Hunting Down Dead Zones in the Chesapeake Bay

CISESS
October 6, 2025
Highlights

ESSIC/CISESS Scientist Guangming Zheng and colleagues at NASA and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science were recently featured in an article published in the Bay Journal, explaining their research on identifying dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay using artificial intelligence.

A dead zone is an aquatic area, such as a bay, with extremely low oxygen levels that cannot support most marine life. Their model called “HypoxAI” combines AI-powered analysis with the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Forecast System (CBEFS), a tool commonly used to forecast hypoxia in the Bay. It turns out that HypoxAI is more accurate than CBEFS alone, suggesting that including an AI aspect to CBEFS is a promising route to follow. Their peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems provides the scientific details.

This article was put together by the CISESS coordinators based on scientist input.

Debra Baker

Debra Baker is the Coordinator for the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS) at the University of Maryland. She received her M.S. in atmospheric science from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before joining ESSIC in 2013, she worked on air quality issues at the Maryland Department of the Environment. Debra also has a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Kate Cooney

Katherine Cooney is a part-time faculty assistant at the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS). Kate received a B.S. in environmental science and policy from the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park. She later earned a M.S. in geology from UMD, while investigating the isotopic fractionation of precipitation nitrate under the guidance of Distinguished University Professor James Farquhar. After graduation, she worked as an air-quality specialist at the Mid Atlantic Regional Air Management Association in Baltimore, Maryland. While her family was stationed in Tokyo, Japan, she dedicated her time serving military families and the local community. She is grateful for the opportunity to return to earth system studies, supporting the CISESS Business Office and assisting the CISESS Coordinator Deb Baker since January 2021.