Author: Cazzy Medley

Fog over mountain tops, courtesy of NOAA.

Using Satellite Microwave Data for Water Vapor Over Land

February 26, 2021

CISESS scientists Chris Grassotti and Yong-Keun Lee were coauthors of a paper published last week in the open access journal Remote Sensing.

An ozonesonde launches at Hohenpeissenberg Meteorological Observatory, Germany. The ozone sensor is in the white styrofoam cylinder dangling from the balloon, which will carry the sensor up to 30 or 35 kilometers (115,000 feet) altitude. For handling at launch, the ozone sensor is close to the balloon, but an unwinder increases the distance between balloon and sensor to about 30 meters during flight.

COVID‐19 Crisis Reduces Free Tropospheric Ozone across the Northern Hemisphere

February 26, 2021

ESSIC Visiting Assistant Research Scientist Ryan M. Stauffer is a co-author on a report that discovered that the COVID-19 crisis reduced tropospheric ozone across the Northern Hemisphere.

Dr. Ellen Williams smiles in a red blazer.

Taking on Climate Change

February 11, 2021

Ellen Williams is an optimist. And she believes in the power of science and technology to help society solve grand challenges, like transitioning to clean energy and combating climate change. Williams, a Distinguished University Professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Physics and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, approaches these challenges with a broader scope of experience than most.

GOES-16 Chlorophyll A Retrievals using Deep Learning

February 1, 2021

On January 21, ESSIC/CISESS Assistant Research Scientist Guangming Zheng gave a presentation on retrieving chlorophyll concentrations from the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) using Deep Learning techniques as part of the 2nd NOAA Workshop on Leveraging AI in Environmental Sciences.

The concrete plumes of a power plant emit steam into the atmosphere.

Why We Can Have Paris Again

January 28, 2021

From revoking the permit on the Keystone XL natural gas pipeline to starting the process of reversing Trump-era polices on national monuments, endangered lands and species, and energy exploration, the environment stands near the top of President Joe Biden’s immediate agenda. The centerpiece was an Inauguration Day executive order to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, negotiated by the nations of the world (with key oversight from a Terp) to head off the devastating effects of climate change, from famines to coastal flooding.

Upper Ocean Heat Content Hits Record High in 2020, Finds Mishonov, Reagan, Colleagues

January 22, 2021

Since the industrial revolution, the emission of greenhouse gasses by human activities has been mainly responsible for global warming. This increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has caused an energy imbalance in the Earth’s climate system, with the world’s oceans absorbing 90% of this excess heat. This has led to an increase in ocean heat content (OHC) and sea level rise. In 2000, Levitus et al. developed the first global OHC time series, identifying a robust long-term ocean warming from 1948-98. Since then, many other analyses of global and regional OHC data have been performed.

Zheng and Li Clarify Advection in the Marine Boundary Layer

January 21, 2021

Youtong Zheng, ESSIC Assistant Research Scientist, and Zhanqing Li, Professor at ESSIC and University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, were recently spotlighted in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) annual report for their paper, “Episodes of Warm‐Air Advection Causing Cloud‐Surface Decoupling During the MARCUS”.

Congratulations to Youtong Zheng, Newly Elected ARM User Executive Committee Member

January 20, 2021

Youtong Zheng, ESSIC Assistant Research Scientist, has recently been selected to join the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s User Executive Committee (UEC). Zheng is one of the seven new candidates joining the UEC this year and the only candidate from a University of Maryland institution.

Many cars on a highway are stuck in a traffic jam.

Dickerson, He, Salawitch Investigate Impact of Vehicle Emissions on Ambient Temperature and Specific Humidity

January 19, 2021

ESSIC/CISESS Professors Ross Salawitch and Russell R.Dickerson as well as ESSIC/CISESS Assistant Research Professor Hao He have a new paper in Atmospheric Environment titled “Using near-road observations of CO, NOy, and CO2 to investigate emissions from vehicles: Evidence for an impact of ambient temperature and specific humidity”. The paper’s co-authors also include Dolly Hall, Xinrong Ren, and Timothy Canty from the University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Jennifer C. Hains, Daniel C. Anderson, and Cory R. Martin.

The Potomac River winds through dense green forests.

Kaushal and Duan Assess Micropollutants in Potomac River Watershed

January 14, 2021

Sujay Kaushal, ESSIC and Department of Geology Associate Professor, recently published a paper in Water Research alongside co-authors from the University at Buffalo’s Department of Chemistry, UMD’s Department of Geology, and private firm Hazen and Sawyer.