Category: Features

A scenic view of the ocean and the beach

Farrell and Thomas Discuss the Hidden Talents of ICESat-2

December 14, 2020

A new NASA Goddard feature highlights how the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2), originally intended to precisely measure the height of the ice sheets at Earth’s poles, of sea ice floes above the ocean waters, and of forest canopies, has gone beyond its original purposes to map the Earth’s surface. In the article, ESSIC/CISESS scientists Sinéad Farrell and Nathan Thomas are quoted discussing these unintended benefits.

Lau, Li, Tao Find Link Between Western Wildfires and Global Warming

October 22, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljE6iZr_kjY For the last few years, life on the West Coast of the United States has been marked by wildfires. Most recently, August lightning storms

Dr. Ellen Williams smiles in a red blazer

Williams Speaks on Clean Energy Innovation at National Academies Workshop

October 5, 2020

In July, ESSIC and CISESS Director Ellen Williams participated in the National Academies Workshop on Enhancing Federal Clean Energy Innovation, a series supported by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to identify strategies for accelerating clean energy innovation across the federal government.

Liza smiles in front of a dark background

ESSIC’s Liza Goldberg Uses National Geographic Young Explorers Grant to Bring Satellite Imagery into Classrooms

July 28, 2020

Last week, The National Geographic Society announced the 2020 recipients of the Young Explorers Grant, a prestigious grant awarded to young people, between the ages of 16 and 26, engaged in complex, impact-driven efforts to address global issues. Liza Goldberg, 18-year-old ESSIC scientist and NASA student research assistant, is one of the 22 recipients.

A closeup of a visualization of the COVID-19 molecule

ESSIC Scientists Find Link Between Climate and COVID-19

May 4, 2020

There might be a link between climate and the spread of COVID-19, finds a study co-authored by ESSIC Director Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, Assistant Research Scientist Augustin Vintzileos, and collaborators from The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran.

Dos Santos, Community Scientists Map COVID-19 Spread Through Brazil

May 4, 2020

A group of volunteers including ESSIC scientist Fernando Dos Santos are putting together an interactive map that tracks the spread of COVID-19 across Brazilian states and cities.

Dr. John Mather smiles warmly at the camera wearing a suit in front of a nondescript background

ESSIC Hosts Nobel Prize Award Winner John Mather in Seminar Series

February 24, 2020

On March 2, 2020, ESSIC will be welcoming Dr. John Mather, 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate, as a speaker in the Spring 2020

People swim in the Seine River in front of the Eiffel Tower on a hot summer day.

Vintzileos Monitors Heat Events and Health on New Website

August 20, 2019

This has been a summer of record-breaking heat waves, both in the United States and across the world. Last month, several European countries that usually enjoy temperate summer conditions have hit all-time heat records, with temperatures reaching up to 108.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

First Results Emerge from ICESat-2, Satellite Measuring Earth’s Ice Elevation

August 15, 2019

More than a trillion new measurements of the Earth’s surface height are now available to the public as the first results of ICESat-2, a mission devoted to measuring the changing height of Earth’s ice.

People rebuild a house out of the rubble of a ruined home

Indian Ocean is “Canary in the Coal Mine” for Climate Change

May 17, 2019

Early this month, India’s coastline was struck by Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest cyclones India has experienced in 20 years, according to a press release