June 2024, Volume 4

CESSRST-II Quarterly Highlights

Dr. Fred Moshary

Director, NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST-II)

This past quarter has been a busy time at CESSRST II. The Center worked with 11 graduate student fellows on their NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity (NERTO) internships for the summer 2024. Our students are engaged in NESDIS, OAR, NWS, and NMFS offices and laboratories this summer. We were also engaged in recruiting fellows for Cohort III, with 13 graduate students recruited (7 PhD and 6 Masters) and more recruitment anticipated in the summer. The Center also had its second Annual Meeting in Silver Spring, MD. The meeting included in-person attendance from CESSRST faculty mentors, 13 student fellows, and over 30 NOAA participants, including NOAA leadership and NOAA subject matter experts (SMEs). Attendees learned about NOAA priorities from Dr. Michael Morgan - Assistant Secretary for Environmental Observation and Prediction, Dr. Sarah Kapnick - NOAA Chief Scientist, Dr. Stephen Volz- Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Service, Dr. Steve Thur - Assistant Administrator for Research, as well as a number of other SMEs representing NESDIS, OAR, NWS, NOS and NMFS. A primary focus of the meeting was to foster new initiatives and better collaborations between the Center and NOAA line offices and laboratories. There were panel presentations on CESSRST and NOAA research directions, including social science integration; CESSRST education and training; and student postgraduate careers at NOAA and NOAA mission enterprise. Fellows also had the opportunity to participate in the discussions and showcase their research in a poster session. Through stronger interaction with NOAA and leadership of our Distinguished Research Scientist, Dr. Mitch Goldberg, we have new initiatives and projects that engage our faculty and students, as well as received additional funding from NOAA stakeholders.

Finally, in this period, CESSRST and NCAS-M submitted the Joint Center Research and Development Project (JCRDP) Plan to the EPP/MSI Program office and we are engaged in carrying out the plan, with collaborative work already underway with NESDIS STAR. We look to share more on the progress of the JCRDP project in the next newsletter

Student News Highlights

CESSRST Graduate Scholar, Keneshia Hibbert, receives Prestigious Graduate Fellowship Program (GFP)

Keneshia Hibbert, a Ph.D. student Fellow from CESSRST II Cohort 2 received the NOAA EPP/MSI Graduate Fellowship Program (GFP) in June 2024. Her year-long engagement in the GFP starts on September 1, 2024, at NOAA/NESDIS/STAR in College Park, MD, under the mentorship of Dr. Tom Smith, a NOAA Research Scientist.

NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunities( NERTO)

Over the course of this summer, Eleven (11) Cohort Fellows are participating in NERTO across various NOAA line offices:

At NESDIS, Charlotte Rhoads will work on remote sensing of extreme weather events on CDOM in Long Island Sound, while Thomas Ely will work on the Merged LEO-GEO Tropospheric Nitrogen Dioxide (tropNO2) Product for Air Quality Applications.

At OAR, Akarshna Iyer will work on characterizing hub-height wind speed dependence. E'lysha Guerrero will determine the meteorological and land cover conditions at the local and synoptic scales. Carolina Perez will use satellite data products to monitor and analyze phytoplankton. Isabel Lopez will work on data integration for inland flooding. Carlos Ordaz will concentrate on the implications of tropospheric mass flux.

Melissa Crouch will study excessive rainfall rates and Stephanie Hurtado-Gonzalez will look at temporal and spatial variability of heat in the Imperial Valley at the National Weather Service (NWS).

Amy Carrillo will map the impacts of essential fish habitat while Danielle Lafarga will focus on historical data reconstruction for the California coastal currents at NOAA Fisheries.

Student Presentation & NOAA Seminar Series

CESSRST-II Fellow, Alessandra Zuniga presents at NOAA Seminar Series

CESSRST-II Fellow, Alessandra Zuniga, presented the results of her graduate internship project at the NOAA Seminar Series. Her NERTO project, conducted with her NOAA mentor, Alexander Tardy, of the National Weather Service, was on “Micro-climate Monitoring, Crop Impacts, and Preparedness for Southern CA Viticulture.”

Center & Research News Updates

CESSRST-II Second Annual Meeting

The second annual Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST II) meeting was held on April 29-30, 2024, in Silver Spring, Maryland at the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza and via Zoom. The objectives of the meeting were to learn NOAA’s current priorities and objectives, to share the Center’s progress, new initiatives, and plans, and to foster better collaboration/connection between CESSRST II Scientists and NOAA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). A key highlight of the meeting was the CESSRST II Student Showcase, featuring lightening talks and poster presentations. Subsequent discussion panels were held on various themes, including AI/ML, Weather & Climate Change, Social Science Integration, Developing Student Center Competencies, Strategies for Post Graduate Careers, and NESDIS Research and Applications. These panels facilitated in-depth discussions and knowledge exchange between CESSRST II and NOAA representatives. The meeting yielded several outcomes. NOAA provided insight into priorities at NESDIS, NESDIS STAR, OAR, NWS, and NCCOS, allowing CESSRST II to improve its engagement with NOAA research. Moreover, new connections were established between NESDIS and CESSRST II, leading to increased student research projects and NERTOs. Additionally, workforce opportunities for CESSRST II students within the NOAA mission enterprise were identified, helping to shape the future workforce.

CESSRST-II Scientist Joins NOAA Panel to Discuss the Impact of NOAA Research

Dr. Prathap Ramamurthy, CESSRST-II Researcher and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the City College of New York (CCNY), joined other panelists in showcasing research findings, and some societal impacts, of NOAA’s work in the 2023 NOAA Science Report.

In working towards building a climate ready nation, the 2023 NOAA Science Report highlights NOAA’s research in air quality, coastal management, effective R&D and the societal impacts of severe weather.

Dr. Kelly Mahoney, NOAA/PSL

Modernizing NOAA’s Extreme Precipitation Products for High Hazard Infrastructure

Dr. Kelly Mahoney, NOAA/PSL gave a talk on modernizing NOAA's Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) by engaging expert insights, via a study by The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Study, and also providing snapshots of early exploratory research results.

Dr. Erin Friedman, Social Science Coordinator was invited to speak at a panel on “Contours of Caribbean Geography: Green Development and Environmental Justice”. This was part of the Caribbean Geography Specialty Group (CGSG) of the American Association of Geographers webinar on May 29, 2024.

Dr. Erin Friedman connected with Caribbean’s for Climate nonprofit to look for synergies between the social and physical sciences for Caribbean region research.

Meet Our New Center Post Doctoral Fellows & Research Scientist

Luisa Feliciano Cruz

Center Postdoc

Mina Kang

Research Scientist

Zachary Paganini

Center Postdoc

Dr. Luisa Feliciano Cruz (Ph.D. Civil Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez) has extensive experience with data analysis, AI/ML, GIS and computing, as well as research work in water resources.

Dr. Zachary Paganini (Ph.D. City University of New York Graduate Center) has a background in policy and social impacts in the context of climate change and is engaging and contributing to the Center's Social Science integration.

Dr. Mina Kang (Ph.D Atmospheric Science and Engineering, Ewha Woman's University) was recruited as a Research Scientist and will work primarily with Dr. Mitch Goldberg, CESSRST’s Distinguished Research Scientist, on Satellite Remote Sensing.

New Research Publications

Painter, M.A., Shah, S.H., Damestoit, G.C. et al. A systematic scoping review of the Social Vulnerability Index as applied to natural hazards. Nat Hazards 120, 7265–7356 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06378-z
Ordaz Osorio, C., J.F. Booth, A.N. LeGrande, and C.M. Naud, 2024: Assessing the impact of climate change on atmospheric rivers: A modeling perspective. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 129, no. 12, e2023JD040074, doi:10.1029/2023JD040074
Wu, Yonghua & Zhao, Kaihui & Ren, Xinrong & Dickerson, Russell & Huang, Jianping & Schwab, Margaret & Stratton, Phillip & Daley, Hannah & Li, Dingdong & Moshary, Fred. (2023). Ozone pollution episodes and PBL height variation in the NYC urban and coastal areas during LISTOS 2019. Atmospheric Environment. 320. 120317. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.120317.

CESSRST II participates in Lidar & Radar Deployment and Workshop

CESSRST has engaged in a collaboration with the Army Research Lab on portable radars that can be deployed for high resolution weather monitoring. This is synergistic, with discussions between the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and CESSRST II to extend research into radar technology and applications. Deployments of weather radars and wind lidars at CCNY and Hampton University (HU) campuses took place in June 2024, engaging the Army Research Lab staff and CESSRST II students and scientists in week-long observations to monitor weather and environment parameters at CCNY. In addition, students participated in a hands-on workshop with sample data that covers remote sensing and the use of the Doppler lidar instrument. Further observations are planned in the summer involving engagement from NSSL SMEs.

Alumni & Graduation News

Congratulations to Maria Novoa Garcia!

Maria Novoa Garcia (M.E.) graduated in June 2024 from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez with her Master's degree in Electrical Engineering. She hopes to get a job at the NWS in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Events & Seminars

Upcoming Events

Previous Events

Climate Change Seminar Series: Climate Change Impacts on Bering Sea Fisheries
CESSRST Second Annual Meeting
NOAA Seminar Series: Micro-climate Monitoring, Crop Impacts, and Preparedness for Southern CA Viticulture
Seminar Series: Data Assimilation in the Numerical Weather Predication Model
Lidar & Radar Workshop