Saswati Das
(Assistant Research Scientist)
| Email: | saswati.das@nasa.gov |
| Org Code: | 614 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 233-200 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE CO |
Brief Bio
Saswati Das is an Assistant Research Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She analyzes observations of longwave-forcing trace gases and their co-emitted species (e.g., NO2, CO) using data from ground-based remote sensing networks and in situ measurement campaigns conducted on aircraft. These measurements complement current and future satellite observations (e.g., OCO-2, OCO-3, GOSAT-2, GHGSat, CO2M, TEMPO, GeoXO), as well as flux tower and ground-based in situ networks, to enhance our understanding of emission sources and atmosphere-biosphere interactions. She validates total column satellite data products and inverse modeling inventories, evaluates urban fluxes, emission sources, and natural system fluxes, and works on improving instrumentation and observational strategies.
Formerly, as a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Saswati worked on validating the XCO2 product from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 and 3 missions against independent datasets such as observations from the ground-based Total Carbon Column Observing Network and the COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network, and aircraft measurements from the Atmospheric Tomography Mission.
She worked as a graduate student at the Center for Space Science and Engineering Research at Virginia Tech, USA. She graduated with a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 2019 and a Ph.D. in 2022. Her research focused on studying the chemistry and dynamics of the Stratosphere, Mesosphere, and Lower Thermosphere. She investigated the long-term variations in these regions of the atmosphere and the unusual dynamics that follow atmospheric anomalies, such as Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events. She validated ozone and atomic oxygen from the SOFIE instrument and investigated Arctic and Antarctic SSW events.
Research Interests
Air Quality, Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Cycle, Remote Sensing and Instrumentation, Satellite Data Validation, Sudden Stratospheric Warmings, Lower and Middle Atmosphere
Positions/Employment
Assistant Research Scientist
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD, USA
September 2025 - Present
Postdoctoral Researcher
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Pasadena, CA, USA
November 2022 - September 2025
Teaching Experience
Graduate Teaching Assistant - Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
• Physics Department for PHYS,3704 -Thermal Physics Jan 2018 – May2018
• ECE Department for ECE,2146 -Exploration of Space Jan2019–May2019
Education
2020 - 2022 Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) Blacksburg, VA
2017 - 2019 M.S. (Electrical Engineering), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) Blacksburg, VA
Publications
Refereed
2025. "Comparisons of the v11.1 Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐2 (OCO‐2) XCO2 Measurements With GGG2020 TCCON.", Earth and Space Science, 12 (7): e2024EA003935 [10.1029/2024ea003935] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Fiducial Reference Measurements for Greenhouse Gases (FRM4GHG): Validation of Satellite (Sentinel-5 Precursor, OCO-2, and GOSAT) Missions Using the COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network (COCCON).", Remote Sensing, 17 (5): 734 [10.3390/rs17050734] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Constraining Sector‐Specific CO2 Fluxes Using Space‐Based XCO2 Observations Over the Los Angeles Basin.", Geophysical Research Letters, 50 (21): e2023GL104376 [10.1029/2023gl104376] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Validation of Version 1.3 Ozone Measured by the SOFIE Instrument.", Earth and Space Science, 10 (10): e2022EA002649 [10.1029/2022ea002649] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Sounding Rocket Observation of Nitric Oxide in the Polar Night.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 127 (6): e2021JA030257 [10.1029/2021ja030257] [Journal Article/Letter]