Year: 2015

The 11th annual NOAA/NESDIS Cooperative Research Program (CoRP) Science Symposium will be hosted by the University of Maryland’s Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), a joint center with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service (NESDIS). The two-day workshop to be held September 16 – 17, 2015 at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center highlights research and …

Deriving Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) from satellite data is important for air quality monitoring because such information helps us to identify and track atmospheric particles, including dust and smoke, in the air we breathe.   In the past however, the data processing of this retrieval often required several hours to complete. Recently, a research team that included ESSIC’s Dr. Jingfeng Huang was recognized with NOAA’s Annual STAR Award for Innovation, by …

ESSIC / AOSC Professor and CICS Executive Director Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm is the principal investigator for two newly awarded research grants.  A grant funded via the World Bank will study the impacts of climate change on global water supply and demand.  The study will be conducted jointly by ESSIC and the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI).  A grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will support an upcoming Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus …

ESSIC / AOSC Professor and CICS Executive Director Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm was a participant at the annual World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Sweden during late August 2015.  The annual meeting, which is considered the focal point for the globe’s water issues, utilized a theme of Water for Development, at this year’s event. Miralles-Wilhelm was quoted in an event coverage article by Reuters, regarding Latin America water security issues resulting from agricultural …

Several ESSIC scientists contributed to a recent NASA study that found vegetation was essential for limiting city warming effects.  The study’s conclusion was supported through a land model that included Landsat and MODIS data to assess the impact of urbanization on US surface climate.  ESSIC researchers Ping Zhang (2^nd author), Georgy Mostovoy, and Marc Imhoff contributed to the study. 10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084010>…

ESSIC’s Ariana Sutton-Grier was the principal organizer of a session at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) conference in Baltimore, Maryland.  The session—in which Sutton-Grier also presented–was entitled, “Science at the Frontier of Understanding "Natural Infrastructure: Societal Benefits of Healthy Coastal Ecosystems.”  The session focused on the many and varied benefits that healthy coastal ecosystems provide to people.  Sutton-Grier was …

A recent paper authored by ESSIC researcher Ariana Sutton-Grier was featured in the August edition of the Journal of Landscape Architecture magazine.  Sutton-Grier’s paper is entitled, “Future of our coasts: The potential for natural and hybrid infrastructure to enhance the resilience of our coastal communities, economies and ecosystems.”     Environmental Science & Policy Volume 51, August 2015, Pages 137–148, …

Raghu Murtugudde (ESSIC / AOSC) was featured in an August Livescience post entitled, “Using Loopholes, Nature May Save Galápagos Penguins.”  The post discusses a recent Murtugudde Geophysical Research Letters publication which analyzed the impact of eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface cooling on Galápagos Penguin populations.  Murtugudde was also quoted in a recent article in the Calcutta, India publication, The Telegraph, regarding projections that the …

Research conducted by ESSIC/CICS-MD scientists collaborating with the NOAA Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry (LSA) Sea Ice Research Group (http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/sod/lsa/SeaIce/) was recently featured in a NESDIS news article, on 11 August 2015.  The piece, entitled "Diminished Arctic Sea Ice Indicates a Changing Climate", was featured during the NESDIS "Arctic Week" event, 10 – 16 August, 2015.  The article describes how Arctic sea ice thickness and …