NOAA Science Seminar Series
Past 2026 Seminars

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: January NWS Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing


Presenter(s): Rick Thoman, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness

Sponsor(s): NOAA/OAR/Climate Program Office and the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness (ACCAP)

Seminar Contact(s): Ed Plumb (ewplumb@alaska.edu) & Genie Bey (genie.bey@noaa.gov)

Remote Access: https://uaf-accap.org/event/jan2026-alaska-climate-outlook/

Abstract: During this month's Climate Outlook Briefing, we will review recent and current climate conditions around Alaska, discuss forecasting tools, and finish up with the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for February and the remainder late winter season. Join the gathering online to learn what's happened and what may be in store with Alaska's seasonal climate.

Bio(s): Rick Thoman is the ACCAP Alaska Climate Specialist and has many years of experience producing reliable Alaska climate information and graphics describing Alaska's changing environment. His work spans the bridge between climate modeling, Alaska communities, and the media.

Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: Slides, links shared during the presentation, and a recording may be found after the meeting at the URL listed above.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: NOAA Fire Research from Conditions to Impacts: Improving wildfire risk tools

Presenter(s): Dan Ferguson and Michael Crimmins (University of Arizona); Tamara Wall (Desert Research Institute), Margaret Ideker (National Weather Service), Scott Stearns (National Weather Service)

Sponsor(s): NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) and NOAA's Fire Observation, Research, and Services Team (FOReST) Team

Seminar Contact(s): Clara Deck clara.deck@noaa.gov

Remote Access: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://vimeo.com/event/5628912/ff683d9fe7&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1768935708312948&usg=AOvVaw1bT-x6B7l0Z2BeB39q2bzA

Abstract: This seminar series features cutting-edge research from NOAA scientists and NOAA-supported investigators, showcasing NOAA and partner fire research activities and their impact on science and services.In this session, researchers supported by CPO will showcase the creation of and advancements in tools designed to improve wildfire risk assessment and communication. This will include the evolution of the Burn Period Tracker, which helps fire managers to quickly access specific local humidity information used to assess risk, and efforts to enhance the effectiveness of the Red Flag Warning System, a National Weather Service tool for alerting the fire management community to real-time and imminent risk levels.

Recordings: Recordings will be shared after the webinar to the CPO website.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

Title: Advancing Innovative Research: Silurian AIAdvancing Innovative Research (AIR) Seminar Series

Presenter(s): Stelios Flampouris, Silurian AI

Sponsor(s): NOAA Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA)Seminar Contacts: Alexander Bukvich, Transition Coordinator, ORTA (alexander.bukvich@noaa.gov); Katie Geddes, Technical Communications Specialist, ORTA (katie.geddes@noaa.gov)

Remote Access: https://meet.google.com/ynx-zgvx-ppf

Abstract: The Advancing Innovative Research (AIR) Seminar Series is an open seminar that provides an opportunity to showcase cutting-edge research and highlight innovations from across NOAA, as well as providing a forum for connecting stakeholders and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awardees. The goal is to foster a setting promoting collaboration, connection to subject matter experts, and sharing lessons learned. Each monthly seminar will include two 2-minute presentations plus Q&A. Open to all NOAA personnel, stakeholders, and partners, this series is provided to benefit experienced users and potential newcomers alike.Call for

Presenter(s): If interested in presenting at one of the AIR seminars, please send an email to: oar.orta@noaa.gov, with the presenter's name, office/company, and presentation title. Schedule and more information available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19b_LjZuWuLvFCC_VwiVteUoLB50JIk3nmoU9FYv2RLQ/edit?gid=2007254036#gid=2007254036.

Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: The schedule of AIR Seminar Series speakers, as well as past slide decks (if publicly available), can be found here.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an email to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Date & Time: 14 January 2026, 3 - 4 pm ET

Title: Habitat Heartbeats: Listening to What Oysters and Mussels Can Tell Us about Southern California Estuaries

Presenter(s):

• Luke Miller, San Diego State University

• Kristen Goodrich, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve

Sponsor(s): This webinar is sponsored by the NERRS Science Collaborative

Seminar Contact(s): Doug George (douglas.george@noaa.gov) or Nick Soberal (nsoberal@umich.edu)

Remote Access: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c2ajZAyBSTewP3k0SnIKzQ

Abstract
Southern California's estuaries can experience large swings in water quality due to events like freshwater inflow, sewage spills, and estuary mouth closures. The Tijuana River NERR (TRNERR) monitors several estuaries in San Diego County to better understand how biological communities respond to changes in water quality. Through an iterative process with TRNERR and other users, this project team co-developed a biosensor monitoring system that uses shellfish (oysters and mussels) as biosentinels. Alongside state and local land managers and other wetland and aquaculture professionals, the team designed an open-source electronic sensor that attaches to shellfish and monitors gaping behavior and heart rate. These metrics that can be used as indicators of physiological stress in response to environmental changes.

In this webinar, the project team will describe their collaborative process within the team and with additional potential end users. Potential users included resource managers, aquaculture practitioners, and research biologists working with these bivalves in other settings. The team will describe the basic components of the biosensor equipment and approaches used in the field and lab for gathering and analyzing data. Data from the focal estuaries will be used to illustrate individual and group responses of the biosentinel bivalves to rapidly-shifting water quality conditions.

Bio(s): Please visit here for more information about the webinar.

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Title: Advancing Innovative Research: Mythos AI - Live Demo aboard MythosAI Autonomous VesselAdvancing Innovative Research (AIR) Seminar Series

Presenter(s): Dylan Sparks, Mythos AI

Sponsor(s): NOAA Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA)Seminar Contacts: Alexander Bukvich, Transition Coordinator, ORTA (alexander.bukvich@noaa.gov); Katie Geddes, Technical Communications Specialist, ORTA (katie.geddes@noaa.gov)

Remote Access: https://meet.google.com/ynx-zgvx-ppf

Abstract: The Advancing Innovative Research (AIR) Seminar Series is an open seminar that provides an opportunity to showcase cutting-edge research and highlight innovations from across NOAA, as well as providing a forum for connecting stakeholders and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awardees. The goal is to foster a setting promoting collaboration, connection to subject matter experts, and sharing lessons learned. Each monthly seminar will include two 2-minute presentations plus Q&A. Open to all NOAA personnel, stakeholders, and partners, this series is provided to benefit experienced users and potential newcomers alike.Call for

Presenter(s): If interested in presenting at one of the AIR seminars, please send an email to: oar.orta@noaa.gov, with the presenter's name, office/company, and presentation title. Schedule and more information available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19b_LjZuWuLvFCC_VwiVteUoLB50JIk3nmoU9FYv2RLQ/edit?gid=2007254036#gid=2007254036.

Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: The schedule of AIR Seminar Series speakers, as well as past slide decks (if publicly available), can be found here.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an email to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Whales, Wonder, and the Santa Barbara Channel: How Whale Heritage Areas Inspire Conservation and CareSeries: National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series

Presenter(s): Holly Lohuis, Marine biologist, naturalist and Co-Director of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage AreaRegister: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/802884732754132054

Sponsor(s): NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

Seminar Contact(s): Claire.Fackler@noaa.gov

Abstract: Join marine biologist, naturalist, and Co-Director of the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area, Holly Lohuis, as she shares stories of the diversity of whales that feed and travel through the Santa Barbara Channel and the waters of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Through the lens of the Whale Heritage Area designation, discover how responsible tourism, community engagement, and education play a vital role in protecting whales and fostering a deeper connection to our ocean.

Accessibility: English captions will be provided for the recording.Recording: The presentation will be recorded; once captioned it will be hosted on the archived webpage: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/teachers/webinar-series-archives.html.

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Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: NOAA Data or Information Resource Spotlights
NOAA Gulf of America Forum Webinar Series

Presenter(s): Meredith Muth, Senior Program Manager, National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS); Kelsey Eigsti, Digital Communications Coordinator, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), NIDIS; Jessi James-Barry, Gulf Coast Regional Coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program, Office of Response & Restoration; Ashley Hill, Florida Regional Coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program, Office of Response & Restoration; Analise Keeney, Coastal Hazards Oceanographer, NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services

Sponsor(s): NOAA's Gulf of America Regional Collaboration Team, a part of NOAA's Regional Collaboration Network

Seminar Contact(s): Kristen Laursen, Kristen.R.Laursen@noaa.gov , NOAA Fisheries and Regional Collaboration Network

Remote Access: Please register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/77721630570506333Note: This webinar will be recorded. Please do not share any Personal or Business Identifiable Information (PII or BII) during the webinar.

Abstract: The NOAA Gulf of America Forum Webinar Series is excited to highlight three online data or information resources valuable for the region. Speakers will briefly share about each resource, highlighting some of the fascinating and useful information you can find in them. Topics and speakers include:

- Mississippi River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard: Meredith Muth, Senior Program Manager, National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and Kelsey Eigsti, Digital Communications Coordinator, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), NIDIS

- Marine Debris Monitoring Assessment Protocol: Jessi James-Barry, Gulf Coast Regional Coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program and Ashley Hill, Florida Regional Coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program, Office of Response & Restoration

- Coastal Ocean Reanalysis (CORA): Analise Keeney, Coastal Hazards Oceanographer, NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS)


Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: This webinar will be recorded and shared online. Please contact Kristen.R.Laursen@noaa.gov for the recording and/or PDF of this webinar.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: A Web-Based Deep Learning Tool for Automated Coral Reef Halo Monitoring

Presenter(s): Elizabeth Madin, PhD (Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Mnoa) and Simone Franceschini, PhD (Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology)

Sponsor(s): NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

Seminar Contact(s): Caroline Donovan, caroline.donovan@noaa.gov

Remote Access: Video call link: https://meet.google.com/pgn-asvi-kgp, Or dial: (US) +1 402-921-2224 PIN: 488 546 477#

Accessibility: Closed captioning available through Google Meet platform

Abstract: Coral reef halos, distinct sand rings surrounding patch reefs, offer a powerful ecological signal that can provide insight into predator presence, herbivore behavior, and overall reef health. In this talk, we will introduce our new web-based platform built in Python, which leverages deep learning to detect and quantify halo patterns from high-resolution satellite imagery automatically. Our goal is to demonstrate how AI-enabled detection can complement traditional survey methods, reduce manual interpretation time, and reveal spatial or temporal changes that might otherwise go unnoticed. The presentation will highlight opportunities for collaborative use of the platform, pathways for operational integration into NOAA programs, and upcoming features aimed at expanding accessibility for managers, researchers, and conservation partners.

Recordings: Seminar recording will be available afterward, as requested.

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NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: From Planetary-Scale to Eddy-Scale: Advances from the NOAA Research Global-Nest Initiative

Presenter(s): Dr. Lucas Harris, NOAA-GFDL & Lingjiong Zhou (Princeton-CIMES /NOAA-GFDL Associate)

Sponsor(s): NOAA EPIC Program Office, Unified Forecast System (UFS)

Seminar Contact(s): Morina Royer, morina.royer@noaa.govWebinar Link//MeetingID/Passcode:https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1067813154531853920

Abstract: In this webinar, achievements from the NOAA Research Global-Nest Initiative, a Congressionally-mandated project to develop new kilometer-scale global-nested and global-storm resolving models, will be presented. The principal goal of this Initiative was to improve prediction and understanding of extreme weather events, their impacts, and their role in the broader earth system by enhancing capabilities in the GFDL System for High-resolution prediction on Earth-to-Local Domains (SHiELD), an FV3-based global weather-to-subseasonal prediction system. Beyond the delivered primary accomplishments of the first phase, the Initiative is already working to push into the new areas.

The AI-SHiELD emulator, and the performance-portable Pace implementation in Python, have shown the value of new technologies. New frontiers including compound drought-heat wave prediction, sub-kilometer extremes such as hurricane gusts and tornado vortices, and subseasonal prediction of impactful weather events, are also being explored.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail:
Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Evaluation of Wind Profile and Boundary Layer Height from anAirborne Doppler Lidar for Atmospheric Dynamics, Weather and Air Quality

Presenter(s): Kevin Herrera, Graduate Student, NOAA Office of Education, Educational Partnership Program (EPP), NOAA Cooperative Science Center (CSC) for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST-II), Cohort 1 Fellow at Hampton University

Sponsor(s): NOAA EPP/MSI Cooperative Science Centers

Seminar Contact(s): Audrey.Trotman@noaa.gov and oed.epp10@noaa.gov

Remote Access: Video call link: https://meet.google.com/vqj-aqdf-afz Or dial: (US) +1 432-955-6381 PIN: 151 314 945#More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/vqj-aqdf-afz?pin=8048570916411

Accessibility: Google Meet closed captioning available.

Abstract: The planetary boundary layer (PBL) regulates the exchange of momentum, heat, moisture, and pollutants between the Earth's surface and the free atmosphere, making accurate identification of the PBL height critical for weather forecasting, air quality assessment, and climate studies. This project was motivated by the need to better understand both the physical basis and practical limitations of PBLH retrievals derived from Doppler wind lidar. Using airborne observations from the2023 Coastal Urban Plume Dynamics Study (CUPiDS) over the New York City region and ground-based measurements from the Pick-Up based Mobile Atmospheric Sounder(PUMAS) collected during the 2024 Airborne Methane Mass Balance Emissions in Colorado (AMMBEC) campaign along the Colorado Front Range, this study examined boundary-layer structure across urban, coastal, and continental environments. The analysis applied the Haar wavelet covariance method to range-corrected lidar intensity as a gradient-based approach for identifying the PBL top, alongside variance-based diagnostics, including vertical velocity variance and velocity azimuth display fit variance to characterize turbulence and flow heterogeneity. Results show that while Haar-based methods can reliably identify PBL transitions under ideal conditions, their performance degrades in the presence of clouds and multi-layered aerosol structure. Variance-based products provide valuable complementary context, with fit variance being a promising, but underexplored diagnostic that qualitatively echoes established vertical velocity variance behavior. These findings contribute to improved understanding of foundational PBL height retrieval techniques and support the development of more robust approaches relevant to NOAA OAR's role in developing and validating new measurement strategies and improving interpretation of complex observations for purposes of weather, air quality, and climate.The results presented are from the NOAA EPP/MSI CSC NERTO graduate internship project conducted under the mentorship of Brian Carroll and Steven Brown, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Chemical Sciences Laboratory.

Bio(s): Kevin Herrera is a NOAA Cooperative Science Center Fellow for the Center for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST-II). He is currently a Master's candidate at Hampton University. Kevin Herrera is a Cohort 1 Graduate Fellow, supported in the NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST-II) award. Kevin is currently pursuing a M.S. in Atmospheric Science at Hampton University. This NERTO experience aligns with the NOAA Cooperative Science Center in CESSRST-II's goal to observe, monitor, and predict atmospheric events, including those related to weather and air quality. This project addressed the research question: How are Doppler wind lidar retrievals of planetary boundary layer height done, and what new avenues show promise for improving existing retrievals? The work provides value to the scientific community and program stakeholders by enhancing the interpretation and application of Doppler wind lidar observations for boundary layer analysis in both research and applied contexts. Through this internship, the student deepened their understanding of NOAA mission areas and gained enhanced skills in developing workflows for data processing in MATLAB, field experience in the context of an airborne platform, and interacting with professional scientists in a working environment.Kevin Herrera, CESSRST-II Fellow, previously earned a B.A. in Astronomy at the University of Florida. His current research focuses on retrievals of aerosol optical properties using a combination of NASA AERONET and ceilometer, as well as supplementary observational data where appropriate. They are passionate about sharing scientific knowledge to enrich others' lives by connecting people to things they might not otherwise be aware of. Kevin Herrera is committed to engaging in advancing NOAA's mission through research, collaboration, and innovation.For more information access the webpage for the Cooperative Science Centers, https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/epp-msi/csc/20212022-awards andNERTO, www.noaa.gov/eppnerto/.
Subscribe/Unsubscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly email: Send ane-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov withthe word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website formore information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Machine Learning Techniques to Identify Solar Filaments

Presenter(s): Ryan Goldberg, Graduate Student, NOAA Office of Education, Educational Partnership Program (EPP), NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST-II), Cohort 3 Fellow at the City University of New York City College

Sponsor(s): NOAA EPP/MSI Cooperative Science Centers

Seminar Contact(s): Audrey.Trotman@noaa.gov and oed.epp10@noaa.gov

Remote Access: Video call link: https://meet.google.com/npq-acov-qvq Or dial: (US) +1 650-817-8118 PIN: 330 346 383#More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/npq-acov-qvq?pin=2093849599062

Accessibility: Google Meet closed captioning available.

Abstract: Solar filaments are a regularly occurring feature of the solar atmosphere that provides crucial information on changes in solar activity and helps forecast solar weather. Most notably, filaments can give rise to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun's corona that can heavily impact Earth's magnetosphere. However, filaments can be hard to detect across the entire solar disc, and methods that rely on human annotations, which are inherently costly and time-consuming, can lead to inconsistent mapping of solar phenomena. This project uses imagery from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG), which observes the full solar disk in the H-alpha band where filaments are most prominent. The first step uses preprocessing techniques to highlight filament features, along with the Segment Anything Model(SAM), to produce a first-pass filament segmentation. These SAM predictions are improved by incorporating physical constraints from known filament shapes, often connecting closely but separately located prediction masks. The second step trains a U-Net model on the machine-generated pseudo-labels to produce refined filament predictions. This model is validated against existing human-annotated filament mapping of the GONG H-alpha solar images.This self-training pipeline offers a scalable alternative to human annotations for filament mapping and the creation of a consistent, large-scale dataset. The dataset can serve as a new benchmark for solar filament detection models, and the self-training model can be adapted for automated analysis.The results are from the NOAA EPP CSC NERTO (in-residence at NOAA graduate internship) project conducted with NOAA mentor Rob Redmon of the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The NERTO aligns with NOAA CSC CESSRST-II's goal to advance environmental data science and develop innovative remote sensing and machine learning capabilities that support NOAA's mission. The NERTO project, A Self-Trained Deep-Learning Methodology for Automated Solar Filament Detection and Dataset Generation, also deepened the intern's understanding of NOAA's data stewardship practices, solar-terrestrial monitoring needs, and the application of artificial intelligence to large-scale environmental information systems.

Bio(s): Ryan Goldberg is a NOAA Cooperative Science Center Fellow for the Center for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST-II). He is currently a PhD candidate at the CCNY Grove School of Engineering, studying Electrical Engineering with a research focus in Computer Vision. His current research involves adapting machine learning methods for data-driven climate research. Other projects include working in tandem with geoscientists to develop data-driven landslide-susceptibility maps to expand regional predictability and robustness. Ryan believes that the best use cases for artificial intelligence research come from partnering with subject-matter experts to leverage niche insights and advanced computational techniques to solve real-world environmental challenges. As such, his plans tackling the problem of filament detection involve applying more human annotations and input in model training.Ryan Goldberg is supported as a Cohort 3 Graduate Scholar in the NOAA Center for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing Technologies II (CESSRST-II) EPP Cooperative Science Center award.For more information access the webpage for the Cooperative Science Centers, https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/epp-msi/csc/20212022-awards andNERTO, www.noaa.gov/eppnerto/.
Subscribe/Unsubscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly email: Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov withthe word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Smoke Emissions from Fires: Trends and Anomalies
LEO Science Seminar Series

Presenter(s): Dr. Shobha Kondragunta, Research Physical Scientist, NOAA NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)

Sponsor(s): NOAA/NESDIS Office of LEO Observations

Seminar Contact(s): Amy Leibrand (amy.leibrand@noaa.gov)

Remote Access:
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/yta-gcea-qzj
Or dial: (US) +1 646-653-4184 PIN: 468 785 438#


Accessibility: N/A

Abstract: Wildfires emit smoke into the atmosphere, impacting the environment and leading to detrimental impacts on human health and economy. The estimation of spatially and temporally resolved emissions from biomass burning provides critical information to understand the role of fires as a source sector for pollution. The use of satellite active fire products is an effective pathway to investigate wildfire emissions around the world. In this study, the Global Biomass Burning Emissions - eXtended is employed to estimate long-term temporal variation and geographic distribution of smoke emissions using satellite observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). This study has identified that crop emissions are declining globally except in eight countries (e.g., India) due to a shift from burning crop residue to its recycling in developing countries. Similarly, in parts of the world such as in the western United States, there is a rise in the intensity, size, and duration of wildfires leading to a rise in smoke related pollution. Effective wildfire prevention and management could be beneficial to rapidly reduce smoke emissions from biomass burning. In this seminar presentation, I will present our work related to the generation of twenty-three years of fire emissions data record from MODIS and 13 years of fire emissions data record from VIIRS including the validation of emissions estimates. Findings from the analysis of this data record will also be presentedwith a focus on air quality impacts.

Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: Request from Seminar Contact

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Advancing Open Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation and Climate Modeling
CISESS Science Seminar Series

Presenter(s): Chris Bretherton, Senior Director of Climate Modeling, Allen Institute for AI (AI2); Joe Redmon, Research Scientist, AI2; Gabriel Tseng, Research Scientist, AI2

Sponsor(s): Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies

Seminar Contact(s): Douglas Rao (douglas.rao@noaa.gov)

Remote Access: Register to attend the Zoom webinar.

Accessibility: Closed captioning is available via Zoom.

Abstract: This seminar presents two complementary AI research programs at Ai2 addressing critical Earth science challenges. The first presentation introduces OlmoEarth, an open multi-modal foundation model trained on millions of satellite and sensor observations, enabling state-of-the-art environmental monitoring for applications ranging from crop mapping to wildfire risk assessment. The accompanying OlmoEarth Platform provides an end-to-end workflow for data collection, model fine-tuning, and deployment, enabling organizations to generate actionable Earth intelligence without specialized AI infrastructure. The second presentation covers recent advances in machine learning for climate simulation, including global atmosphere-ocean emulation, high-resolution downscaling, and progress toward end-to-end open-source climate prediction systems. Together, these efforts reflect Ai2's commitment to open, scalable AI tools for understanding and responding to planetary change.

Slides, Recordings, Other Materials: The recording will be made available via CISESS YouTube channel.

Subscribe to the NOAA Science Seminar Series weekly e-mail: Send an e-mail to OneNOAAscienceseminars-request@list.woc.noaa.gov with the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Visit the NOAA Science Seminar Series website for more information. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!