Shobha Kondragunta
received an M.S. degree in chemistry from Florida Atlantic
University in 1990, and a PhD degree in chemistry from University
of Maryland in 1997. She worked as a UCAR postdoctoral fellow at
the Environmental Protection Agency for over a year before joining
NOAA/NESDIS in 1999. In 2021, she was appointed as the product lead
for the GeoXO atmospheric composition instrument. She also leads
GOES-R and JPSS aerosols and atmospheric composition product
development and applications. The global biomass burning emissions
product that she developed is used by the National Weather Service
global and regional air quality forecasting models. She is the lead
for the CEOS atmospheric composition virtual composition aerosols and
air quality working group. Products she and her team have developed
are distributed to operational air quality forecasters, incident
meteorologists, state/local environmental agencies, and the EPA
through the AerosolWatch website.
The public can also follow her team's activities via @AerosolWatch on Twitter.
Dr. Kondragunta is currently serving as a co-chair for one of the
two working groups of the Air Quality and Community Health Research
Subcommittee (ACRS) established by the White House National Science
and Technology Council. As a co-chair, she will be drafting a
guidance document on the best practices for air quality characterization
and community engagement that can lead to environmental justice and
equity for vulnerable populations.
Dr. Kondragunta is a member of NOAA's Fire Observation, Research,
and Services Team (FOReST) and NOAA Atmospheric Composition from Space
(NACS) team. The NACS team is particularly engaged in developing
collaborations across multiple line offices within NOAA. As a member
of these teams, she contributes to the development of long-term
plans for satellite product development and applications.
Awards and Honors
In 2023, as a member of GeoXO Program Science Working Group, Dr.
Kondragunta received the NASA Group Achievement Award.
In 2022, Dr. Kondragunta received the Department of Commerce (DOC)
group Silver Medal"for development and implementation of
Air Quality Model v6 to significantly advance operational air quality
predictions for the Nation" and DOC group Bronze Medal"for ensuring that NOAA's next generation geostationary satellite
system will meet the most critical observing needs for our nation and partners".
In 2021, Dr. Kondragunta received the NOAA Administrator’s Award“For developing a critical capability using NOAA satellite assets to benchmark
the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on economic activity and air quality.”
Dr. Kondragunta also received two group Dept. of Commerce (DOC) Bronze Medals“For the development
of the Global Ensemble Forecast System – Aerosols (GEFS- Aerosols) model
to support air quality alerts and visibility forecasts.” and
“For expeditiously and skillfully coordinating research that leveraged the
unique scientific opportunity resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic.”
She was also named the 2021 NESDIS Collaboration Award winner
for her work in support of GeoXO User Engagement.
In 2020, Dr. Kondragunta received the NASA Group Achievement
Award"For outstanding scientific achievements of the
Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments Experiment – Air
Quality (FIREX-AQ) airborne Earth science mission team”.
In 2016, Dr. Kondragunta received the DOC Bronze Medal“For enhancing the accuracy of Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership
Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite aerosol products and ensuring that
products reach the operational user community with reduced latency.”
In 2014, Dr. Kondragunta received the DOC Bronze Medal for
her efforts on the Suomi NPP EDR products team. The group was
"Honored for the timely creation and leadership of the team to increase
the scientific value of the Suomi satellite environmental data products
to meet NOAA users' needs."
In 2010, Dr. Kondragunta received the DOC Gold Medal for
scientific achievement in developing and advancing satellite-based products
in support of national air quality monitoring and forecasting.
In 2002, Dr. Kondragunta received the NOAA Bronze Medal for
developing a new total ozone product by combining information from two different
instruments, one measuring in the Infrared and one in the Ultraviolet.
Dr. Kondragunta routinely reviews proposals for EPA and NASA, and reviews
manuscripts for journals such as Geophysical Research Letters, Atmospheric
Environment, and Journal of Geophysical Research.
Team members
Dr. Kondragunta's work is supported by Michael Cheeseman (IMSG), Pubu
Ciren (IMSG), Amy Huff (IMSG), Fangjun Li (South Dakota State University),
Jim Limbacher (IMSG), Zigang Wei (IMSG), Chuanyu Xu (IMSG), Xiaoyang Zhang
(South Dakota State University), Hai Zhang (IMSG), and Aihua Zhu (IMSG)
Shobha Kondragunta
received an M.S. degree in chemistry from Florida Atlantic
University in 1990, and a PhD degree in chemistry from University
of Maryland in 1997. She worked as a UCAR postdoctoral fellow at
the Environmental Protection Agency for over a year before joining
NOAA/NESDIS in 1999. In 2021, she was appointed as the product lead
for the GeoXO atmospheric composition instrument. She also leads
GOES-R and JPSS aerosols and atmospheric composition product
development and applications. The global biomass burning emissions
product that she developed is used by the National Weather Service
global and regional air quality forecasting models. She is the lead
for the CEOS atmospheric composition virtual composition aerosols and
air quality working group. Products she and her team have developed
are distributed to operational air quality forecasters, incident
meteorologists, state/local environmental agencies, and the EPA
through the