Category: Archive

CICS readies for data from new GOES-R satellite

December 7, 2016

In late November 2016, a new satellite–that many are calling the most significant step forward in modern weather forecasting history—achieved a geostationary orbit. Launched on November 19 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R Series (GOES-R) is destined to revamp NASA’s current line-up of geostationary satellites. ESSIC Post-Doctoral associate Michael Peterson was at the launch. He described the scene to be …

ESSIC Snow Prediction Pool, Winter 2016-17

December 7, 2016

With Thanksgiving and the strong 2015-16 El Niño event now behind us what does Old Man Winter have in-store for the DC-area for the winter of 2016-17, particularly with respect to snowfall? According to the web-site “Current Results,” the first DC-Area snowfall of winter does typically occur in the month of December, although 1 in 4 winters see no December snows at all. Similarly, 1 in 4 December’s will receive at least 2.5” of snow and in …

First CICS Science Conference Held at UMD

December 5, 2016

Monday, 5 December 2016

The Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) held its first collaborative Science Conference from November 29, 2016 – December, 1, 2016. The three day event hosted by the University of Maryland (UMD) Earth System Sciences Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) evolved from and replaced the former CICS-Maryland annual science meeting.

The conference included representation from principal partners CICS-Maryland and CICS-North Carolina as well as CUNY’s Cooperative Remote Sensing

Vintzileos Recognized by CPC

December 2, 2016

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) recognized ESSIC assistant research scientist Augustin Vintzileos for the development and issuance of the experimental United States Week 3-4 Temperature and Precipitation Outlooks. In October Vintzileos presented research at the CPC’s 41^st Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop in Maine….

Murtugudde Publishes Op-Ed on India Climate Science Education

December 2, 2016

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde was published in Huffington Post India about employment opportunities and complications encountered by climate science students in India. Murtugudde notes the lack of undergraduate programs for climate science and suggests the country set up a committee of experts and industries to look at the landscape for future employment opportunities in a world where climate variability is more evident and important. Murtugudde explains that climate …

Murtugudde Co-Authors New Study

November 21, 2016

ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde co-authored a study that found increased frequent exposure to “extreme heat events” increase hay fever among US adults. According to a UMD Right Now article, Murtugudde and others noted the timing, mainly in the spring, of these extreme heat events played a crucial role in increasing hay fever rates. Researchers hope this information will help scientists understand how projected heat extremes from climate change might influence allergic …

Boisvert and Petty Featured on NASA Homepage

November 18, 2016

ESSIC assistant research scientist Linette Boisvert and post-doctoral associate Alek Petty recently published a paper that is making headlines at NASA. Their study found that during December 2015, a cyclone brought heat and humidity to a usually frigid and dry environment causing sea ice cover to thin and shrink when it grows thicker and stronger during that part of the year. Both Boisvert and Petty are quoted in the NASA article that was featured on the nasa.gov homepage. Boisvert also did …

Tian and Zou Remote Sensing Studies Recently Published

November 18, 2016

ESSIC graduate research assistant Xiaoxu Tian and visiting research professor Xiaolei Zou authored two recently published studies. The first published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres focused on a modified retrieval algorithm using the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A). Tian and Zou looked at Hurricane Sandy and studied hurricane warm core structures with the modified algorithm. The second study …

Nature Scientific Reports publishes study on impacts of brown carbon from biomass burning

November 11, 2016

Friday, 11 November 2016

A new study from scientists Jungbin Mok and Zhanqing Li, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) University of Maryland, and Nickolay Krotkov, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, is focusing on the impacts of brown carbon from biomass burning on ultraviolet (UV) radiation and atmospheric pollutants, which could lead to improved air quality models and help ameliorate potential health hazards such as suppression of the immune system and skin cancer. The paper is being released in

Murtugudde Op-ed Published

November 7, 2016

An Op-ed piece authored by ESSIC / AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde was published in the India edition of the Huffington Post. In the piece, Murtugudde praises the country’s decision and leadership in its signing of the Paris Agreement, but expresses concern regarding a lack of connection between climate change issues and national security. He explains that although climate change is never the root cause of civil or international unrest, it can ultimately become a flash point or a …