Profile for Thorsten Markus


Click image to view larger version.
Title: Branch Head
Affiliation: NASA
Contact: E-mail
Office Phone: 301-614-5882
Fax: 301-614-5644

Short Biography

Thorsten Markus received his PhD degree in Physics from the University of Bremen, Germany. He came to Goddard in 1996 first as an NRC post-doc, working on Antarctic coastal polynyas, and then via UMBC JCET where he still is an adjunct professor in the physics department. In 2002 he was hired as a civil servant and became a member of the Microwave Sensors Branch. His research focuses on the development of new approaches to derive cryospheric parameters from space-borne or air-borne observations. He is a member of the Aqua AMSR-E Science Team where he is responsible for the sea ice concentration and snow on sea ice products, and the ICESat Science Team. He participated in and co-led ship-borne and air-borne validation campaigns in both hemispheres. His research activities led him three times to the Antarctic and three times to the Arctic. He furthermore is working on the utilization of satellite-derived geophysical parameters in data analysis efforts and in data assimilation schemes to explore the role of cryospheric processes in the polar and global climate system.

Publications

Markus, T., D. Powell, and J. Wang (2006). Sensitivity of passive microwave snow depth retrievals to weather effects and snow evolution. IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 44, 68-77.

Bindschadler, R., and T. Markus (2005). Detecting and measuring new snow accumulation on ice sheets by satellite remote sensing. Remote Sens. Environ., 98, 388-402.

Bindschadler, R., and T. Markus (2005). Detecting and measuring new snow accumulation on ice sheets by satellite remote sensing. Rem. Sens. Env., 98, 388-402.

Markus, T., and D.J. Cavalieri (2005). Estimation of thin ice thickness and detection of fast ice from SSM/I data in the Antarctic Ocean J. Atm. Oceanic Techn., (submitted)

Markus, T. (2005). Seasonal cycles and interannual variability of the portioning of solar energy by Arctic sea ice. J. Geophys. Res..

Markus, T. (2005). Ultra-wideband radar measurements of thickness of snow cover of sea ice. IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

Powell, D., and T. Markus (2005). The effects of snow depth forcing of Southern Ocean sea ice simulations. J. Geophys. Res., 110, C06001.
10.1029/2003JC002212