Distinguished Seminar: Dr. Carl Mears
All dates for this event occur in the past.
Join The Ohio State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) for a special seminar by Dr. Carl Mears from Remote
Sensing Systems.
Details:
Tuesday, Apr. 9, 4-5 p.m.
Dreese Lab 260 (Coffee and cookies provided)
Title
"Using Microwave Satellites to Monitor Global Climate Change"
Abstract:
There are many types of measurements that can (and are) used for this purpose. These include measurements from ground-based weather stations, weather balloons, ships, aircraft, and Earth-orbiting satellites. Satellites are an important component of the climate measurement system because their measurements occur fairly often and cover very large areas (often the entire globe). Measurements made using the microwave part of the spectrum are especially useful because they are not strongly affected by the presence of clouds, allowing us to "see through" the clouds to recover the measurements of interest, such as atmospheric temperature, the total column water vapor, and the surface wind speed/wind stress. In my presentation, I discuss the challenges that arise when assembling climate data records from satellite measurements and show some examples of how these measurements can be used to help understand recent climate change.
Bio:
Dr. Mears has a B.S. in Physics from the University of Washington (1985), and a Ph.D. in Physics from University of California, Berkeley (1991), where his dissertation research involved the development of superconducting microwave heterodyne receivers. He then performed post-doctoral research in ultra-low temperature detectors for x-rays, gamma-rays and molecular fragments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He joined Remote Sensing Systems in 1998. Since then, he has validated satellite-measured surface winds versus in situ measurements, and investigated uncertainty in microwave imager retrievals. Over the past decade, he has constructed and maintained a climate-quality data record of atmospheric temperatures and total column water vapor microwave observations, complete with comprehensive uncertainty estimates. Dr. Mears was a convening lead author for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment program and was a lead author of the 4th National Climate Assessment.