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EXTREME
WEATHER SCIENCE AND FORECASTING, NEW EARTH SCIENCE INSIGHTS, HIGHLIGHT NASA PRESENTATIONS
AT AAAS SYMPOSIUM
NASA scientists and other researchers will present
four symposiums this weekend concerning the latest advances in severe weather
detection, the complex changes in global snow and ice, global environmental monitoring
and the interactions of aerosols and climate.
These presentations will take place
as part of the 2002 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting
in Boston, beginning Friday, February 15, 2002.
Summaries
of the subjects to be covered in each presentation, a list of the participants,
the title of their research paper and with the time and place for each symposium
are listed here. In
addition to the material presented at the AAAS conference, NASA will broadcast
visualizations of extreme weather, and the science behind it, on NASA-TV at 12
noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST on Friday, February 15. NASA-TV is broadcast
on the GE2 satellite located on Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude,
frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz. For more information, contact Rachel Weintraub,
Associate TV Producer at the Goddard Space Flight Center at 301-286-0918 or by
email at: Rachel.A.Weintraub.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
IS EXTREME WEATHER NOW BETTER UNDERSTOOD AND PREDICTED?
Friday,
February 15, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Hynes Convention Center, Room 109.
As
the global climate changes, nations around the world face more frequent and severe
tornadoes, hurricanes, El Niño and La Niño related extreme weather,
droughts and flooding. NASA satellites, technology and research are all helping
people to better understand and forecast extreme weather and related climate events.
Speakers
and lectures for this symposium include: Robert
Adler, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
"Predicting El
Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Its Effects" Shripad
Deo, NOAA/NWS Central Region Hydrologic Services Division, Kansas City, Mo.
"Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services for Water Resources and Emergency
Management" Timothy
Liu, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
"Early Detection
of Tropical Depressions Improves Hurricane Forecasting" Steven
J. Goodman, NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
"Extreme
Lightning Flash Rates as an Early Indicator of Intensifying Storms" Marshall
Shepherd, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
"Large Forecast
Centers Using TRMM Real-Time Data" Edward
Gutro, E.A. Kelley Insurance, Quincy, Mass.
" Insurance Against Extreme
Weather"
DECIPHERING THE COMPLEX CHANGES IN GLOBAL SNOW AND ICE
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| Image
2 | | Patagonian
Ice Field | Saturday,
February 16, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m., Sheraton Back Bay Ballroom D The
ice caps, snow cover and glaciers that make up the global cryosphere, or regions
of the Earth where the surface is perennially frozen, have shown signs of decline
in recent decades. There is a downward trend in the amount of sea-ice that extends
into the ocean, accompanied by sea-ice thinning. Negative snow cover anomalies
have dominated both Northern Hemisphere continents since the late 1980s. Small
Arctic glaciers have declined in size as well. At the same time there has been
pronounced winter and spring warming over the northern continents and a significant
change in Arctic atmospheric circulation. But whether these climate changes can
be interpreted as signals of enhanced greenhouse warming is open to debate. This
session brings together scientists studying different aspects of the global cryosphere
to look at what the data is telling them about why snow and ice cover are changing
around the world. The
speakers for this symposium include: David
A. Robinson, Rutgers University
"The Northern Hemisphere's Spring Snow
Drought'" Mark
F. Meier, University of Colorado
"Shrinking Glaciers and Rising Sea Level:
Has the Impact Been Under-estimated?" Claire
L. Parkinson, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
"The Puzzle of Polar Sea-Ice
Changes" Robert
Bindschadler, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
"New Observations of a
Continent of Ice" Ted
Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center
"What a Splintering Ice Shelf
Means" Mark
C. Serreze, National Snow and Ice Data Center
"Recent Changes in Northern
High Latitudes: Synthesis of Observations and Comparisons with Model Predictions"
THE CHALLENGES AND PROMISE OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
Sunday, February 17, 9:00-12:00 p.m., Hynes Convention Center, Room 111
The
era of intensive study of the Earth from space has arrived, with terabytes of
data being collected every day from a growing and more capable constellation of
Earth-observing spacecraft. But are scientists ready for this onslaught of data?
This session takes a look at some of the major new scientific accomplishments
of global environmental monitoring and the challenges that this new capability
presents to the international scientific community. New spaceborne observations,
coupled with data collected on the ground, are being used to tackle complex, multidisciplinary
topics such as the flow of carbon through the atmosphere and biosphere and monitoring
the health of tropical forests around the world. The data are also being used
to address local issues such as land use and urban planning. The huge volume of
data from these new Earth-observing satellites and networks presents scientists
with the challenge of turning this flood of information into scientific knowledge.
There is also an increasing need to train new Earth system scientists who can
speak the "languages" of multiple disciplines and develop the technical
tools to handle the flood and variety of data. The
speakers and lectures for this symposium include: Dr.
Azita Valinia, NASA Office of Earth Science
"New Views of the Earth:
Recent Results from Space-Based Remote Sensing" Richard
W. Reynolds, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service
"Monitoring Long-term Climate Records: A Coherent Picture?" and "Sea
Surface Analyses for Climate" Mark
R. Abbott, Oregon State College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
"Training
the New Generation of Earth System Scientists" David
L. Skole, Michigan State University, Basic Science and Remote Sensing
"A
Global Forest Observatory" THE
BIG CLIMATE IMPACT OF TINY PARTICLES
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| Image
3 | | The
8-day composite image above shows aerosol pollution (brownish pixels) in the lower
atmosphere over the INDOEX study area, as measured by the Moderate-resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard Terra. These data were composited from
March 14-21, 2001. | Sunday
February 17, 3:00-6:00 p.m. Hynes Convention Center, Room 110
Aerosols,
the tiny atmospheric particles well known as a human health hazard in air pollution,
are increasingly being studied for their contribution to changes in the environment.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted the various complex
effects that different types of aerosols have on climate - from adding to the
greenhouse effect to changing the reflective properties of clouds - and the great
uncertainties in how large those effects are on climate warming. Recent studies
have also shown how aerosols from massive fires and air pollution can suppress
regional rainfall. The realization that anthropogenic aerosols can substantially
alter precipitation patterns raises the issue of our impact on one of the most
economically important climate factors: water availability and quality. Scientists
have had difficulty measuring aerosols on a global basis because of their diverse
physical characteristics and relatively short residence times in the atmosphere.
To counter this problem, researchers have recently conducted large-scale experiments
to study the complex interactions of aerosols and climate. Along with new global
observations from a new generation of sensors on such missions as NASA's Terra
spacecraft, new insights are emerging. This session presents the latest results
from major field campaigns in Africa, South America and the Indian Ocean; new
observations from space; and the implications of aerosol research on climate change
policy strategies. The
speakers for this symposium include: Yoram
J. Kaufman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
"Remote Sensing of Aerosols
and Their Impact on Climate" Harold
J. Annegarn, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
"Aerosols
Over Africa" Paulo
Artaxo, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil
"Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Connections
in Amazonia" V.
Ramanathan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
"Absorbing Aerosols
and Climate Change: Inferences from the Indian Ocean Experiment" Daniel
Rosenfeld, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
"Aerosol-Induced Changes
in Precipitation and Global Circulation" James
Hansen, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
"The Role of Aerosol
Science in Climate Change Policy" Back
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