Brief Bio

Dr. Abshire presently serves as an Emeritus Senior Scientist in the Solar System Exploration Division. He previously served in a series of technical and scientific management positions at Goddard, including as Head of the Laser Remote Sensing Branch and Associate Chief for Laser Sensing in the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics. He joined NASA Goddard in 1974.

During his career, he has played a key role in the development lasers and lidar (radar using lasers) for space. As part of this he was Instrument Scientist on the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor Mission and the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System on NASA’s ICESat Mission. He has served as Principal Investigator on a number of research projects that apply laser measurements and laser technology to scientific questions about the Earth and planets. 

Currently Dr. Abshire is leading Goddard’s work in applying lasers to measure the Earth’s greenhouse gases from space. As part of this, he is serving on the formulation teams for the NASA’s planned ASCENDS mission and the French/German MERLIN mission. He collaborates frequently with other scientists and researchers at Goddard, in technology companies, the aerospace industry, universities, and other NASA centers.

Selected Publications

Refereed

Mao, J., J. B. Abshire, S. R. Kawa, et al. H. Riris, X. Sun, N. Andela, and P. T. Kolbeck. 2021. "Measuring Atmospheric CO 2 Enhancements From the 2017 British Columbia Wildfires Using a Lidar." Geophysical Research Letters 48 (16): [10.1029/2021gl093805]

Cremons, D., X. Sun, J. B. Abshire, and E. Mazarico. 2021. "Small PN-Code Lidar for Asteroid and Comet Missions – Receiver Processing and Performance Simulations." Remote Sensing 13 (12): 2282 [Full Text (Link)] [10.3390/rs13122282]

Sun, X., J. B. Abshire, A. Ramanathan, S. R. Kawa, and J. Mao. 2021. "Retrieval algorithm for the column CO2 mixing ratio from pulsed multi-wavelength lidar measurements." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 14 (5): 3909-3922 [10.5194/amt-14-3909-2021]

Sun, X., D. Cremons, E. Mazarico, et al. G. Yang, J. B. Abshire, D. E. Smith, M. T. Zuber, M. Storm, N. Martin, J. Hwang, J. D. Beck, N. R. Huntoon, and D. M. Rawlings. 2021. "Small All-range Lidar for Asteroid and Comet Core Missions ." Sensors 21 (9): 3081 [Full Text (Link)] [10.3390/s21093081]

Duncan, B. N., L. E. Ott, J. B. Abshire, et al. L. Brucker, M. L. Carroll, J. Carton, J. C. Comiso, E. P. Dinnat, B. C. Forbes, A. Gonsamo, W. W. Gregg, D. K. Hall, I. Ialongo, R. Jandt, R. A. Kahn, A. Karpechko, S. R. Kawa, S. Kato, T. Kumpula, E. Kyrölä, T. V. Loboda, K. C. McDonald, P. M. Montesano, R. Nassar, C. S. Neigh, C. L. Parkinson, B. Poulter, J. Pulliainen, K. Rautiainen, B. M. Rogers, C. S. Rousseaux, A. J. Soja, N. Steiner, J. Tamminen, P. C. Taylor, M. A. Tzortziou, H. Virta, J. S. Wang, J. D. Watts, D. M. Winker, and D. L. Wu. 2020. "Space‐Based Observations for Understanding Changes in the Arctic‐Boreal Zone." Reviews of Geophysics 58 (1): 2019RG000652 [10.1029/2019rg000652]

Cremons, D. R., J. B. Abshire, X. Sun, et al. G. Allan, H. Riris, M. D. Smith, S. Guzewich, A. Yu, and F. Hovis. 2020. "Design of a direct-detection wind and aerosol lidar for mars orbit." CEAS Space Journal 12 (2): 149-162 [10.1007/s12567-020-00301-z]

Abshire, J. B., A. K. Ramanathan, H. Riris, et al. G. R. Allan, X. Sun, W. E. Hasselbrack, J. Mao, S. Wu, J. Chen, K. Numata, S. R. Kawa, M. Y. Yang, and J. DiGangi. 2018. "Airborne measurements of CO₂ column concentrations made with a pulsed IPDA lidar using a multiple-wavelength-locked laser and HgCdTe APD detector." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 11 (4): 2001-2025 [10.5194/amt-11-2001-2018]

Mao, J., A. Ramanathan, J. B. Abshire, et al. S. R. Kawa, H. Riris, G. R. Allan, M. Rodriguez, W. E. Hasselbrack, X. Sun, K. Numata, J. Chen, Y. Choi, and M. Y. Yang. 2018. "Measurement of atmospheric CO₂ column concentrations to cloud tops with a pulsed multi-wavelength airborne lidar." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 11 (1): 127-140 [10.5194/amt-11-127-2018]

Ramanathan, A. K., H. M. Nguyen, X. Sun, et al. J. Mao, J. B. Abshire, J. M. Hobbs, and A. J. Braverman. 2018. "A singular value decomposition framework for retrievals with vertical distribution information from greenhouse gas column absorption spectroscopy measurements." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 11 (8): 4909--4928 [10.5194/amt-11-4909-2018]

Sun, X., J. B. Abshire, A. A. Borsa, et al. H. A. Fricker, D. Yi, J. P. Dimarzio, F. S. Paolo, K. M. Brunt, D. J. Harding, and G. A. Neumann. 2017. "ICESAT/GLAS Altimetry Measurements: Received Signal Dynamic Range and Saturation Correction." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 1-15 [10.1109/tgrs.2017.2702126]

Ramanathan, A. K., J. Mao, J. B. Abshire, and G. R. Allan. 2015. " Remote sensing measurements of the CO 2 mixing ratio in the planetary boundary layer using cloud slicing with airborne lidar ." Geophysical Research Letters 42 (6): 2055-2062 [10.1002/2014gl062749]

Abshire, J. B., A. Ramanathan, H. Riris, et al. J. Mao, G. R. Allan, W. E. Hasselbrack, C. J. Weaver, and E. V. Browell. 2013. "Airborne Measurements of CO2 Column Concentration and Range Using a Pulsed Direct-Detection IPDA Lidar." Remote Sensing 6 (1): 443-469 [10.3390/rs6010443]

Ramanathan, A. K., J. Mao, G. R. Allan, et al. H. Riris, C. J. Weaver, W. E. Hasselbrack, E. V. Browell, and J. B. Abshire. 2013. "Spectroscopic measurements of a CO₂ absorption line in an open vertical path using an airborne lidar." Applied Physics Letters 103 (21): 214102 [10.1063/1.4832616]

Sun, X., J. B. Abshire, J. F. McGarry, et al. G. A. Neumann, D. Smith, J. F. Cavanaugh, D. J. Harding, H. J. Zwally, and D. E. Smith. 2013. "Space lidar developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - the first 20 years." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 6 (3): 1660-1675 [doi:10.1109/jstars.2013.2259578]

Numata, K., H. Riris, S. Li, et al. S. Wu, S. R. Kawa, M. Krainak, and J. Abshire. 2012. "Ground demonstration of trace gas lidar based on optical parametric amplifier." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 6 (1): 063561 [10.1117/1.JRS.6.063561]

Riris, H., K. Numata, S. X. Li, et al. S. T. Wu, A. K. Ramanathan, M. W. Dawsey, J. Mao, S. R. Kawa, and J. B. Abshire. 2012. "Airborne measurements of atmospheric methane column abundance made using a pulsed IPDA lidar." Applied Optics 51 (34): 8296-8305 [10.1364/AO.51.008296]

Abshire, J. B., H. Riris, G. R. Allan, et al. C. J. Weaver, J. Mao, X. Sun, W. E. Hasselbrack, S. R. Kawa, and S. Biraud. 2010. "Pulsed airborne lidar measurements of atmospheric CO2 column absorption." Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology 62 (5): 770-783 [10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00502.x]

Kawa, S., J. Mao, J. Abshire, et al. G. Collatz, X. Sun, and C. Weaver. 2010. "Simulation studies for a space-based CO2 lidar mission." Tellus B 62 (5): 759-769 [10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00486.X]

Sun, X., G. A. Neumann, J. B. Abshire, and M. T. Zuber. 2006. "Mars 1064 nm spectral radiance measurements determined from the receiver noise response of the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter." Applied Optics IP, vol 45, Issue 17, pp3960-3971 45 3960 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1364/AO.45.003960]

Abshire, J. B., X. Sun, H. Riris, et al. J. M. Sirota, J. F. McGarry, S. Palm, D. Yi, and P. Liiva. 2005. "Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the ICESat Mission: On-orbit measurement performance." Geophysical Research Letters 32 (21): L21S02 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1029/2005GL024028]

Neumann, G. A., J. B. Abshire, O. Aharonson, et al. J. B. Garvin, X. Sun, and M. T. Zuber. 2003. "Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter pulse width measurements and footprint-scale roughness." Geophysical Research Letters 30 (11): 1561 [10.1029/2003GL017048]

Zwally, J., R. Schutz, W. Abdalati, et al. J. B. Abshire, C. Bentley, J. L. Bufton, D. J. Harding, T. Herring, B. Minster, J. D. Spinhirne, and R. J. Thomas. 2002. "ICESat's laser measurements of polar ice, atmosphere, ocean, and land." Journal of Geodynamics 34 405-445 [10.1016/S0264-3707(02)00042-X]

Smith, D. E., M. T. Zuber, H. V. Frey, et al. J. B. Garvin, J. W. Head, D. O. Muhleman, G. H. Pettengill, R. J. Phillips, S. C. Solomon, H. J. Zwally, W. B. Banerdt, T. C. Duxbury, M. P. Golombek, F. G. Lemoine, G. A. Neumann, D. D. Rowlands, O. Aharonson, P. G. Ford, A. B. Ivanov, C. L. Johnson, P. J. McGovern, J. B. Abshire, R. S. Afzal, and X. Sun. 2001. "Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: Experiment summary after the first year of global mapping of Mars ." J. Geophysical Research-Planets 106 (E10): 23689-23722 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1029/2000JE001364]

Gold, R. E., S. C. Solomon, R. L. McNutt, et al. A. G. Santo, J. B. Abshire, M. H. Acun~a, R. S. Afzal, B. J. Anderson, G. B. Andrews, P. D. Bedini, J. Cain, A. F. Cheng, L. G. Evans, W. C. Feldman, R. B. Follas, G. Gloeckler, J. O. Goldsten, S. E. Hawkins, N. R. Izenberg, S. E. Jaskulek, E. A. Ketchum, M. R. Lankton, D. A. Lohr, B. H. Mauk, W. E. McClintock, S. L. Murchie, C. E. Schlemm, D. E. Smith, R. D. Starr, and T. H. Zurbuchen. 2001. "The MESSENGER mission to Mercury: scientific payload." Planetary and Space Science 49 1467 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1016/S0032-0633(01)00086-1]

Abshire, J. B., X. Sun, and R. S. Afzal. 2000. "Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: Receiver Model and Performance Analysis." Applied Optics LP, vol 39, Issue 15, pp2449-2460 39 2449 [Full Text (Link)] [10.1364/AO.39.002449]

Smith, D. E., M. T. Zuber, S. C. Solomon, et al. R. J. Phillips, J. W. Head, J. B. Garvin, W. B. Banerdt, H. V. Frey, D. O. Muhleman, G. H. Pettengill, G. A. Neumann, F. G. Lemoine, J. B. Abshire, O. Aharonson, C. D. Brown, S. A. Hauck, A. B. Ivanov, P. J. McGovern, H. J. Zwally, and T. C. Duxbury. 1999. "The Global Topography of Mars and Implications for Surface Evolution." Science 284 (5419): 1495-1503 [10.1126/science.284.5419.1495]

Abshire, J. B., and J. F. McGarry. 1987. "Estimating the arrival times of photon-limited laser pulses in the presence of shot and speckle noise." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 4 (6): 1080 [10.1364/josaa.4.001080]

Im, K. E., J. B. Abshire, J. F. McGarry, and C. S. Gardner. 1987. "Experimental evaluation of the performance of pulsed two-color laser-ranging systems." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 4 (5): 820 [10.1364/josaa.4.000820]

Abshire, J. B., and J. F. McGarry. 1987. "Two-color short-pulse laser altimeter measurements of ocean surface backscatter." Applied Optics 26 (7): 1304 [10.1364/ao.26.001304]

Non-Refereed

Kawa, R., G. R. Allan, J. B. Abshire, et al. H. Riris, J. Mao, W. E. Hasselbrack, K. Numata, J. Chen, M. R. Rodriguez, and M. A. Stephen. 2018. "Lidar measurements of CO2 column concentrations in the Arctic region of North America from the ASCENDS 2017 airborne campaign." Lidar Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring XVI [10.1117/12.2325908]

Cremons, D. R., J. B. Abshire, M. D. Smith, et al. S. D. Guzewich, H. Riris, X. Sun, A. W. Yu, G. Allan, and F. Hovis. 2018. "Development of a Mars lidar (MARLI) for measuring wind and aerosol profiles from orbit." Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing XIV [10.1117/12.2325408]

Sun, X., J. B. Abshire, J.-M. Lauenstein, et al. W. Sullivan, J. Beck, and J. E. Hubbs. 2018. "Evaluation of space radiation effects on HgCdTe avalanche photodiode arrays for Lidar applications." Infrared Technology and Applications XLIV [10.1117/12.2304601]

Sun, X., J. B. Abshire, M. A. Krainak, et al. J. Beck, W. W. Sullivan, P. Mitra, D. Rawlings, W. Lu, R. A. Fields, D. A. Hinkley, and B. Hirasuna. 2018. "Single photon HgCdTe avalanche photodiode and integrated detector cooler assemblies for space lidar applications." Advanced Photon Counting Techniques XII [10.1117/12.2305017]

Graham, A., X. Sun, J. Mao, et al. R. Kawa, H. Riris, J. B. Abshire, W. Hasselbrack, M. Rodriguez, C. Weaver, S. Li, K. Numata, and S. Wu. 2017. "LIDAR technology for measuring trace gases on Mars and Earth." International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2010 [10.1117/12.2309207]

Stephen, M., A. Yu, J. Chen, et al. J. Nicholson, D. Engin, B. Mathason, S. Wu, G. Allan, W. Hasselbrack, B. Gonzales, L. Han, K. Numata, M. Storm, and J. Abshire. 2015. "Fiber-based, trace-gas, laser transmitter technology development for space." Lidar Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring XV [10.1117/12.2191395]

Sullivan, W., J. Beck, R. Scritchfield, et al. M. Skokan, P. Mitra, X. Sun, J. Abshire, D. Carpenter, and B. Lane. 2015. "Linear mode photon counting from visible to MWIR with HgCdTe avalanche photodiode focal plane arrays." Advanced Photon Counting Techniques IX [10.1117/12.2180394]

Sun, X., J. F. Cavanaugh, J. C. SMith, et al. J. B. Abshire, J. L. Mcgarry, G. A. Neumann, D. J. Harding, H. J. Zwally, D. E. Smith, and M. T. Zuber. 2013. "SPACE LIDARS DEVELOPED AT NASA GSFC." IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING (JSTARS) 6 (3): 1660 - 1675 [ 10.1109/JSTARS.2013.2259578]

Yu, A. W., M. A. Krainak, D. J. Harding, et al. J. B. Abshire, X. Sun, L. Ramos-Izquierdo, J. Cavanaugh, S. Valett, T. Winkert, M. Plants, C. Kirchner, B. Kamamia, R. Faulkner, P. Dogoda, W. Hasselbrack, and T. Filemyr. 2013. "A 16-beam non-scanning swath mapping laser altimeter instrument." Solid State Lasers XXII: Technology and Devices, Proceedings of SPIE 8599 [10.1117/12.2005651]

Riris, H., M. Rodriguez, G. Allan, et al. W. E. Hasselbrack, M. A. Stephen, and J. B. Abshire. 2012. "Airborne LIDAR Measurements of Atmospheric Pressure Made Using the Oxygen A-band." Lasers, Sources, and Related Photonic Devices LT2B.5 [10.1364/LACSEA.2012.LT2B.5]

Yu, A. W., M. A. Krainak, D. J. Harding, et al. J. B. Abshire, X. Sun, J. Cavanaugh, S. Valett, and L. Ramos-Izquierdo. 2012. "Multi-beam Laser Altimeter System Simulator for the Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) Mission." 2012 CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS (CLEO) [Full Text (Link)] [10.1364/CLEO_AT.2012.ATu2G.6]

Yu, A. W., M. A. Krainak, M. A. Stephen, et al. J. B. Abshire, D. J. Harding, H. Riris, S. X. Li, J. R. Chen, G. R. Allan, K. Numata, S. T. Wu, and J. B. Camp. 2011. "Spaceflight laser development for future remote sensing applications." Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing VII, Proceedings of SPIE 8182 [10.1117/12.898547]

Yu, A. W., M. A. Krainak, D. J. Harding, et al. J. B. Abshire, X. Sun, J. Cavanaugh, S. Valett, L. Ramos-Izquierdo, T. Winkert, C. Kirchner, M. Plants, T. Filemyr, B. Kamamia, W. Hasselbrack, and P. Dogoda. 2011. "Development effort of the airborne lidar simulator for the lidar surface topography (LIST) mission." Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing VII, Proceedings of SPIE 8182 [10.1117/12.898545]

Stephen, M. A., A. W. Yu, M. A. Krainak, et al. J. B. Abshire, D. J. Harding, H. Riris, S. X. Li, J. Chen, K. Numata, S. Wu, and J. Camp. 2011. "Spaceborne laser development for future remote sensing applications." Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XIX, Proceedings of SPIE 8154 [10.1117/12.896693]

Yu, A. W., M. A. Krainak, D. J. Harding, et al. J. B. Abshire, X. Sun, S. Valett, J. Cavanaugh, and L. Ramos-Izquierdo. 2010. "Spaceborne laser instruments for high-resolution mapping." Solid State Lasers XIX: Technology and Devices, Proceedings of SPIE 7578 [10.1117/12.843191]

Yu, A. W., M. A. Krainak, D. J. Harding, J. B. Abshire, and X. Sun. 2010. "A Spaceborne lidar for high resolution topographic mapping of the Earths surface." SPIE Newsroom [10.1117/2.1201002.002655]

Dabney, P. W., D. J. Harding, J. B. Abshire, et al. T. E. Huss, G. F. Jodor, R. L. Machan, J. Marzouk, K. Rush, A. Seas, C. A. Shuman, X. Sun, S. Valett, A. Vasilyev, A. Yu, and Y. Zheng. 2010. "The Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar: Development and performance results." Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2010 IEEE International 653-656 [10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5650862]

Abshire, J. B., D. J. Harding, X. Sun, et al. M. A. Krainak, T. Seas, and P. Dabney. 2007. "Pushbroom Laser Altimetry using Fiber Lasers and Photon Counting Detectors ." 2007 Conference on Lasers & Electro-Optics/Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO/QELS 1-5 1467-1468 [Full Text (Link)]

Abshire, J. B., J. L. Mcgarry, L. K. Pacini, J. B. Blair, and G. C. Elman. 1994. "Laser altimetry simulator. Version 3.0: User's guide." NASA-TM-104588 71 [Full Text (Link)]