Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, Code 614
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics (614) Local News Archive
Now displaying records 1 to 25 of 70.
Goddard Monitors Smoke from Canada Wildfires
06/07/2023
An unusually intense start to Canada’s wildfire season filled skies with smoke in May 2023. Then, at the beginning of June, scores of new fires raged in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec. NASA’s Aqua satellite, operated at Goddard, has captured imagery of the smoke. The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) based at Goddard has computed models of where the smoke may travel in coming days.
When the dust that wafts off the Sahel and Sahara regions of Africa mixes with tropical clouds, it creates what’s known as a rainy “disturbance” in the eastern Atlantic. These disturbances are hurricanes in their youngest form, and as they travel across the ocean, they can either dissipate or grow into powerful storms.
To study these infant storms, a group of NASA scientists in September 2022 spent a month flying off the northwestern coast of Africa aboard NASA’s DC-8 research plane. Each day, the team took off from Cabo Verde, an island nation off the west coast of Africa, logging roughly 100 hours altogether. The mission, known as the Convective Processes Experiment – Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) released its data publicly on April 1.
Mission Pages for each of the current projects under the HAQAST program were published by the GES DISC. Links to the individual project Mission Pages are on the main HAQAST mission page
The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) released the NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team (HAQAST) Annual Summary of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) at CONUS County and Census Tract, Version 1 Product, from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite.
The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) announced the release of a global surface-level NO2 dataset, estimating concentrations in grid cells at a 1 km spatial resolution for the years 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005-2020. This dataset is from the Health & Air Quality Applied Sciences Team, HAQAST. Air quality, environmental science, and public health researchers may benefit from these global estimates, which are particularly useful for studying long-term trends in NO2 and the associated health impacts, and are also valuable for environmental justice, as this dataset enables an assessment of intraurban NO2 variations.
NASA’s Terra, Aqua, and Aura Data Continuity Workshop will be held virtually on May 23-25, 2023. Sessions will run daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time/10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central Time/8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
The NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) has posted a questions and answers document on the Request for Information’s (RFI) Landing Page. When they become available following the close of the RFI, NSPIRES will post on the RFI’s landing page under “Other Documents” 1) a Workshop Agenda, 2) Registration link and 3) Webex Information.
Agenda suggestions and additional questions or comments may be emailed to david.b.considine@nasa.gov; please include "NNH23ZDA010L" in the subject line.
Request for Information: NASA’s Terra, Aqua, and Aura Data Continuity Workshop
Number: NNH23ZDA010L
Release Date: March 1, 2023
Response Date: April 4, 2023
Short Direct URL to the RFI: https://go.nasa.gov/TAARFI4VCW
A recent paper published in Earth and Space Science on the NASA/Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) May 2019 Satellite Coastal and Oceanic Atmospheric Pollution Experiment (SCOAPE) Gulf of Mexico cruise has been selected as an Editor’s Highlight. Less than 2% of papers receive such a distinction! Congratulations to Anne Thompson (610/UMBC lead author) and her co-authors for this recognition.
2023 Poster Party Blowout winners announced
02/16/2023
We had over 175 posters from all four science divisions, as well as a few select entries from the Engineering and Technology Directorate. As one of the few yearly events that brings together the whole Sciences and Exploration Directorate, the large turnout (including GSFC and HQ VIPs) and collaborative communication made the event a great success! While there were so many fantastic contributions, awards were given for outstanding posters in 5 categories:
Best Poster Title:
Francesco Civilini (690.1) - How to Train your Lander: Automatic moonquake detection using machine learning
Best Graphic Design:
Douglas Rowland (675) - The Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission: NASA's next Living With a Star mission to explore the upper atmosphere
Best Science as Food:
Maryam Rahmani (665) - Cosmic Microwave Background/Line Intensity Mapping cake and jell-o
Best Science Story:
Shipra Sinha (670) - The Mystery of Magnetospheric Substorms
Piers Sellers Interdisciplinary Award:
Erin Delaria (614) - The NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE): Observations of Greenhouse Gas Exchange in the Florida Everglades
This fall, scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, took to the skies (and sea and land) to take measurements of carbon dioxide and methane as part of the Blueflux field campaign.
Blueflux, funded by the NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System project, aims to create a database of carbon dioxide and methane fluxes – or intakes and emissions – of mangrove ecosystems, which exist in coastal areas.
2022 610AT Peer Awards Announced
12/07/2022
On December 6, 2022, ESD's Atmospheres organization hosted its annual peer awards ceremony in hybrid format. The 2022 610AT Peer Awards included:
Best Senior Author Publication: Tianle Yuanz (613/UMD) and Jerald Ziemke (614/Morgan State Univ.); Best Science Highlight or Nugget: Sujung Go (613/Morgan State Univ.) and Ghassan Taha (614/Morgan State Univ.); Distinguished Contribution Group Award: Lisa Nalborczyk (612/SSAI), Cathy Newman (613/SSAI), and Tyeisha Philson (614/SSAI), Susannah Pearce (613/GST), Rashida Holland (613/GST), and Nathan Perrin (613/GST) and NO2 Sonde Instrument Team (614 ) – Steve Bailey (555), Andrew Swanson (614/UMBC), Hieu Nguyen (JSC-OD/CACI NSS), Reem Hannun (614/UMBC), Ryan Stauffer (614), and Tom Hanisco (614); Field Campaign Support: Taka Iguchi (612/UMD); Science: Chris Kidd (612/UMD) and Can Li (614/UMD); Engineering and/or Instrument Development or Support: Jason St Clair (614/UMBC) and Michael Gray (614/SSAI); Science Software Development: Vinay Kayetha (614/SSAI) and Robert Joyce (612/SSAI); IT or Web Support: Frank Gomez (61A/ADNET); Administrative or Business Support: Kyu-Myong Kim (613/NASA), Linda Whetzel (614/X3M Systems), and Carol Holcombe (157.1/NASA); Outreach or Mentoring: Andrea Portier (612/SSAI); Special Recognition Award: G. Thomas Arnold (613/SSAI).
Matt Rodell (610), Rolf Reichle (610.1), Ben Cook (611), Alex Ruane (611), Alexei Lyapustin (613), Joanna Joiner (614), Doug Morton (618), and Ben Poulter (618) were selected as 2022 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate (Web of Science). Recipients are recognized for their exceptional research influence, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year.
ESD staff joined colleagues from SED's Heliophysics Division to attend the 7th General Assembly of Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate. This multi-hub international SPARC meeting was designed to maximize in-person attendance, while reducing the carbon footprint compared to that of a single venue, for which more people would need to travel longer distances to attend. Several 610 scientists participated in the meeting at the Boulder, CO, Hub.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite, with NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration along for the ride, lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this morning, Nov. 10! Powered by 860,000 pounds of thrust from the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket’s RD-180 engine, launch occurred at 1:49 a.m. PST.
NASA and United Launch Alliance are now targeting 1:25 a.m. PST, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, for the launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
NASA and United Launch Alliance have delayed the launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) due to the need to replace a battery on board the Centaur upper stage of the launch vehicle. Launch is now planned for no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 9, pending range availability. The science and technology briefing scheduled to air on NASA TV at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT) today, Oct. 29, has also been delayed. Follow the blog for more information.
Officials from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will discuss the launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration during a science briefing that will air live on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT) Saturday, Oct. 29.
NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) Program completed an intermediate, online training titled, "Accessing and Analyzing Air Quality Data from Geostationary Satellites." This three-part training, offered in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute Of Environmental Research (NIER, South Korea), provided an overview of geostationary capabilities for monitoring air quality around the world, introduced geostationary aerosol datasets from GOES-East, GOES-West, Himawari 8, and the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), and presented data access and python tools to read and analyze the datasets. This training was delivered by Pawan Gupta (USRA/MSFC), Melanie Follette-Cook (612), Sarah Strode (614/MSU), and guest speakers Aaron Naeger (TEMPO/MSFC), Amy Huff and Sujung Go (613/UMBC). Selwyn Hudson-Odoi (612/UMBC), David Barbato (612/UMBC), Sarah Cutshall (612/SSAI), and Jonathan O’Brien (612/SSAI) supported the training. In attendance were 860 participants from 102 countries and 38 US states. Approximately 425 unique organizations were represented.
Summer thunderstorms like this may last just a few minutes, or for several hours. In their wake, the NASA Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere, or DCOTSS, operations room buzzes with activity. After a storm, the Kansas-based crew sends out a high-altitude plane loaded with instruments to take measurements and make observations.
Ryan Kramer (613/UMBC) and Susan Strahan (614/UMBC) provided comments to The Washington Post for an article about the climate impacts of stratospheric water vapor injection by the Hunga Tonga volcano entitled “Tonga volcano blasted unprecedented amount of water into atmosphere.”
The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program invites you to take part in our upcoming Land Cover Challenge: “Land Cover in a Changing Climate.”
The photos you take using The GLOBE Program’s GLOBE Observer app document the current land cover and may also show evidence of land cover or land use change in the area. We especially encourage you to look for places you know have changed (or where you know change is coming), and put any information about the reasons or timing for that change in the field notes section. While existing land cover databases (such as the 50-year record from the Landsat satellite) may be able to indicate where change is happening, they don’t always include the reasons why those changes occurred, so any local, on-the-ground knowledge you share with us can be especially helpful.
NASA ARSET just completed an intermediate/advanced, online training titled Using the UN Biodiversity Lab to Monitor the Pulse of the Planet. This five-part, trilingual training focused on using remote sensing and geospatial data within the NASA-supported UN Biodiversity Lab (UNBL) to take action on national conservation and sustainable development priorities. Melanie Follette-Cook (614/MSU), Brock Blevins (614/SSAI), Selwyn Hudson-Odoi (614/UMBC), David Barbato (614/UMBC), Sarah Cutshall (614/SSAI), and Jonathan O’Brien (614/SSAI) supported the training. In attendance were 958 participants from 121 countries and 23 US states with approximately 400 unique organizations represented.
2021 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers
12/10/2021
Several 610 researchers were named to the annual list identifying scientists and social scientists who produced multiple papers ranking in the top 1% of citations for their field and year of publication. Congratulations to Matthew Rodell (610), Ben Cook (611), Alex Ruane (611), Alexei Lyapustin (613), Joanna Joiner (614), Douglas Morton (618), Benjamin Poulter (618), and Eric Vermote (619) for being named to this year's list.
2021 610AT Peer Awards Announced
11/05/2021
On November 5, 2021, ESD's Atmospheres organization hosted a virtual awards ceremony with 134 attendees. The following employees were awarded a 2021 610AT Peer Award — Best Senior Author Publication: Sampa Das (614/UMD) and Lauren Zamora (613/UMD); Best Science Highlight or Nugget: Ryan Kramer (613/UMBC) and Lisa Milani (612/UMD); Distinguished Contribution Group Award: Wallops Airborne Topographic Mapper team (ATM), James K. Yungel (615/SSAI), Serdar S. Manizade (615/SSAI), Matthew A. Linkswiler (615/SSAI), Kyle A. Krabill (840), Craig Swenson (615/SSAI), Alexey Chibisov (615/SSAI), Carl Schirtzinger (615/ASRC), and Michael Studinger (615); Technical or Field Campaign Support: Theresa Graydus (610.W/ASRC), Carl Schirtzinger (615/ASRC), and Brian Lowe (610/Peraton), Kenneth Christian (612/UMD), and Alexander Kotsakis (614/USRA); Outstanding performance Science: David Haffner (614/SSAI), Melanie Follette-Cook (614/MSU), Toshihisa Matsui (612/UMD), and Daeho Jin (613/USRA); Engineering and/or Instrument Development or Support: Jason St Clair (614/UMBC); Science Software Development: Zachary Fasnacht (614/SSAI) and Liang-Kang Huang (614/SSAI); IT or Web Support: Paul Hubanks (613/ADNET) and Ashley Barrientos (610/ADNET); Administrative or Business Support: Marion August (613/X3M); Outreach or Mentoring: Dorian Janney (612/ADNET), Santiago Gasso, (613/UMD), Emily Wilson (610), and Ralph Kahn (613); Special Recognition Award: Mariel Friberg (613/UMD), Lara Clemence (610/GST), and Tamas Varnai (613/UMBC); Special Recognition during COVID-19: Gerald McIntire (612/KBRwyle).
Dr. Mian Chin of the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory has been elected to AGU's Class of 2021 Fellows. AGU’s announcement states Fellows "...have made outstanding achievements and contributions by pushing the frontiers of our science forward. They have also embodied AGU’s shared vision of a thriving, sustainable, and equitable future for all powered by discovery, innovation, and action. Equally important is that they conducted themselves with integrity, respect, diversity, and collaboration while creating deep engagement in education and outreach. Since 1962, AGU has elected fewer than 0.1% of members to join this prestigious group of individuals.Thanks to their dedication and sacrifice, AGU Fellows serve as global leaders and experts who have propelled our understanding of geosciences. We are confident that they will remain curious and relentlessly focused on answers as they continue to advance their research, which pushes our boundaries of knowledge to create a healthy planet and beyond.”
Congratulations, Mian, for an honor well-deserved!
Congratulations to Mian Chin (614) and Gerry Heymsfield (612) on their selection as Fellows of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). They will receive their honors at the AMS Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas, during the week of January 23–27, 2022.