assimilating CALIPSO lidar measurements in the tropical Atlantic to improve Naval Aerosol Analysis and Prediction Systems (NAAPS) modeling of regional Saharan dust transport and phenomenonology.
- Initial Lidar Observations of the Kasatochi Plume at Multiple MPLNET Sites, Sebastian A. Stewart (613.1/SSAI), Ellsworth J. Welton (613.1), James R. Campbell, Elizabeth Reid, John E. Barnes, Peter Kelly, Robert W. Talbot, Neng-Huei Lin. The Kasatochi volcano in the Aleutian islands erupted on August 7, 2008, producing a significant plume of ash and SO2 that has since spread over the Northern Hemisphere, disrupting some aircraft traffic. The plume's transport has been observed with numerous satellite, aircraft, and ground based sensors and has been detected in the stratosphere and troposphere, providing an excellent opportunity to examine exchange across the tropopause. Multiple sites in NASA's Micro Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) have detected the plume from the Arctic to the tropics. The evolution of the plume will be described using the unique observational capability of MPLNET: continuous lidar profiles from the surface to the lower stratosphere.
- Micro-pulse Lidar Observations of the Arctic Haze During ICEALOT 2008, Virginia Sawyer, Peter Kelly, Ellsworth J. Welton (613.1). Profiles of arctic haze using CALIPSO and a Micro Pulse Lidar (MPL) onboard the R/V Knorr during the Spring 2008 ICEALOT cruise will be shown. The annual peak concentration of atmospheric aerosols above the Arctic occurs in March and April in an event called the Arctic haze, which can significantly alter surface fluxes, and the chemistry and heating rate profile of the Arctic atmosphere.
- Comparison of Surface and column integrated atmospheric optical properties over Bermuda, Kenneth Voss, Paul Terman, Rudra Aryal, William Keene, Jennie Moody, Brent Holben, Ellsworth J. Welton (613.1). Relating data accurately between remotely sensed and in situ observations is a classic problem. In situ aerosol measurements and column remote sensing data (such as aerosol optical depth) can be more easily understood using lidar profiles to assess the amount of aerosol in the boundary layer, and free troposphere. The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences hosts a measurement site composed of NSF, NASA, and foreign funded observations of in situ aerosol concentration and scattering/absorption properties, column aerosol properties (NASA AERONET), and lidar profiles (NASA MPLNET). This study will explore the connection between the surface, column, and vertically resolved data.
- An Evaluation of Aerosol Spatial Scales in A-Train Observations and Transport Model Simulations: Does ACE need a Multi-Beam Lidar,? Peter Colarco (613.3), Ellsworth J. Welton (613.1), Sebastian A. Stewart (613.1), et al. The Aerosols-Clouds-Ecosystem (ACE) satellite mission proposed in the recent NRC Decadal Survey couples lidar, radiometer, and polarimeter on a single satellite platform, mimicking some key capabilities of the current A-Train constellation (i.e., CALIPSO, MODIS, PARASOL) on one spacecraft. There is some question as to whether a single-beam lidar like the current CALIPSO instrument provides sufficient information about the distributions of aerosols to represent the entire swath observed by the polarimeter/radiometer package. This study addresses the problem by examining spatial correlation of aerosol properties using MODIS, CALIPSO, and the GEOS-5 model in the context of the proposed ACE mission.
- Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere Water Vapor Measurements Using Optimized Raman Lidar and Balloon-borne Sensors, David N. Whiteman (613.1), D. Venable, B. Demoz, E. Joseph, L. Miloshevich, H. Vömel, T. Leblanc, S. McDermid. Monitoring trends in upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric (UT/LS) water vapor concentrations is important to be able to predict changes in temperature structure in the atmosphere and the rate of ozone recovery. This talk reviews the state of the art water vapor measurement capabilities for lidar and balloon-borne sensors such as can be used to monitor trends in UT/LS water vapor concentrations.
- September 19, Robert Levy (SSAI/613.2): "Retrieving global aerosol properties from MODIS: The challenge of the climate data record "
Conferences, Workshops
Robert Cahalan (613.2) is attending the biennial NASA Environmental and Energy (E&E) Conference, Session on Climate Change/Green House Gases at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia September 24, 2008.
Print-friendly
page
(new window)
