Weekly Report for the Week Ending November 6, 2009
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GSFC Laboratory for Atmospheres, Code 613
Noteworthy science achievements/awards
Noteworthy personnel awards and staff changes
Projects/missions
- The upcoming 7 South East Asian Studies (7-SEAS, 2010-2012) is an interdisciplinary cooperation of NASA and ONR in Southeast Asia, focusing on 7 objectives: (1) clouds and precipitation, (2) radiative transfer, (3) anthropogenic and biomass-burning emissions and evolution, (4) natural background atmospheric chemistry, (5) tropical-subtropical meteorology, (6) regional nowcasting, forecasting, and inter-annual/climate outlooks, and (7) calibration/validation. GSFCÕs ground-based AERONET, MPLNET and SMART-COMMIT (& future ACHIEVE) mobile observatories will be playing an important role during the intensive observational period (IOP). Si-Chee Tsay (613.2) and Brent Holben (614.4), among other colleagues, are attending the 7-SEAS science/site meeting in Taiwan, Vietnam, and Philippines on 2-18 November 2009. Three 7-SEAS IOP sites will be established: (1) Dongsha, Taiwan, of the Pratas islands in the vicinity of northern South China Sea, (2) Hanoi, Vietnam, for regional biomass-burning aerosols interacting with frontal clouds and water cycle, and (3) Palawan, Philippines, for marine aerosols and meteorology. Establishments of other sites for the 7-SEAS IOP in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand are also underway.
Significant planned events
Proposals
External interactions (HQ, universities, other Gov't organizations, etc.)
- Lorraine Remer (613.2) is collaborating with Phil Russell, Jens Redemann, and the Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS) group for a period of 6 months (divided into three 2-month periods) to enhance research towards understanding atmospheric composition and the role of changing composition on climate. In particular, the proposed research program will facilitate definition of the Decadal Survey ACE mission polarimeter by assisting Ames personnel in defining the PODEX-2010 experiment and helping to bridge the gap between satellite aerosol remote sensing and the suborbital community.
- Charles Ichoku (613.2) and Charles Gatebe (UMBC-GEST/613.2) are attending a GLOBE meeting in Boulder Colorado to plan the implementation of the GLOBE Student Climate Research Campaign 2011-2013. As the worldÕs largest international science education program, GLOBE is dedicated to advancing research in environmental education through use of our scientific protocols, educational activities, and collaboration within our worldwide network representing more than 100 countries and over 50 cooperating agencies worldwide. GLOBEÕs goals are to: (a) involve more than 1,000,000 students in climate research; (b) empower students, teachers and community members to take action on climate-related environmental issues; and (c) create a compelling model for innovative student research and environmental science education for the 21st century.
Highlights of inter-Directorate teaming
Accepted papers
- T.L. Bell (613.2-Emeritus), D. Rosenfeld, K.-M. Kim (613.2/GEST), 2009 "The Weekly Cycle of Lightning: Evidence of Storm Invigoration by Pollution", Geophys. Res. Lett. [in press].
- J. Redemann, Q. Zhang, J. Livingston, P. Russell, Y. Shinozuka, A. Clarke, R. Johnson, and R. Levy (613.2/SSAI), 2009, Testing aerosol properties in MODIS Collection 4 and 5 using airborne sunphotometer observations in INTEX-B/MILAGRO, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 8159-8172 [published].
Noteworthy talks/presentations
- The annual Precipitation Measuring Mission (PMM) Science Team meeting was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, 26-29, 2009. Over 150 people from NASA centers and HQ, NOAA, universities, and from Japan attended the meeting. In his opening remark, HQ. Manager R. Kakar presented a summary of the status of the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM), indicating the KDP-C review is now nearing completion, and the GPM project is expected to go into Phase-D. He also discussed the importance of an upcoming PMM field campaign, Genesis and Rapid Intensification Process (GRIP) for hurricane formation. A wide range of papers including algorithm development, retrievals, modeling, ground validation, and science discoveries were presented in oral and poster sessions.
- Joel Susskind (613.0) attended the CERES Science Team Meeting in Fort Collins, CO, November 2-5, and gave a presentation titled ÒComparison of Anomalies and Trends of OLR as Observed by CERES and Computed from Geophysical Parameters Derived from Analysis of AIRS/AMSU DataÓ by Joel Susskind (613.0) and Gyula Molnar (613.0/UMBC).
- Dr. Robert F. Adler (ESSIC; 613.1), David T. Bolvin (SSAI; 613.1), Dr. George J. Huffman (SSAI; 613.1), Eric J. Nelkin (SSAI; 613.1) participated in the 2009 PMM Science Team Meeting, 26-29 October 2009, Salt Lake City, UT. Dr. Huffman presented
- Huffman, G.J., 2009: Multi-satellite Algorithm Update. 2009 PMM Science Team Meeting, 26-29 October 2009, Salt Lake City, UT.
- Huffman, G.J., R.F. Adler, D.T. Bolvin, E.J. Nelkin, 2009: Advancing the TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis for Version 7. 2009 PMM Science Team Meeting, 26-29 October 2009, Salt Lake City, UT.
- Drs. Robert F. Adler (ESSIC; 613.1), and George J. Huffman (SSAI; 613.1) participated in the 3rd Precipitation Constellation Workshop, 29-30 October 2009, Salt Lake City, UT. Dr. Huffman presented
- Huffman, G.J., 2009: Update on IPWG for the CEOS PC Workshop. 3rd Precipitation Constellation Workshop, 26-29 October 2009, Salt Lake City, UT.
- Gail Skofronick Jackson presented research and posters at the Precipitation Measurement Missions (PMM) Science Team Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah from October 26-29, 2009. She also attended several algorithm planning and NASA/JAXA coordination meetings October 29 - 30, 2009.
- Raghu Murtugudde, The Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science, ESSIC/University of Maryland is presenting a Climate & Radiation Branch Seminar entitled ÒEarth System Predictions: A regional prototypeÓ on November 4 at 2:00.
- A news article featuring recent research on the day-of-the-week dependence of lightning statistics by Dr. Thomas Bell (613.2/Emeritus) in the Climate and Radiation Branch appeared October 15 in the environmental news web site published by the Brazilian organization O Eco Association. The web site URL is http://www.oeco.com.br/reportagens/37-reportagens/22665-eletricidade-intensificada
O Eco Association is a non-profit organization that has been running an environmental news website since 2004. Its focus is on nature conservancy. - Charles Gatebe (UMBC-GEST/613.2) is in the spotlight on The GLOBE Program Online News, November 2009: http://www.globe.gov/content/newsbriefs/November2009
- Gray O'Byrne, a student at Dalhousie University, won an outstanding student paper award at the 2009 spring AGU meeting. His paper used MODIS and OMI data to create a new surface albedo climatology that may improve NO2 retrievals, especially over snow. Goddard collaborators on this work include Joanna Joiner, Jim Gleason, and Edward Celarier (all from Code 613.3).
- Anne Douglass, (Code 613.3) chaired and Mark Olsen, Code (613.3) sat on a panel discussion "Parenthood: The Elephant in the Laboratory" at the Women in Astronomy and Space Science 2009 meeting on October 22 in College Park, MD. The discussion was based on the book "Motherhood: The Elephant in the Laboratory" and focused on the many ways in which women and men can successfully combine parenthood and a career in the sciences.
- Mark Olsen, Code 613.3, attended The Extratropical UTLS: Observations, Concepts and Future Directions workshop held on October 19-22 in Boulder, CO. He presented work entitled "Interannual variability of ozone in the winter lower stratosphere and the relationship to laminar transport and mixing."
Major events in the coming week
Education and Outreach
Issues and Concerns
Status of any major actions
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