Dr. Charon Birkett received a BSc in Physics/Astronomy from the University of Sheffield, U.K. and a Ph.D in Astronomy from the University of Leicester. After spending several years studying the physical and chemical attributes of comets and asteroids she switched to the Earth Sciences. While at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (University College London), focus was on exploring satellite-based remote sensing techniques, particularly radar altimetry and its application to monitoring the variation of continental surface waters.
Dr. Birkett came to the USA in 1997 via the USRA Visiting Scientist Program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She moved between the Oceans and Ice (under Chet Koblinsky) and Biospheric Physics (under Jim Tucker) Branches while continuing to promote altimetry for lake and river surface dynamics studies. In October 2001, Dr. Birkett joined the Earth Science Interdisciplinary Center at the University of Maryland College Park winning a number of NASA and USDA grant awards relating to the various interdisciplinary themes such as water resources, climate change, river dynamics, and natural hazards. Joining the Geodesy and Geodynamics Lab at NASA/GSFC in July 2019, Dr. Birkett continues to explore altimetric techniques, both radar and lidar applying derived elevation, slope, and depth measurements to a number of projects and collaborating with both scientists and stakeholders.
Overall, Dr. Birkett has 25years experience in the field of satellite remote sensing. Instrument performance, technique exploration and enhancement, and product development and application, are all central themes to her work. She has explored data sets ranging from the early NASA/NRL Seasat and Geosat missions, to the continuity NASA-based Topex/Jason/Sentinel-6 series, as well as the ESA/ISRO/CNES datasets from the ERS, ENVISAT, SARAL and Sentinel-3 missions. She pioneered the development of the operational USDA/NASA funded Global Reservoir and Lake Monitor (G-REALM) and the NASA funded Global Water Measurements (GWM) system, and she serves on a number of science and mission working teams. Current projects address science questions relating to continental water storage dynamics and their potential contribution to global mean sea level. In addition, she continues to serve the stakeholder communities with a range of remote sensing products that aid in the monitoring of water resources for food, water, hydro-electric power, and natural hazards considerations.