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
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
Jane Lubchenco, Fuzhong Weng, Limin Zhao, Sid Boukabara,
Chris Barnet, Mitch Goldberg, Awdhesh Sharma, Ralph Ferraro,
Huan Meng, and Abigail Harper of NESDIS
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 Enjoying the Awards Reception
Fuzhong Weng & Steve Goodman
Al Powell, David Hermreck, Jim Yoe
Enjoying the Reception:
Tim Schmit, Larry Flynn, Fuzhong Weng, Steve Goodman, and Jim Yoe
Sid Boukabara and his son Selim
Mark DeMaria Honored at the 2009 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference
March 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
January 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
