Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Sarah Elizabeth Ringerud

(RESEARCH AST, METEOROLOGICAL STUDIES)

Sarah Elizabeth Ringerud's Contact Card & Information.
Email: sarah.e.ringerud@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.5496
Org Code: 612
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 612
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Brief Bio

Dr. Sarah Ringerud is a research meteorologist specializing in remote sensing and atmospheric science. Contributions to the field are focused on the development and innovation of satellite algorithms for microwave instruments.

 

Sarah holds a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science with an emphasis on Remote Sensing from Colorado State University, where her dissertation focused on physically-based passive microwave precipitation retrieval over land. She also earned an M.S. in Atmospheric Science from the same institution and a B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, with a second major in Mathematics, from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

 

Currently serving as a Research Meteorologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Sarah leads projects focused on the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) and future mission concepts. Her expertise lies in satellite algorithm development, particularly for microwave instruments, and she actively collaborates with government and academic partners to advance the field of precipitation remote sensing.

Sarah's research interests span remote sensing, radiative transfer, the global hydrologic cycle, and atmospheric radiation. She has received numerous awards and fellowships for her work, including the UMD-ESSIC Best Paper of the Year Award, CSU Alumni Award, and the NASA Group Achievement Award for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.

 

In addition to her research endeavors, Sarah is an active member of professional organizations such as the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and the Institute of Electronical and Electronics Engineers Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (IEEE-GRSS). She has presented her work at numerous domestic and international conferences and serves as a reviewer for multiple scientific journals.

 

With extensive experience in processing and interpreting large satellite datasets, Sarah continues to push the boundaries of remote sensing and atmospheric science, exploring insights to our understanding of Earth's climate system.

Research Interests

Current Projects

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)

Precipitation

Algorithm development with focus on passive microwave retrievals over land

Atmospheric Observing System (AOS)

Remote Sensing

Early radiometer algorithm development

Positions/Employment

Research Meteorologist, AST

NASA - GSFC

January 2023 - Present

Assistant Research Scientist

University of Maryland - NASA GSFC

July 2019 - December 2022

Postdoctoral Researcher

University of Maryland - NASA GSFC

July 2017 - June 2019

Postdoctoral Fellow

NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) - NASA GSFC

July 2015 - June 2017

Education

PhD. Atmospheric Science; Emphasis: Remote Sensing, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 5/2015                 

M.S. Atmospheric Science; Emphasis: Remote Sensing, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 5/2006

B.S. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Mathematics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 2002

Professional Societies

Phi Beta Kappa

member

2002 - Present

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

member

2012 - Present

American Meteorological Society

member

2000 - Present

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society

member

2012 - Present

Awards

-UMD-ESSIC Best Paper of the Year Award 2021:

Ringerud, S., C. Peters-Lidard, S. J. Munchak, Y. You, 2021: Applications of Dynamic Land Surface Information for Passive Microwave Precipitation Retrieval, J. Atmos. And Ocean. Tech., 38(2), 167-183. DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-20-0048.1

- IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society 2020 Transactions Prize Paper Award:

Munchak, S.J., S. Ringerud, L. Brucker, Y. You, I. de Gelis and C. Prigent, 2020: An Active-Passive Microwave Land Surface Database From GPM, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 58, 6224-6242. DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2020.2975477

 -NASA GSFC Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Lab 2017 Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award

- NASA Group Achievement Award, Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, Post Launch Team 2015

- NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship 2015

- Certificate of Excellence for Presentation, GEWEX 7th International Conference on the Global Energy and Water Cycle, July 2014

- Alumni Award for Outstanding Paper by a PhD Student (CSU Atmospheric Science Department) May 2014

- NASA Earth and Space Sciences Fellowship (NESSF) 2013

- Center for Earth Atmosphere Studies Fellowship, (a cooperative fellowship linking Colorado State University and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center) 2009

- Hilldale Fellowship for Undergraduate Research, 2001

Publications

Refereed

2022. "Vulnerability of Passive Microwave Snowfall Retrievals to Physical Properties of Snowpack: A Perspective from Dense Media Radiative Transfer Theory." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 1-1 [10.1109/tgrs.2022.3184530] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Improving Cross-track Scanning Radiometers’ Precipitation Retrieval over Ocean by Morphing." Journal of Hydrometeorology 22 (9): 2393-2406 [10.1175/jhm-d-21-0038.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Applications of a CloudSat-TRMM and CloudSat-GPM Satellite Coincidence Dataset." Remote Sensing 13 (12): 2264 [10.3390/rs13122264] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Precipitation Retrievals from Passive Microwave Cross-Track Sensors: The Precipitation Retrieval and Profiling Scheme." Remote Sensing 13 (5): 947 [10.3390/rs13050947] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Extreme Lake-Effect Snow from a GPM Microwave Imager Perspective: Observational Analysis and Precipitation Retrieval Evaluation." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 38 (2): 293-311 [10.1175/jtech-d-20-0064.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Applications of Dynamic Land Surface Information for Passive Microwave Precipitation Retrieval." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 38 (2): 167-180 [10.1175/jtech-d-20-0048.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "An Active–Passive Microwave Land Surface Database From GPM." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 58 (9): 6224-6242 [10.1109/tgrs.2020.2975477] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Raindrop Signature from Microwave Radiometer Over Deserts." Geophysical Research Letters 47 (16): [10.1029/2020gl088656] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "The Goddard Profiling (GPROF) Precipitation Retrieval Algorithm." Satellite Precipitation Measurement 141-152 [10.1007/978-3-030-24568-9_8] [Article in Book]

2018. "The Instantaneous Retrieval of Precipitation Over Land by Temporal Variation at 19 GHz." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 123 (17): 9279-9295 [10.1029/2017jd027596] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Improving Overland Precipitation Retrieval with Brightness Temperature Temporal Variation." Journal of Hydrometeorology 18 (9): 2355-2383 [10.1175/jhm-d-17-0050.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "The GPM Combined Algorithm." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 33 (10): 2225-2245 [10.1175/jtech-d-16-0019.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Precipitation retrievals from passive microwave cross-track sounding instruments." 2016 14th Specialist Meeting on Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment (MicroRad) [10.1109/microrad.2016.7530515] [Proceedings]

2015. "An examination of methods for estimating land surface microwave emissivity." J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 120 11,114-11,128 [10.1002/2015JD023582] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "A Semi-Empirical Model for Computing Land Surface Emissivity in the Microwave Region." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 53 (4): 1935-1946 [Full Text] [10.1109/TGRS.2014.2351232] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Calibration to improve forward model simulation of microwave emissivity at GPM frequencies over the U.S. Southern Great Plains." IEEE Trans. Geophys. Remote Sens. 54 (2): [10.1109/TGRS.2015.2474120] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "A Comparison of Microwave Window Channel Retrieved and Forward-Modeled Emissivities Over the US Southern Great Plains." Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on 52 (5): 2395 - 2412 [10.1109/TGRS.2013.2260759] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "An Evaluation of Microwave Land Surface Emissivities Over the Continental United States to Benefit GPM-Era Precipitation Algorithms." IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing 51 (1): 378-398 [10.1109/TGRS.2012.2199121] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2014. "Land surface microwave emissivity dynamics: Observations, analysis and modeling ." Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment (MicroRad), 2014 13th Specialist Meeting on 99 - 102 [10.1109/MicroRad.2014.6878917] [Proceedings]

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