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2009 STAR News & Events

STAR Announces Paul DiGiacomo as New Chief of the
Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division

June 15, 2009 - STAR is pleased to announce that Dr. Paul M. DiGiacomo has accepted the position of Chief of the Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division (SOCD) in the NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR). Paul first came to NOAA in 2006, having served the past three years as the Chief of the Marine Ecosystems and Climate Branch in STAR/SOCD, as well as the NOAA CoastWatch Program Manager. Prior to joining NOAA, Paul served as Supervisor of the Earth Missions Concepts Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA, as well as the Discipline Program Manager of the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Program Office at JPL.

Paul is a biological oceanographer, with particular interest in the remote sensing of coastal regions. He has a B.S. from Penn State University and a Ph.D. from UCLA, both in Biology, and subsequently was a National Research Council (NRC) Resident Research Associate at JPL. Paul is active in a number of national and international working groups and panels, including presently serving as Co-Chair of the GOOS Panel for Integrated Coastal Observations and Co-Chair of the Coastal Zone Community of Practice of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS), and he also serves as the NOAA Representative to the International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group. Please join us in congratulating Paul and wishing him and SOCD much success!

Over 20 STAR Scientists Honored with Dept. of Commerce 2008 Bronze Medal Honor Awards

April 7, 2009 - On Tuesday, April 7, at the NOAA Honor Awards Ceremony in downtown Washington, D.C., over 20 STAR scientists received Bronze Medals honoring their work on three different projects. Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's new administrator, addressed the assembly, and praised the work of the award winners.

For innovative uses of operational weather satellites to understand climate change and to quantify trends in the global climate system:

  • Jeffrey Key
  • Andrew Heidinger
  • Ralph Ferraro
  • Thomas Smith
  • Mark Eakin
  • Kevin Gallo

For implementing processing systems that create Metop products and make them available for assimilation into U.S. forecast systems in record time.

  • Sid-Ahmed Boukabara
  • Christopher Barnet
  • Mitchell Goldberg
  • Fuzhong Weng
  • Ralph Ferraro
  • Walter Wolf
  • Limin Zhao
  • Tom Schott
  • Awdhesh Sharma
  • Huan Meng

For developing NOAA's Strategic Satellite Plan to balance requirements, observation capabilities, and resources.
 

  • Alfred M. Powell, Jr.
  • Michael Crison
  • Robert Kuligowski
  • Dan Tarpley
  • John Pereira
  • Ingrid Guch
  • David K. Hermrick
  • Larry Flynn
  • Fuzhong Weng
  • Laury Miller
  • Vanessa Griffin
  • Steve Goodman
  • Jim Yoe
  • Timothy Schmit
group photo of STAR's Bronze Medal honorees, 4/7/2009

Limin Zhao, Steve Goodman, Larry Flynn, Ralph Ferraro, Huan Meng, Bob Kuligowski (in back), Laury Miller, Awdhesh Sharma, Al Powell, Thomas Smith, Mitch Goldberg, Sid Boukabara, Chris Barnet and Fuzhong Weng

Jane Lubchenco, Thomas Smith, Ralph Ferraro, and Abigail Harper of NESDIS, 4/7/2009

Jane Lubchenco, Thomas Smith, Ralph Ferraro, and Abigail Harper of NESDIS

Second group of STAR Bronze Medal Honorees, 4/7/2009

Jane Lubchenco, Fuzhong Weng, Limin Zhao, Sid Boukabara, Chris Barnet, Mitch Goldberg, Awdhesh Sharma, Ralph Ferraro, Huan Meng, and Abigail Harper of NESDIS

photo: Bob Kuligowski, Jane Lubchenco, Tim Schmit, Steve Goodman, David Hermrick, Laury Miller, ???, Vanessa Griffin, Fuzhong Weng, Larry Flynn, Al Powell, Abigail Harper, and Jim Yoe 4/7/2009

Bob Kuligowski, Jane Lubchenco, Tim Schmit, Steve Goodman, David Hermrick, Laury Miller, John Pereira, Vanessa Griffin, Fuzhong Weng, Larry Flynn, Al Powell, Abigail Harper, and Jim Yoe

Ralph Ferraro & Chris Barnet, 4/7/2009

Ralph Ferraro & Chris Barnet Enjoying the Awards Reception

Fuzhong Weng, Steve Goodman, 4/7/2009

Fuzhong Weng & Steve Goodman

Al Powell, David Hermreck, Jim Yoe, 4/7/2009

Al Powell, David Hermreck, Jim Yoe

Tim Schmit, Larry Flynn, Fuzhong Weng, Steve Goodman, and Jim Yoe, 4/7/2009

Enjoying the Reception:
Tim Schmit, Larry Flynn, Fuzhong Weng, Steve Goodman, and Jim Yoe

Sid Boukabara and his son Selim, 4/7/2009

Sid Boukabara and his son Selim

Mark DeMaria Honored at the 2009 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

photo of Mark DeMariaMarch 5, 2009 - Mark DeMaria received the "Richard H. Hagemeyer Award" at the March 2009 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference recently held in St. Petersburg, FL. The award is given annually to honor people who have made sustained contributions to the US Hurricane Program. Mark was recognized for his long history of successful development and operational transition of tropical cyclone forecast products, including the Statistical / Hurricane / Intensity Prediction Scheme (SHIPS) and Logistic Growth Equation Model (LGEM) intensity models, the rapid intensity index (co-developed with the Hurricane Research Division), the National Hurricane Center wind speed probability program and the NESDIS Tropical Cyclone formation probability product.

Dr. Peter Romanov Named NOAA Team Member of the Month

photo of Peter RomanovJanuary 2009 - Dr. Peter Romanov was the recipient of the January 2009 NOAA Team Member of the Month Award. He was recognized for developing operational algorithms for fully automated snow and ice cover maps, based upon optical data from a variety of NOAA and NASA satellites, and microwave data from the DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) satellites. Dr. Romanov has also been very innovative in developing automated methods of validating the snow products with ground truth data.

A major milestone in Dr. Romanov's product development activities occurred in February 2008 when his automated product for the Southern Hemisphere was transitioned to full operations. The 4-km spatial resolution of this new product is 8-12 times higher that the resolution of existing microwave-based global products over the Southern Hemisphere.

Dr. Romanov has been a cooperative institute scientist at STAR's Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division since 1998. He is currently affiliated with the Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies, University of Maryland, as an Associate Research Scientist. A web-based data visualization and distribution system of Dr. Romanov's products is available at http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/snow/HTML/snow.htm.


2008 STAR news items

2007 STAR news items