Sciences and Exploration Directorate

William Reed Espinosa

(Rsch AST, Climate and Radiation Std)

William Reed Espinosa's Contact Card & Information.
Email: reed.espinosa@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.5685
Org Code: 613
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 613
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Brief Bio


Dr. Reed Espinosa is currently a Research Physical Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where he develops novel methods for the retrieval of aerosol properties from optical measurements made by multiangle polarimetric imagers, geostationary spectrometers and LiDAR. He is a member of the Atmospheric Observing System (AOS) mission’s Science Team and is currently the lead for the project’s Aerosol Algorithm Working Group. Dr. Espinosa began his involvement with the AOS mission in the Aerosols, Clouds, Convection and Precipitation (ACCP) preformulation study where he ran Observing System Simulations Experiment (OSSE) retrievals to assess capability differences between a variety of potential instrument architectures. He also serves as PI, Science PI and Institutional PI for three NASA ROSES awards, all of which are aimed at improving our ability to interpret observations made by the next generation of geostationary and polarimetric Earth observing sensors. Prior to his NPP appointment at NASA Goddard, Dr. Espinosa constructed instrumentation to measure angular light scattering in situ, including the first aerosol-focused open-path polar nephelometer to fly aboard an aircraft.

Positions/Employment


Research Physical Scientist

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, Maryland

August 2019 - Present


Postdoctoral Fellow

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

November 2017 - August 2019


Doctoral Researcher

University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Baltimore, MD

August 2011 - October 2017


Graduate Teaching Assistant

University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Baltimore, MD

August 2010 - August 2011

Education


Ph.D., Atmospheric Physics - University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2017)

M.S., Applied Physics - University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2012)

B.S., Physics - University of Mary Washington (2008)

Professional Service


  • Served on the GSFC Science Directors Committee (2020-2023)
  • Climate and Radiation Laboratory Seminar Coordinator (2020-2022)
  • Organizing committee member and session chair for the GSFC Early Career Scientist Forum (2019-2020)
  • American Geophysical Union (AGU) Student Poster Competition Liaison (2019-2022)
  • Served as proposal reviewer/panelist for multiple NASA programs
  • Review Editor for the journal Frontiers in Remote Sensing
  • Manuscript reviewer for over a dozen scientific journals

Grants


Geostationary Satellite Retrievals of Aerosol Properties Using a Combined Implementation of the Dark Target and GRASP Inversion Frameworks

Remote Sensing Theory for Earth Science - NASA - Awarded: 2020-06-01


Dates: 2020-09-01  - 2022-08-31


Improving particle morphology representation in aerosol retrievals in preparation for the next generation of space-based multi-angle polarimeters and lidars

New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science - NASA - Awarded: 2021-03-01


Dates: 2021-04-01  - 2024-03-31


Scale Analysis of Planetary Boundary Layer Aerosol Properties in Convective Environments and Their Underlying Observability by Remote Sensing

Atmospheric Composition Campaign Data Analysis and Modeling - NASA - Awarded: 2021-04-01


Dates: 2021-06-01  - 2024-05-31

Publications


Refereed

2022. "Identifying chemical aerosol signatures using optical suborbital observations: how much can optical properties tell us about aerosol composition?." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 22 (6): 3713-3742 [10.5194/acp-22-3713-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "A Comprehensive Description of Multi-Term LSM for Applying Multiple a Priori Constraints in Problems of Atmospheric Remote Sensing: GRASP Algorithm, Concept, and Applications." Frontiers in Remote Sensing 2 [10.3389/frsen.2021.706851] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "UV linear stokes imaging of optically thin clouds." Polarization Science and Remote Sensing X 11833 1 - 7 [10.1117/12.2595161] [Proceedings]

2021. "A Combined Lidar-Polarimeter Inversion Approach for Aerosol Remote Sensing Over Ocean." Frontiers in Remote Sensing 2 (2): [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Dust Aerosol Retrieval Over the Oceans With the MODIS/VIIRS Dark Target Algorithm: 2. Nonspherical Dust Model." Earth and Space Science 7 (10): [10.1029/2020ea001222] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Modeling Atmosphere-Ocean Radiative Transfer: A PACE Mission Perspective." Frontiers in Earth Science 7 100 pp. [10.3389/feart.2019.00100] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Retrievals of aerosol size distribution, spherical fraction and complex refractive index from airborne in situ angular light scattering and absorption measurements." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 124 (14): 7997-8024 [https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD030009] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "A Laboratory Experiment for the Statistical Evaluation of Aerosol Retrieval (STEAR) Algorithms." Remote Sensing 11 (5): 498 [10.3390/rs11050498] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Polarimetric remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols: Instruments, methodologies, results, and perspectives." Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 224 474-511 [10.1016/j.jqsrt.2018.11.024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "In situ measurements of angular-dependent light scattering by aerosols over the contiguous United States." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18 (5): 3737-3754 [10.5194/acp-18-3737-2018] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Retrievals of aerosol optical and microphysical properties from Imaging Polar Nephelometer scattering measurements." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 10 (3): 811-824 [10.5194/amt-10-811-2017] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2017. "Comprehensive Airborne in Situ Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols: From Angular Light Scattering to Particle Microphysics." [Full Text] [Book]

Talks, Presentations and Posters


Invited

Synergistic Lidar and Polarimeter Aerosol Retrieval Performance Under Complex Conditions: Exploring the Costs of Imperfect Particle Shape Assumptions

2022

Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Chicago, IL


Identifying Aerosol Types over the Contagious United States with Polarized Angular Light Scattering Measurements

July 2018

15th Annual Meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, Honolulu, HI

Other