Category: Press Releases

University of Maryland Distinguished University Professor Ellen Williams Retires

January 8, 2024

Ellen D. Williams, a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland and director of the university’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), retired on December 30, 2023, after 42 years at the university. Following her official retirement, Williams is now a research professor of physics and executive director of ESSIC’s Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS).

ESSIC Launches Seed Grant Program

January 2, 2024

This week, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) announced the selection of two recipients of the Seed Grant Program (ESGP), a new initiative to provide ESSIC scientists with internal funding mechanisms to carry out innovative research in pilot studies that have the strong potential to lead to future proposals for external funding.

Example figure produced by SAWC showing the observation number density (colors) of aircraft winds matched with Aeolus Rayleigh-clear winds at all levels for Sep 2019 - Aug 2020.

First Official Public Release of the System for Analysis of Wind Collocations (SAWC)

December 15, 2023

The data and tools one needs for wind observation research all in one place.

Global distribution of daily 1-km gapless PM2.5 on 8 October 2020 (unit: μg m-3) at a 1 km spatial resolution and zoomed-in maps showing ground-based measurements (colored dots) over the (a) western United States, (b) central South America, (c) eastern United States, (d) Europe, (e) northwestern Africa, (f) Australia, (g) India, and (h) eastern China.

UMD Researchers Assess the Impact of Air Quality on the Mortality around the World and COVID-19

December 15, 2023

University of Maryland researchers have developed the world’s first daily 1-kilometer seamless product of PM2.5— fine particulate matter that threatens human respiratory health — that logs the progression of the world’s air quality since 2017.

California wildfire burns near a residential area at night (Adobe Stock)

Air Quality Deterioration from Western Wildfires Outpaces Human-Driven Improvement, Threatens Human Health

December 5, 2023

UMD researchers analyzed changes in the mortality burden attributed to wildfire pollution over the last two decades.

Eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in the South Pacific on 14 January 2022, one day prior to the larger eruption plume that would significantly impact stratospheric composition. (Tonga Geological Services, Adapted from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

Massive 2022 eruption reduced ozone levels

November 20, 2023

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano changed the chemistry, dynamics of Earth’s stratosphere

Photo by David R. Gonzalez of the Minnesota Department of Transportation

Humans Are Disrupting Natural ‘Salt Cycle’ on a Global Scale, New Study Shows

November 1, 2023

The influx of salt in streams and rivers is an ‘existential threat,’ according to a research team led by a UMD geologist.

Xin-Zhong Liang Elected as AGU Fellow

September 20, 2023

Xin-Zhong Liang has been elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He joins 55 other individuals in the 2023 Class of Fellows. Since 1962, the AGU Union Fellows Committee has selected less than 0.1% of members as new Fellows. AGU, a nonprofit organization that supports 130,000 enthusiasts to experts worldwide in Earth and space sciences, annually recognizes a select number of individuals as part of its Honors and Recognition program.

Around the world, agricultural practices have developed as a function of topography, soil type, crop type, annual rainfall, and tradition. Featured above (clockwise from the upper left) are agricultural lands in Minnesota, Kansas, northwest Germany, southern Brazil, Bangkok, Thailand, and eastern Bolivia. Image courtesy of NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.

New Study Reveals Irrigation’s Mixed Effects Around the World

July 24, 2023

A new study by an international team of researchers shows how irrigation affects regional climates and environments around the world, illuminating how and where the practice is both untenable and beneficial.

Bull Run flows into Occoquan Drinking water reservoir (Photo by Sujay Kaushal)

A New Way to Monitor Water Quality

July 18, 2023

A new study led by Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) scientist Sujay Kaushal introduces a new way to think about water quality monitoring along urban streams that could help researchers more accurately track pollutants across waterways.