Dr. Dalia B. Kirschbaum is the Director of the Earth Sciences Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. As Director she manages a staff of 200 civil servants and 1200 people serving as contractors, technicians, support staff and those on cooperative agreements, all dedicated to studying the Earth as an integrated system that includes the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, cryosphere, and geosphere. Prior to this role, she was Chief of the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, a group of scientists focused on conducting large-scale hydrological science research using data from NASA’s satellites, land surface models, and fieldwork. Dr. Kirschbaum’s research has focused on rainfall-triggered landslide modeling, monitoring and mapping using remotely sensed information to conduct landslide hazard and risk studies at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Previously, she also served as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Deputy Project Scientist for Applications, and on the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) Science and Applications Leadership Team. She has also supported the agency as a Disaster Response Coordinator, working with other NASA centers as well as domestic and international partners to bring satellite data and products to bear during natural hazard events to improve situational awareness and inform decision making. Dr. Kirschbaum received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University with a focus in Natural Hazards and Remote Sensing. She received her A.B. in Geosciences from Princeton University.
Dalia B Kirschbaum
(Director, Earth Sciences Division)
| Email: | dalia.b.kirschbaum@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.614.5810 |
| Org Code: | 610 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 610 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: |
Brief Bio
Education
2004 – 2009 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Natural Hazards, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing
Dissertation: Multi-Scale Landslide Hazard and Risk Assessment: A Modeling and Multivariate Statistical Approach
Research Advisor: Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam
Doctoral Degree Received: July 2009
2007 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY
M. Phil. Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Climate
2006 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY
M.A. Earth and Environmental Sciences
2000 – 2004 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, PRINCETON, NJ
A.B. Geosciences and Environmental Policy
Advisors: Dr. S. George Philander, Dr. Gregory van der Vink
Thesis: A Comparative Analysis of Drought and Famine in the Sahel and India
Publications
Refereed
2024. "Landslide Hazard Is Projected to Increase Across High Mountain Asia." Earth's Future 12 (10): [10.1029/2023ef004325] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Evaluating Precipitation Events Using GPM IMERG 30-Minute Near-Real-Time Precipitation Estimates." Journal of Hydrometeorology 25 (7): 991-1006 [10.1175/jhm-d-23-0141.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Multitemporal landslide inventory and susceptibility map for the Arun River Basin, Nepal." Geoscience Data Journal [10.1002/gdj3.240] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "An urban drainage scheme for large-scale flood models." Journal of Hydrology 130410 [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130410] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Learnings from rapid response efforts to remotely detect landslides triggered by the August 2021 Nippes earthquake and Tropical Storm Grace in Haiti." Natural Hazards 118 2337–2375 [10.1007/s11069-023-06096-6] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Earth observations into action: the systemic integration of earth observation applications into national risk reduction decision structures." Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal 32 (1): [10.1108/dpm-09-2022-0186] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Global Landslide Reporting Using a Decade of the Global Landslide Catalog." Sustainability 15 (4): 3323 [10.3390/su15043323] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission: Leveraging Stakeholder Engagement & Applications Activities to Inform Decision-making." Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 29 100853 [10.1016/j.rsase.2022.100853] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "A dynamic landslide hazard monitoring framework for the Lower Mekong Region." Frontiers in Earth Science 10 [10.3389/feart.2022.1057796] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "A Scalable Framework for Post Fire Debris Flow Hazard Assessment Using Satellite Precipitation Data." Geophysical Research Letters 49 (18): [10.1029/2022gl099850] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "The influence of land use and land cover change on landslide susceptibility in the Lower Mekong River Basin." Natural Hazards 115 1499–1523 [10.1007/s11069-022-05604-4] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Global Landslide Forecasting System for Hazard Assessment and Situational Awareness." Frontiers in Earth Science 10 [10.3389/feart.2022.878996] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Insights from the topographic characteristics of a large global catalog of rainfall-induced landslide event inventories." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 22 (3): 1129-1149 [10.5194/nhess-22-1129-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Generating landslide density heatmaps for rapid detection using open-access satellite radar data in Google Earth Engine." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 22 (3): 753-773 [10.5194/nhess-22-753-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Rainfall‐induced landslide inventories for Lower Mekong based on Planet imagery and a semi‐automatic mapping method." Geoscience Data Journal 9 (2): 315-327 [10.1002/gdj3.145] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Investigating the potential of a global precipitation forecast to inform landslide prediction." Weather and Climate Extremes 33 100364 [10.1016/j.wace.2021.100364] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "A closer look at factors governing landslide recovery time in post-seismic periods." Geomorphology 391 107912 [10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107912] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Satellites Support Disaster Response to Storm-Driven Landslides." Eos 102 [10.1029/2021eo161725] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "New Insight into Post-seismic Landslide Evolution Processes in the Tropics." Frontiers in Earth Science 9 [10.3389/feart.2021.700546] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Data-Driven Landslide Nowcasting at the Global Scale." Frontiers in Earth Science 9 [10.3389/feart.2021.640043] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Global connections between El Nino and landslide impacts." Nature Communications 12 (1): 2262 [10.1038/s41467-021-22398-4] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Landslide mapping using object-based image analysis and open source tools." Engineering Geology 282 106000 [10.1016/j.enggeo.2021.106000] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Landslide Hazard and Exposure Modelling in Data‐Poor Regions: The Example of the Rohingya Refugee Camps in Bangladesh." Earth's Future 9 (2): [10.1029/2020ef001666] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Potential of GPM IMERG Precipitation Estimates to Monitor Natural Disaster Triggers in Urban Areas: The Case of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." Remote Sensing 12 (24): 4095 [10.3390/rs12244095] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "New global characterisation of landslide exposure." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 20 (12): 3413-3424 [10.5194/nhess-20-3413-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "InSAR-based detection method for mapping and monitoring slow-moving landslides in remote regions with steep and mountainous terrain: An application to Nepal." Remote Sensing of Environment 249 111983 [10.1016/j.rse.2020.111983] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Incorporation of Satellite Precipitation Uncertainty in a Landslide Hazard Nowcasting System." Journal of Hydrometeorology 21 (8): 1741-1759 [10.1175/jhm-d-19-0295.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Earth Observations Informing Cities’ Operations and Planning." Eos 101 [10.1029/2020eo146808] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Landslides across the USA: occurrence, susceptibility, and data limitations." Landslides 17 2271–2285 [10.1007/s10346-020-01424-4] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Review article: Natural hazard risk assessments at the global scale." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 20 (4): 1069-1096 [10.5194/nhess-20-1069-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Extreme Precipitation in the Himalayan Landslide Hotspot." Satellite Precipitation 69 1087-1111 [10.1007/978-3-030-35798-6] [Article in Book]
2020. "Building a landslide hazard indicator with machine learning and land surface models." Environmental Modelling & Software 129 104692 [10.1016/j.envsoft.2020.104692] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Changes in Extreme Precipitation and Landslides Over High Mountain Asia." Geophysical Research Letters 47 (4): [10.1029/2019gl085347] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "The September 18-20 2020 Medicane Ianos Impact on Greece - Phase I Reconnaissance Report." Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Report GEER-068 [10.18118/G6MT1T] [Report]
2019. "Use of Very High-Resolution Optical Data for Landslide Mapping and Susceptibility Analysis along the Karnali Highway, Nepal." Remote Sensing 11 (19): 2284 [10.3390/rs11192284] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "The State of Remote Sensing Capabilities of Cascading Hazards Over High Mountain Asia." Frontiers in Earth Science 7 [10.3389/feart.2019.00197] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Using citizen science to expand the global map of landslides: Introducing the Cooperative Open Online Landslide Repository (COOLR)." PLOS ONE 14 (7): e0218657 [10.1371/journal.pone.0218657] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Evaluating the uncertainty of terrestrial water budget components over High Mountain Asia." Frontiers in Earth Science 7 (120): [10.3389/feart.2019.00120] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Automated Satellite-Based Landslide Identification Product for Nepal." Earth Interactions 23 (3): 1-21 [10.1175/ei-d-17-0022.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Bayesian analysis of the impact of rainfall data product on simulated slope failure for North Carolina locations." Computational Geosciences [10.1007/s10596-018-9804-y] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Evaluating TMPA Rainfall over the Sparsely Gauged East African Rift." Journal of Hydrometeorology 19 (9): 1507-1528 [10.1175/jhm-d-18-0103.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM): Unified Precipitation Estimation from Space." Springer Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry 175-193 [10.1007/978-3-319-72583-3_7] [Article in Book]
2018. "The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's scientific achievements and societal contributions: reviewing four years of advanced rain and snow observations." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 144 27-48 [10.1002/qj.3313] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Satellite-Based Assessment of Rainfall-Triggered Landslide Hazard for Situational Awareness." Earth's Future 6 (3): 505-523 [Full Text] [10.1002/2017ef000715] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission for Science and Society." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 98 (8): 1679-1695 [10.1175/bams-d-15-00306.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Satellite Precipitation Characterization, Error Modeling, and Error Correction Using Censored Shifted Gamma Distributions." Journal of Hydrometeorology 18 (10): JHM-D-17-0060.1 [10.1175/jhm-d-17-0060.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Effects of inventory bias on landslide susceptibility calculations." Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge And Emerging Technologies Into Practice, AEG Special Publication No. 27 794-806 [Proceedings]
2017. "NASA’s Remotely-sensed Precipitation: A Reservoir for Applications Users." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 98 (6): 1169-1184 [10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00296.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Approximating Long-Term Statistics Early in the Global Precipitation Measurement Era." Earth Interactions 21 (3): 1-10 [10.1175/ei-d-16-0025.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Statistical approaches for the definition of landslide rainfall thresholds and their uncertainty using rain gauge and satellite data." Geomorphology 285 16-27 [10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.02.001] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "A heuristic approach to global landslide susceptibility mapping." Natural Hazards 87 145–164 [10.1007/s11069-017-2757-y] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "So, how much of the Earth’s surface is covered by rain gauges?." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 98 (1): 69-78 [10.1175/bams-d-14-00283.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Landslides in West Coast metropolitan areas: The role of extreme weather events." Weather and Climate Extremes 14 67-79 [10.1016/j.wace.2016.11.004] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Hydrometeorological Hazards: Monitoring, Forecasting, Risk Assessment, and Socioeconomic Responses." Advances in Meteorology 2016 1-3 [10.1155/2016/2367939] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Role of Earth Observation data in disaster response and recovery: from science to capacity building." Earth Science Satellite Applications: Current and Future Prospects 119-146 [10.1007/978-3-319-33438-7_5] [Article in Book]
2016. "Unlocking the full potential of Earth observation during the 2015 Texas flood disaster." Water Resources Research 52 (5): 3288-3293 [10.1002/2015wr018428] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Precipitation data key to food security and public health." Eos 97 [Full Text] [10.1029/2016EO045583] [Magazine]
2015. "Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepals 2015 Gorkha earthquake." Science 351 (6269): aac8353-aac8353 [10.1126/science.aac8353] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Spatial and temporal analysis of a global landslide catalog." Geomorphology 249 (Geohazard Databases): 4-15 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.03.016] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "A Dynamic Landslide Hazard Assessment System for Central America and Hispaniola." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 15 (10): 2257-2272 [Full Text] [10.5194/nhess-15-2257-2015] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Modeling Landslide Susceptibility over Large Regions with Fuzzy Overlay." Landslides 13 485-496 [Full Text] [10.1007/s10346-015-0577-2] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "A cloud-based global flood disaster community cyber-infrastructure: Development and demonstration." Environmental Modelling & Software 58 86–94 [10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.04.007] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Assessing the Impact of L-Band Observations on Drought and Flood Risk Estimation: A Decision-Theoretic Approach in an OSSE Environment." J. Hydrometeor 15 (6): 2140-2156 [Full Text] [10.1175/JHM-D-13-0204.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Spatial and temporal dust source variability in northern China identified using advanced remote sensing analysis." Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 38 (8): 793–809 [10.1002/esp.3321] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Precipitation from Space: Advancing Earth System Science." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 94 (3): 365-375 [10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00171.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "Global Distribution of Extreme Precipitation and High-Impact Landslides in 2010 Relative to Previous Years." J. Hydrometeor. 13 (5): 1536-1551 [10.1175/JHM-D-12-02.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "Assessment of shallow landslides from Hurricane Mitch in central America using a physically based model." Environmental Earth Sciences 66 (6): 1697-1705 [10.1007/s12665-011-0997-9] [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "Remote sensing and modeling of landslides: detection, monitoring and risk evaluation." Environmental Earth Sciences 66 (6): 1583 [10.1007/s12665-012-1543-0] [Journal Article/Letter]
2011. "Advances in landslide nowcasting: evaluation of a global and regional modeling approach." Environmental Earth Sciences 66 (6): 1683-1696 [10.1007/s12665-011-0990-3] [Journal Article/Letter]
2010. "Capacity Building for Disaster Prevention in Vulnerable Regions of the World: Development of a Prototype Global Flood/Landslide Prediction System." Disaster Advances 3 (3): 14-19 [Journal Article/Letter]
2010. "A global landslide catalog for hazard applications: method, results, and limitations." Natural Hazards 52 (3): 561-575 [10.1007/s11069-009-9401-4] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "Evaluation of a Satellite-based Landslide Algorithm using Global Landslide Inventories." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 9 673-686 [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "Evaluation of a preliminary satellite-based landslide hazard algorithm using global landslide inventories." Natural Hazards and Earth System Science 9 (3): 673-686 [10.5194/nhess-9-673-2009] [Journal Article/Letter]
Non-Refereed
2017. "A view from above: Earth Observation." Crisis Response Journal 12 (4): 64-67 [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Measuring Rain and Snow for Science and Society: The Second GPM Applications Workshop." The Earth Observer 27 (5): 4--11 [Magazine]