Author: Travis Swaim

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) flash extent density product is rolling out to all National Weather Service forecast offices beginning on Monday, July 16th.  The GLM, a device aboard the GOES-16 satellite, is an instrument that maps lightning strikes across the Western Hemisphere.  The flash extent density product represents the number of flashes that travel through an area over a given period of time.  With this data, weather forecasters will be able to better predict extreme …

A recent collaboration by researchers from the University of Maryland department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOSC), the Earth System Sciences Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI), was published by the Inter-American Development Bank Water and Sanitation Division.  The paper focuses on the intertwined energy, water, and land nexus (EWL) of Latin America and the potential pros and cons of the Paris Agreement Climate Mitigation …

SCSB/STAR/NESDIS/NOAA scientist *Scott Rudlosky was a phone-in guest on the Weather Channel (WC) in a segment on using the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) to track lightning from space. Rudlosky spoke with three WC correspondentsabout emerging forecasting opportunities involving GLM. View the segment in two parts: part one and part two. * Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites-Maryland, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland…

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde authored a new blog post on the India Science Wire called “How biological response may help avert another mass extinction of species.” Murtugudde notes that some species, like sea stars, have developed genes that make them more resilient against changing ocean temperatures or disease. The article ponders whether more species may be able to develop similar responses as they face human-induced mass extinction. …

An article by ESSIC / CICS-MD scientist Jieshun Zhu and CICS-MD consortium scientist James Kinter III was accepted on June 13 for publication in the journal Climate Dynamics. It describes the effects of the El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Asian Summer Monsoon predictions. Zhu and Kinter are both at the National Weather Service, where Zhu is working to improve seasonal forecasts and Kinter is striving to extend weather predictions to reliable Week-3 and Week-4 forecasts. …

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde is featured in a recent video interview with Tech2, an India-based science and technology news outlet. The nearly 16-minute segment conducted by editor in chief Ankit Vengurlekar is titled “How are the Monsoons predicted in India?”…

ESSIC / CICS-MD associate research scientist Sinéad Farrell is the co-author of a new study in Nature evaluating Antarctica’s changing ice structure. Farrell, in a collaboration with scientists from the University of Leeds and the University of California, San Diego, looked at satellite data to determine how changes in the ice sheet are raising the sea level. The article was published in a special Antarctica issue of Nature. View the article here and a university press …