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Bill Lau Explains 134-Year-Old Blanford Hypothesis

November 26, 2018

ESSIC Research Scientist Bill Lau recently wrote a paper that provided a plausible explanation to the Blanford hypothesis, an 1884 observation of a connection between springtime snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau and the intensity of the summer monsoon season in India. Lau found that the before the monsoons begin, dark aerosols such as dust and soot settle on the Tibetan Plateau’s snowpack and absorb sunlight, causing the snow to melt more quickly.  In years with heavy springtime dust …

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Vogel Co-Authors Algorithm Development Paper

November 26, 2018

ESSIC / CICS-MD Senior Faculty Specialist Ron Vogel recently co-authored a paper in Remote Sensing Letters titled “Approximation of diffuse attenuation, Kd, for MODIS high-resolution bands”. The paper discusses Kd-hires, a high resolution depth attenuation product used as a measure of water clarity.  The authors compare the product with Wang’s operational Kd, another method of measurement, and found that the two algorithms had good agreement, ensuring improved retrievals.  The …

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Murtugudde Talks Balancing Food Demand and Climate Goals in Business Line

November 23, 2018

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde recently authored a piece in The Hindu Business Line titled “Balancing Food Demand and Climate Goals”. The piece is in response to a recent Oxford study suggesting that reducing meat consumption could curb carbon emissions, as animal products demand disproportionately high natural resources. Murtugudde insists that cultural practices be kept in mind when considering this shift in diet, and that agricultural research should aim at sustainable and …

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Murtugudde Comments on Carbon Emissions Caused by India Groundwater Over-Extraction

November 20, 2018

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde provided comments for a recent article posted on the Tech Explorist web site titled, “Double whammy of groundwater in India- Decrease in reserve and increasing carbon emissions.” The article discusses new findings that groundwater extraction in India is responsible for 2-7% of the country’s annual estimated carbon dioxide emissions. Murtugudde noted that every human activity has multiple impacts and can have unintended consequences.  He also …

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Sutton-Grier Co-authors Study Revealing Natural Solutions to Global Warming

November 16, 2018

A recent study in Science Advances led by The Nature Conservancy and 21 institutional partners, determined that restoring lands and coastal wetlands could have a much bigger role in reducing global climate change than previously thought.  ESSIC associate research professor Ariana Sutton-Grier is a co-author. The report noted that by adjusting 21 natural management practices to increase carbon storage and avoid greenhouse emissions, nature’s contribution could equal 21% of the nation’s …

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ESSIC Presents at Annual Symposium for Burgers Program for Fluid Dynamics

November 15, 2018

November 14th marked The Fifteenth Annual Symposium of the Burgers Program for Fluid Dynamics, an event intended to enhance the quality and international visibility of UMD’s fluid dynamics research and educational programs. ESSIC Research Professor and CICS-MD Director Hugo Berbery was a co-presenter of two presentations with his advised AOSC Graduate Assistants Eli Dennis and Katherine Lukens. Lukens-Berbery presented, “Winter Storm Tracks and Related Weather in the NCEP Climate Forecast …

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Yang and Yang Published on Atmospheric Water Profiles

November 15, 2018

ESSIC / CICS-MD Associate Research Scientist Hu Wang and ESSIC / CICS-MD post-doctoral associate John Yang recently published an article in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing titled “Radiometry Calibration With High-Resolution Profiles of GPM: Application to ATMS 183-GHz Water Vapor Channels and Comparison Against Reanalysis Profiles”. The study compares atmospheric water vapor profiles between satellite and reanalysis using data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) …

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Li and Su Published on Chinese Severe Air Pollution Episodes

November 15, 2018

ESSIC / CICS-MD Professor Zhanqing Li and Graduate Assistant II Tianning Su recently published a paper in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics titled “Relationships between the planetary boundary layer height and surface pollutants derived from lidar observations over China: regional pattern and influencing factors”. This paper discusses the frequency of severe air pollution episodes in China, analyzing the relationship between planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) and surface pollutants.  …

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Zou Published on Modified Striping Noise Mitigation in TRMM Microwave Imager

November 15, 2018

ESSIC / CICS-MD Research Professor Xiaolei Zou was recently published in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing for her article “Striping Noise Mitigation for Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager Observations”. The paper concerns the conical-scanning Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI), a passive microwave sensor that monitors global precipitation from the TRMM satellite.  The TMI has nine channels, all of which include a clear …

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Patrick Meyers Wins GOES-R Outstanding Communications Award

November 9, 2018

This week, ESSIC / CICS-MD Senior Faculty Specialist Patrick Meyers was awarded the GOES-R Series Program Award for Outstanding Communication. Recognized for his visualizations of Geostationary Lightning Mapper imagery, Meyers created the animations to support the NESDIS and GOES-R program as well as to draw new viewers to NESDIS social media. In September, one of Meyers’ animations of Hurricane Florence made it to President Trump’s Twitter feed, garnering 2.05 million views, 12k …

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