Dr. Ganeshan studies the behavior of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in polar regions using in-situ measurements and satellite data, with 10 years of experience using GNSS RO satellites for PBL retrieval. Improved PBL measurements from space are a high priority for NASA and the NASA Decadal Survey Incubation program.She is a 2017 Fellow of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), and is involved in the scientific activities of the Atmospheric Working group. She also contributes to research in the Global Modeling and Data Assimilation (GMAO) office at Goddard, where she runs the GEOS model and data assimilation experiments focused on improving the representation of Polar Lows and Tropical Cyclones (TCs).
Manisha Ganeshan
(SCIENTIST, EARTH SCIENCES)
| Email: | manisha.ganeshan@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.614.6409 |
| Org Code: | 613 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 613 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | MORGAN STATE UNIV. |
Brief Bio
Research Interests
Planetary boundary layer, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO), atmospheric turbulence, polar weather and climate, polar lows, tropical cyclones, PBL-cloud interactions, surface-atmosphere coupling, surface radiation and mass balance in polar regions.
Solar System: AtmospheresStudying atmospheric boundary layer properties using remote sensing observations including GNSS RO.
Earth Science: Remote SensingModeling and data assimilation, numerical weather prediction, forecast verification, and improving sub-grid scale processes in climate models based on guidance from satellite and in-situ observations.
Solar System: EarthCurrent Projects
Characterizing polar PBL height and their properties with GNSS RO measurements
Remote Sensing
My work involves developing an algorithm to retrieve PBL properties over the data-sparse Arctic ocean using GNSS radio occultation measurements. I use ground truth (radiosonde observations) to aid the development and validation of the algorithm. I also try to compare and validate the satellite-derived PBL properties to model and reanalyses products with an aim to improve boundary layer and cloud parameterizations over polar regions.
Using satellite observations, in-situ data, and reanalyses to characterize stable and mixed boundary layers in Antarctica, and to investigate impacts on the surface radiation budget.
Earth
Using AIRS and CrIS data to understand processes affecting Tropical Cyclone structure in a global data assimilation and forecasting framework
Atmospheres
Studying the impact of assimilating cloud-cleared infrared radiances on Polar Lows in Antarctica and Arctic.
Positions/Employment
Associate Scientist, Earth Sciences
Universities Space Research Association - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Bldg. 33, Rm. C305
October 2016 - Present
Postdoctoral Scientist
Universities Space Research Association - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
October 2013 - October 2016
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Maryland - University of Maryland, College Park
August 2008 - September 2013
Education
Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from University of Maryland, College Park (Dec. 2013)
Bach. of Engineering (Environmental) from Kolhapur Institute of Technology's College of Engineering, Kolhapur (May 2008)
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
2009 - Present
American Meteorological Society
2009 - Present
International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)
Fellow (Atmospheric Working Group)
2017 - Present
Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (IARPC)
2017 - Present
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
2017 - Present
Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS)
2017 - Present
Professional Service
Reviewer for Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, Climate Dynamics, Urban Climate, and Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. Reviewer for NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship and NASA Postdoctoral Program proposals.
Awards
• Best first-authored paper in annual Climate and Radiation Laboratory awards ceremony (2019).
• 2017 International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) Fellow in the Atmosphere Working Group
• Graduate Student Fellow in Earth System Science by Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2009-2013).
• Bayer and UNEP environmental envoy (2006-2007).
Other Professional Information
Short-term Consultant, Climate Investment Funds, The World Bank, Washington, D.C. (2011)
Intern, Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Mumbai (2007 - 2008)
Intern, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Mumbai (2006)
Selected Publications
Refereed
2023. "Diagnosis of Antarctic Blowing Snow Properties Using MERRA-2 Reanalysis with a Machine Learning Model." Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 62 (8): 1055–1068 [10.1175/jamc-d-23-0004.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Impact of Clouds and Blowing Snow on Surface and Atmospheric Boundary Layer Properties Over Dome C, Antarctica." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 127 (21): [10.1029/2022jd036801] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Impact of assimilating adaptively thinned AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on the analysis of Polar Lows and Mediterranean Sea Tropical-like Cyclone in a global modeling and data assimilation framework." Weather and Forecasting 37 (7): 1117–1134 [10.1175/waf-d-21-0068.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "GNSS-RO Deep Refraction Signals from Moist Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL)." Atmosphere 13 (6): 953 [10.3390/atmos13060953] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Sensitivity of low tropospheric Arctic temperatures to assimilation of AIRS cloud‐cleared radiances: Impact on mid‐latitude waves." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 147 (741): 4032-4047 [10.1002/qj.4166] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Evaluation of the Antarctic boundary layer thermodynamic structure in MERRA2 using dropsonde observations from the Concordiasi campaign." Earth and Space Science (6): 2397-2409 [10.1029/2019ea000890] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "A Regional Analysis of Factors Affecting the Antarctic Boundary Layer During the Concordiasi Campaign." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres [10.1029/2018jd028629] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "The open-ocean sensible heat flux and its significance for Arctic boundarylayer mixing during early fall." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16 (20): 13173-13184 [10.5194/acp-16-13173-2016] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Nocturnal propagating thunderstorms may favor urban “hot-spots”: A model-based study over Minneapolis." Urban Climate 14 (Part 4): 606-621 [10.1016/j.uclim.2015.10.005] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "An investigation of the Arctic inversion using COSMIC RO observations." J. Geophys. Res. Atmos 120 (18): 9338-9351 [10.1002/2015JD023058] [Journal Article/Letter]
Talks, Presentations and Posters
Invited
Investigating the representation of Antarctic surface stability and Antarctic Polar Low in the NASA GEOS model framework. Oral presentation, Climate and Radiation Laboratory Seminar Series, NASA, Greenbelt, USA, May 2019.
June 2019
Representation of spring season Antarctic boundary layer and polar lows in the NASA Global Modeling Framework. Oral presentation, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center Seminar, College Park, USA, Nov. 2018.
December 2018
Cloud and boundary layer investigations in climate studies. Oral presentation, Department of Physics and Astronomy Seminar Series, Howard University, Washington D.C., USA, Oct. 2015
November 2015
Investigation of Arctic boundary layer processes using ship-based and COSMIC RO observations. Oral presentation, Climate and Radiation Laboratory Seminar Series, NASA, Greenbelt, USA, May 2015.
June 18, 2015
Other
Ganeshan, M., E. McGrath-Spangler, O. Reale, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2019). Impact of assimilating AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on the analysis and forecasts of Polar Lows. Poster presentation, Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Arctic Science Workshop, Helsinki, Finland.
February 2019
McGrath-Spangler, E., M. Ganeshan, O. Reale, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2019). Impact of assimilating AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on atmospheric dynamics and boundary layer height at high latitudes. Oral presentation, Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Arctic Science Workshop, Helsinki, Finland.
February 2019
Ganeshan, M., and Y. Yang (2019). Evaluation of MERRA2 surface stability over Antarctica: Comparisons with the spring 2010 Concordiasi campaign. Poster presentation, Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) Arctic Science Workshop, Helsinki, Finland.
February 2019
Reale, O., E. McGrath-Spangler, M. Ganeshan, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2018). Impact of assimilating cloud-cleared and adaptively thinned infrared hyperspectral data on tropical cyclones in a global data assimilation and forecast framework. Oral presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, Washington D.C., USA.
2018
McGrath-Spangler, E., M. Ganeshan, O. Reale, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2018). Impact of assimilating AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on atmospheric dynamics and polar low representation at high latitudes. Oral presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, Washington D.C., USA.
2018
Ganeshan, M., and Y. Yang (2018). An evaluation of the lower atmospheric stability over Antarctica and related boundary layer processes in MERRA2. Poster presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, Washington D.C., USA.
2018
Reale, O., E. McGrath-Spangler, M. Ganeshan, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2018). Impact of assimilating cloud-cleared and adaptively thinned infrared hyperspectral data on tropical cyclones in a global data assimilation and forecast framework. Oral presentation, NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, Greenbelt, USA.
November 2018
McGrath-Spangler, E., M. Ganeshan, O. Reale, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2018). Impact of assimilating AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on atmospheric dynamics at high latitudes. Oral presentation, NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, Greenbelt, USA.
November 2018
Ganeshan, M., E. McGrath-Spangler, O. Reale, W. McCarty, and R. Gelaro (2018). Impact of assimilating AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on Antarctic Polar Lows. Oral presentation, NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, Greenbelt, USA.
November 2018
Ganeshan, M., and Y. Yang (2018). Regional analysis of factors affecting the Antarctic boundary layer during the Concordiasi campaign. Poster presentation, Polar18, Davos, Switzerland.
July 2018
Ganeshan, M., and Y. Yang (2017). The mixed Antarctic boundary layer: An analysis based on Concordiasi dropsonde observations during spring 2010. Oral presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, USA.
2017
Yang, Y., M. Ganeshan, S. P. Palm, and A. Marshak (2017). Antarctic Boundary Layer Structure Under Cloudy and Blowing Snow Conditions: A Study with CALIOP and Dropsonde Observations. Poster presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, USA.
2017
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2017). The atmospheric boundary layer response to the dynamic new Arctic Ocean during fall. Oral presentation, The Arctic Science Summit Week, Prague, Czech Republic.
May 2017
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2016). The atmospheric boundary layer response to the dynamic new Arctic Ocean. Poster presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
2016
Wu, D. L., L. Boisvert, D. Klaus, K. Dethloff, and M. Ganeshan (2016). Observational constraints on Arctic boundary-layer clouds, surface moisture and sensible heat fluxes. Oral presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
2016
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2016). How is the atmospheric boundary layer responding to the dynamic new Arctic Ocean? Oral presentation, CLIVAR Open Science Conference, Qingdao, China.
October 2016
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2016). How does Greenland’s boundary layer inversion respond to surface warming? Poster presentation, CLIVAR Open Science Conference, Qingdao, China.
October 2016
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2015). Using GPS Radio Occultation to study polar boundary layer properties. Poster presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
2015
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2015). An investigation of the Arctic Inversion using COSMIC RO Observations. Oral presentation, Third Annual Young Scientist Forum, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, USA.
August 2015
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2014). An investigation of the Arctic Inversion using COSMIC RO Observations. Poster presentation, The AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
17, 2014
Ganeshan M., and D. L. Wu (2014). Application and limitations of RO data for the detection of Arctic boundary layer properties. Oral presentation, The 8th FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Data Users’ Workshop, Boulder, USA.
November 2, 2014
Ganeshan M., R. Murtugudde, and J. Strack (2013). The role of negative buoyancy in surface-based convection and its representation in cumulus parameterization schemes. Oral presentation, The 93rd AMS Annual Meeting, Austin, USA.
February 2013
Ganeshan M., and R. Murtugudde (2012). Convective processes over the urban and non-urban regions of the US. Oral presentation, Joint Annual UMD Burgers Program/JHU Center for Environmental and Applied Fluid Mechanics Symposium, College Park, USA.
June 2012
Ganeshan M., and R. Murtugudde (2011). Impact of model resolution on the prediction of warm season rainfall over the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Oral presentation, The 3rd Annual Graduate Women in Science Young Investigators’ Symposium, Laurel, USA.
June 2011
Ganeshan M., and R. Murtugudde (2011). Impact of model resolution on warm season rainfall: parameterized vs. explicit convection. Oral presentation, The DC-AMS Meeting, College Park, USA.
February 2011