Contact:

Elvia H. Thompson
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1696)

Rob Gutro
NASA Goddard Spc Flt Ctr
Greenbelt, Md 20771
(Phone: 301/286-4044)

NASA PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

NASA scientists will present a variety of Earth science topics at the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) at the Centre de Congres Pierre Baudis, Toulouse, France, July 21-25, 2003.

Presentations of particular interest (all times local):

REMOTE SENSING OF EVAPOTRANSPIRATION FOR PRECISION-FARMING APPLICATIONS
John Norman, a NASA funded scientist, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will discuss how researchers developed a two-tier method for estimating evaporation from plants and
soil. His talk describes the procedures for conducting observations and presents validation data demonstrating the usefulness of this method. July 21, 2:20 p.m., Salle Guillaumet One, Congres Centre, Level 4.

A QUARTER CENTURY OF SPACE RADAR GEOLOGY: FROM SEASAT TO THE SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Director Charles Elachi, a leading expert on imaging radar and other remote-sensing technologies, travels back in time to highlight the many space radar missions and instruments involving the agency and how they relate to our knowledge and understanding of Earth yesterday, today and tomorrow. July 21, 4:40 p.m., Amphitheatre Verdi, Atria Hotel.

THE DECADAL TROPICAL MEAN RADIATION DATA AND THE IRIS HYPOTHESIS
As the climate changes, will the Earth's 'Iris' counteract predictions of global warming and help cool the planet? Bing Lin from NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., will present the newest results that cast doubt on the global cooling theory called the Iris Hypothesis. This presentation is in the Earth Radiation Budget session on July 22, 8:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Salon Caravelle 1, Congres Centre, Level 1.

CLIMATIC TRIGGER EVENTS FOR EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER OUTBREAKS: "THE FOREST, THE FLY, AND THE VIRUS"
Compton Tucker, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., will discuss spatially continuous satellite data on precipitation within tropical Africa. He will show the majority of documented Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks were closely associated with sharply drier conditions at the end of the rainy season followed immediately by a sharply wetter period as the dry season started. July 22, 2:40 p.m., Auditorium de Saint Exupery, Congres Centre, Level 4.

MULTI-YEAR MODIS OBSERVATION OF GLOBAL AEROSOLS FROM EOS TERRA/AQUA SATELLITES
Lorraine Remer, GSFC, discusses how the MODIS instrument has been collecting data on global aerosols from the Terra satellite for three years. These data give a three-year time
series of the global state of the Earth's aerosols (dust, sea salt, smoke, particles). The data is the beginning of global aerosol climatology, and gives insight into the inter-annual variability of these particles, vital to building global climate models that attempt to incorporate the role of aerosols into estimates of global change. July 23, 9:20 a.m., Auditorium de Saint Exupery, Congres Centre, Level 4.

QUIKSCAT WIND RETRIEVALS FOR TROPICAL CYCLONES
JPL project scientist Timothy Liu will discuss new methods of retrieving ocean surface wind measurements under the strong winds and rainy conditions of a tropical cyclone using the Seawinds scatterometer instrument aboard NASA's Quikscat satellite. July 24, 9 a.m., Ampitheatre Verdi, Atria Hotel.

VOLCANIC HAZARDS MONITORING WITH ASTER DATA
A graphic presentation by JPL research scientists Michael Abrams and David Pieri features detailed images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, an imaging instrument on NASA's Earth-orbiting Terra satellite, that helps monitor and predict volcanic eruptions. July 25, 8:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Salon Caravelle 1, Congres Centre (A corresponding presentation by Abrams is on July 24, 11:20 a.m., Salle Spot in the Congres Centre).

For more information see the IGARSS website:
http://www.igarss03.com/

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