Niama Boukachaba
(ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST)
| Email: | niama.boukachaba@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.286.5325 |
| Org Code: | |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 618 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | MORGAN STATE UNIV. |
Brief Bio
Dr. Niama Boukachaba is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she has worked since December 2024. Her research focuses on characterizing land-surface and terrestrial ecosystem processes using remote sensing, process-based modeling, and Earth observations, with particular emphasis on terrestrial carbon cycling and the exchange of greenhouse gases, water, and energy between the land and atmosphere. Her work contributes to NASA efforts to understand and predict biospheric responses to environmental change.
Prior to joining the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, Dr. Boukachaba conducted research in NASA Goddard’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), where she developed and evaluated methods for integrating hyperspectral infrared observations, including CrIS and IASI, into the NASA GEOS data assimilation system. Her work included improved observation selection and error modeling for surface-sensitive infrared radiances over land, development and evaluation of cloud-clearing strategies for AIRS and CrIS, and the use of adaptively thinned hyperspectral radiances in GEOS. She also contributed to the implementation and evaluation of CrIS and other JPSS observations in GEOS, including assessments of their impacts on analysis quality and long-term system performance.
Research Interests
Land Use Land Cover Change
Remote sensing
Satellite data assimilation
Numerical weather prediction
Positions/Employment
Assistant Research Scientist
Morgan State University - NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD.
December 2021 - Present
Associate Scientist
Universities Space Research Association (USRA) - NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD.
July 2020 - November 2021
Visiting Associate Scientist
Universities Space Research Association (USRA) - NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD.
August 2019 - June 2020
Post-Doctoral Associate
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) - University of Maryland (UMD) & NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD.
November 2017 - September 2018
Education
· PhD in Atmospheric Sciences, National Center of Meteorological Research (CNRM) of Météo-France and National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse (INPT), Toulouse, France, 2017. Thesis: "Contribution of IASI IR hyperspectral satellite observations over land in the convective scale AROME model". https://theses.fr/2017INPT0065.
Supervisors: Dr. Vincent Guidard and Dr. Nadia Fourrié.
· MS in Remote Sensing, African Regional Center for Space Science and Technology in French Language, Rabat, Morocco, 2014. Thesis: "•Dynamical analysis of surface albedo and its impact on surface radiative forcing” at Center for Space Studies of the Biosphere (CESBIO) and National Center of Meteorological Research (CNRM) of Météo-France, Toulouse, France.
· MS in Biodiversity Management, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2012. Thesis: "Development of climate indicators and their impact on surface in Marrakesh".
· Bachelor in Life Sciences, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2010.
Grants
Using AIRS and CrIS radiances in areas affected by clouds to better understand processes affecting tropical cyclone structure in a global data assimilation and forecasting framework.
The Science of TERRA, AQUA, and SUOMI NPP - NASA (NNH20ZDA001N-TASNPP) - Awarded: 2022-08-02
Publications
Refereed
2026. "Development of Gridded Innovations and Observations Data for Reanalysis Diagnostics.", Journal of Hydrometeorology, [10.1175/jhm-d-26-0024.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2026. "Beyond the Urban Heat Island: A Global Metric for Urban-Driven Climate Warming.", Urban Science, 10 (1): 6 [10.3390/urbansci10010006] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Impact of Assimilating Surface Sensitive IASI and CrIS Radiance Observations Over Land in the NASA GEOS.", Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 42 (5): 479-492 [10.1175/JTECH-D-24-0090.1] [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]
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]
2017. "Toward an improved assimilation of IASI over continents in the convective scale AROME France model.", Contribution of IASI IR hyperspectral satellite observations over land in the convective scale AROME model. PhD thesis, Doctoral School ED173 "Geosciences, Astrophysics, Space and Environmental Sciences" (Toulouse, France), [www.sudoc.fr/221084290] [Book]
2015. "Improved assimilation of IASI land surface temperature data over continents in the convective scale AROME France model.", The 20th International TOVS Study Conference. 28 October - 3 November 2015, At Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA. https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/itwg/itsc/itsc20/papers/10_03_boukachaba_paper.pdf., [Proceedings]
Non-Refereed
2026. "Surface-Atmosphere Interactions for Planetary Boundary Layer Science: A Roadmap for Integrated Observations.", ESS Open Archive, [10.22541/essoar.15006676/v1] [Journal Article/Letter]
Talks, Presentations and Posters
Other
August 2026
Kathuria, D., Holmes, T., Rehman, E., Akkraoui, A., Hook, S., Hulley, G., Cawse-Nicholson, K., Shiklomanov, A., Lucchesi, R., Gerace, A., Boukachaba, N., Feldman, A., & Serbin, S. (2026). Ensemble-Based Atmospheric Uncertainty Characterization for Thermal Infrared Land Surface Temperature Retrievals. IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS 2026), Session TH4.R9: Inversion Techniques for Passive Sensors, August 13, 2026.
May 2024
Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., and Pawson, S., 2024. “Impact of Assimilating Surface Sensitive IASI and CrIS Radiance Observations Over Land in the NASA GEOS”. 8th WMO Workshop on the Impact of Various Observing Systems on Numerical Weather Prediction and Earth System Prediction, 27-30 May 2024, Sweden (virtual).
January 2024
Gu, W., Zhu, Y., Ma, Y., Reale, O., L. McGrath-Spangler, E., Boukachaba, N., and Ganeshan, M., 2024. “Status and Progress of All-Sky Hyper-Spectral Infrared Radiance Assimilation in GEOS”. The 104th AMS Annual Meeting. Jan 28th to Feb 1st, 2024, Baltimore, USA.
December 2024
Gu, W., Zhu, Y., Ma, Y., Reale, O., McGrath-Spangler, E., Boukachaba, N., Ganeshan, M., and Akbari Asanjan, A., 2024. “The Impact of All-Sky Hyperspectral Infrared Radiance Assimilation on the Simulation and Forecast of Hurricane Sally in GEOS”. Poster, AGU24, session: A43M Numerical Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Research to Operations (R2O) for Better Forecasting of High-Impact Weather Events II, 12 Dec 2024, Washington DC, USA.
December 2024
Arellano, C., Akbari Asanjan, A., McGrath-Spangler, E., Boukachaba, N., Ganeshan, M., Reale, O., Nguyen, P., and Bell, D., 2024. “Tropical Cyclone Detection from Satellite Data using Generative Machine Learning”. Oral presentation, session: AGU24, A54K AI-Driven Innovations in Earth and Climate Sciences IV eLightning, 13 Dec 2024, Washington DC, USA.
December 2024
Reale, O., Akbari Asanjan, A., McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., Gu, W., Arellano, C., 2024. “Machine-learning Based adaptive thinning of CrIS to improve global tropical cyclone analysis and forecasts”. Oral presentation, session: A42H Tropical Cyclones: Observations, Modeling, and Predictability—Today and into the Future II, AGU24, 12 Dec 2024, Washington DC, USA.
October 2023
Reale, O., Akbari Asanjan, A., McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., Gu, W., 2023. A new ML-based adaptive thinning methodology to improve the impact of AIRS and CrIS assimilation on tropical cyclone forecasts. Oral presentation, AIRS Science Team Meeting, 4-6 Oct, College Park, USA.
March 2023
Zhu, Y., Gu, W., Karpowicz, B., Jin, J., Todling, R., Boukachaba, N., et al., 2023. “Status and Progress of Observation Usages in the GMAO GEOS Atmospheric Data Assimilation System”. Poster, The 24th International TOVS Study Conferences (ITSC-24). Session: NWP Centre reports, March 17th, 2023, Tromsø, Norway.
March 2023
Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., Pawson, S., 2023. "Toward improving the assimilation of IASI and CrIS radiances over land into the NASA GEOS: LST Inversion and Validation". Oral presentation, The 24th International TOVS Study Conferences (ITSC-24). Session: Surface, March 20th, 2023, Tromsø, Norway.
March 2023
Boukachaba, N., Reale, O., McGrath-Spangler, E. L. Ganeshan, M., 2023. “Implementing Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) Cloud-Clearing Algorithm into the NASA GEOS: focus on the 2017 Atlantic Tropical Cyclone season”. Poster, The 24th International TOVS Study Conferences (ITSC-24). Session: Retrieval and Software, March 17th, 2023, Tromsø, Norway.
August 2022
Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., Pawson, S., 2022. "Toward enhancing the use of IASI and CrIS surface-sensitive radiances over land in the NASA GMAO GEOS data assimilation framework". Oral presentation, AMS Collective Madison Meeting. Topic: Satellite Applications for Hydrological and Land Science, Aug 09th, 2022, Madison, WI, USA.
May 2022
Reale, O., McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., 2022. Two decades of Observing System Experiments to investigate the impact resulting from the assimilation of AIRS data in the NASA GEOS system". Invited talk, hybrid NASA AIRS/Sounder Science Team Meeting 20th Anniversary, 10-12 May, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA.
February 2022
Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., Pawson, S., 2022. "Toward improving the assimilation of IASI and CrIS radiances over land in the NASA GEOS". Oral presentation, GMAO virtual science theme meetings, 03 Feb. 2022, NASA/GSFC, USA.
June 2021
L. McGrath-Spangler, E., Boukachaba, N., Reale, O., Ganeshan, M., McCarty, W., and Gelaro, R., Barnet, C.: Assimilation of hyperspectral infrared radiances from the cloud-clearing methodology: Results from the 2017 Atlantic Tropical Cyclone season. The 23rd International TOVS Study Conference (ITSC-23), Virtual, 25 June 2021.
April 2021
Boukachaba, N., Reale, O., L. McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., McCarty, W., and Gelaro, R.: Progress toward Cloud-Cleared Infrared radiance assimilation in a global modeling framework: Application to the 2017 Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Season., EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-2870, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2870, 2021.
January 2021
Ganeshan, M., McGrath-Spangler, E. L., Reale, O., Boukachaba, N., McCarty, W., and Gelaro, R. 2021. “Impact of assimilating infrared cloud-cleared radiances on the representation of Polar Lows and Tropical-like Cyclone in a global modeling and data assimilation framework”. Poster at the Virtual AMS Annual Meeting, 10-15 January, USA.
January 2021
Boukachaba, N., Reale, O., McGrath-Spangler, E. L. Ganeshan, M., Barnet, C., McCarty, W., and Gelaro, R, 2021. “An Efficient Approach to Assimilate IR Cloud-Cleared Radiances in a Global Data Assimilation System: Application and Impact Assessment Using AIRS”. Oral presentation at the Virtual AMS's 101st Annual Meeting, Ninth AMS Symposium on the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA), 10-15 January, USA.
December 2021
Boukachaba, N., Zhu, Y., Pawson, S., 2021. “Improving the assimilation of IASI surface-sensitive radiances over land in the NASA GMAO GEOS data assimilation framework”. Poster at the AGU Fall Meeting (virtual), 13-17 December, USA.
December 2021
Zhu, Y., Arnold, N., EL Akkraoui, A., Boukachaba, N., Ganeshan, M., Jin, J., Josephs, H., Karpowicz, B., Lewis, J., McGrath-Spangler, E., Molod, A., Munchak, J., Palm, S., Pawson, S., Piepmeier, J., Salmun, H., Santanello, J., Todling, R., Welton, E., Wu, L., and Yorks, J., 2021. “Strategies and Development of Global PBL Data Assimilation Including PBL Height in the GMAO GEOS System”. Oral Presentation at the AGU Fall Meeting (virtual), 13-17 December, USA.
October 2020
Reale, O., McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., McCarty, W., Barnett, C., Gelaro, R., 2020. Impact of assimilating multi-instrument hyperspectral infrared cloud-cleared radiances on hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria during the 2017 Atlantic season. Fall 2020 virtual NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, Oct 2-16, 2020.
May 2020
Reale, O., Boukachaba, N., McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., Barnett, C., McCarty, W., and Gelaro, R., 2020. Advances towards an efficient multi-instrument assimilation of cloud-clear radiances in a global data assimilation and forecast framework. Oral presentation, Virtual AIRS Science Team Meeting, 7-13 May, USA.
April 2020
Boukachaba, N., Bosilovich, M. and da Silva, A., 2020. Development of Gridded Innovations and Observations Data for Reanalysis Diagnostics. Oral presentation, GMAO virtual science theme meetings, 23 Apr. 2020, NASA/GSFC, USA.
February 2020
Akbari Asanjan, A., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., McGrath-Spangler, E., Reale, O., Sorek-Hamer, M., 2020. Fine-Delineated Tropical Cyclone Detection from Geostationary Satellites and IBTrACS data using Advanced Neural Networks. The 2nd NOAA Workshop on Leveraging AI in Environmental Sciences: Exploiting Space- and Ground-Based Observations and Enhancing Earth System Prediction. Workshop in Slow Motion (WiSM), July 2020 - February 2021.
December 2020
Akbari Asanjan, A., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., McGrath-Spangler, E., Reale, O., Sorek-Hamer, M., 2020. Boundary-aware Tropical Cyclone Detection from Geostationary Satellites and Climatic Archive Data using Advanced Neural Networks. Poster presented at the AGU Fall Meeting on 1-17 December, USA.
December 2020
McGrath-Spangler, E., Reale, O., Ganeshan, M., Boukachaba, N., Barnett, C., McCarty, W., Gelaro, R. 2020. Impact of hyperspectral infrared radiance assimilation in cloudy regions: A study of the 2017 Atlantic tropical cyclone season with the NASA GEOS. Oral presentation at the AGU Fall Meeting on 7-11 December, USA.
September 2019
McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., Reale, O., McCarty, W., Gelaro, R. and Boukachaba, N., 2019. Sensitivity to data density of assimilated cloud-cleared AIRS radiances in the new hybrid 4dEnVAR GEOS. Oral presentation, NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, 25-27 September 2019, College Park, MD, USA.
September 2019
Reale, O., McGrath-Spangler, E., Ganeshan, M., McCarty, W., Gelaro, R, Karpowicz, B. and Boukachaba, N., 2019. Advances towards ingestion of multi-instrument cloud-cleared infrared radiances in a global data assimilation and forecast framework. Oral presentation, NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, 25-27 September 2019, College Park, MD, USA.
September 2019
Ganeshan, M., McGrath-Spangler, E., Reale, O., McCarty, W. , Gelaro, R. and Boukachaba, N., 2019. Continued research on the impact of assimilating AIRS cloud-cleared radiances on mesoscale warm-core cyclones outside the tropics. Oral presentation, NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting, 25-27 September 2019, College Park, MD, USA.
September 2019
McGrath-Spangler, E., Reale, O., Ganeshan, M., McCarty, W., Gelaro, R. and Boukachaba, N., 2019. Progress in the assimilation of cloud-cleared infrared radiances in the GEOS to improve tropical cyclone representation. Oral presentation, GMAO science theme meetings, 12 Sep, 2019, NASA/GSFC, USA.
September 2017
Fourrié, N., Guidard, V., Boukachaba, N., Farouk, I., 2017. Toward a better use of IASI over land and in cloudy areas in Météo-France NWP models at global and meso scales. 7th International WMO Symposium on Data Assimilation. 11-15 September, 2017, Florianópolis, Brazil.
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/iswg/meetings/2017/presentations/Session01/ISWG2017_S01_05.pdf.
July 2017
Fourrié, N., Guidard, V., Boukachaba, N., BIRMAN, C., 2017. Toward a better use of Infrared radiances over land in NWP models at global and meso scales. The 1st International Surface Working Group. 19-20 July, 2017,Monterey, California, USA.
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/iswg/meetings/2017/presentations/Session01/ISWG2017_S01_05.pdf
September 2016
Boukachaba, N., Guidard, V., Fourrié, N., 2016. Improvement of the assimilation of IASI radiances over land in the regional numerical weather prediction AROME-France model. EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference. 26 - 30 September 2016. Darmstadt , Germany.
April 2016
Boukachaba, N., Guidard, V., Fourrié, N., 2016. Surface temperature retrievals from IASI and SEVIRI channels in the convective scale numerical prediction AROME-France model. The 4th IASI Conference. 11 - 15 April 2016, Antibes Juan-lesPins, France.
April 2016
Boukachaba, N., Guidard, V., Fourrié, N., 2016. Assimilation of IASI surface-sensitive channels over land at convective scale AROME Model. The 4th IASI Conference. 11 - 15 April 2016, Antibes Juanles-Pins, France.
March 2016
Boukachaba, N., Guidard, V., Fourrié, N., 2016. The improvement of assimilation of IASI surfacesensitive channels over land at convective scale AROME Model. The 4th edition of “Remote Sensing and Modeling of Surface properties (RSMSP)” workshop. 14 - 16 March 2016, Grenoble, France.
November 2015
Boukachaba, N., Guidard, V., Fourrié, N., 2015. Improved assimilation of IASI land surface temperature data over continents in the convective scale AROME France model. The 20th International TOVS Study Conference. 28 October - 3 November 2015, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA.
September 2015
Boukachaba, N., Guidard, V., Fourrié, N., 2015. Land surface temperature retrieval from IASI for assimilation over the AROME-France domain. EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference. September 21 - 25, 2015, Toulouse, France.
Professional Service
Reviewer for the Remote Sensing of Environment journal.
Reviewer for the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
Reviewer for theTheoretical and Applied Climatology, Springer Nature.
Co-Lead, Climate & Environmental Health Working Group, Goddard Applied Sciences
Co-Lead, 618 seminars.