May 2005
News tips: NASA presentations at Annual 2005 Joint Assembly Meeting
NASA and NASA-funded scientists from will present findings on a variety of Earth and space science topics at the 2005 Joint Assembly Meeting, to be held at the Morial Convention Center, in New Orleans, La., May 23-27, 2005. The press room is located in room 235.
Following are some presentations that members of the media may find newsworthy:
Human "Footprints" in the Atmosphere: Anthropogenic Evidence in MOPITT and TES Atmospheric Chemistry Data (Poster Session)
The Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument has accumulated more than five years of data on carbon monoxide, an important greenhouse gas. This session will present an overview of global 3-D MOPITT and Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) measurements of ozone and other chemical species involved in carbon monoxide formation and destruction, including water vapor, methane, nitrogen dioxide and nitric acid.
Time/Location: Monday, May 23 at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. local CDT), Hall B
Presenters: Linda A. Hunt, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), Hampton, Va.
ICESat Observations of Mississippi River Stage and Slope Changes (Invited)
River discharge and changes in lake, reservoir and wetland water storage are critical in the global surface water balance, and this presentation will focus on the increased use of NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) in laser altimetry methods in global water balance monitoring.
Time/Location: Monday, May 23 at 5:30 p.m. EDT (4:30 p.m. local CDT), Room 223
Presenters: David J. Harding, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md.
Where Did All the Ozone Go? An Analysis of Tropospheric Ozonesondes from the IONS Campaign During the Summer of 2004 in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada (Poster Session)
A short-term ozonesonde network was formed in summer 2004 to coordinate ozonesonde launches during the multi-site, multi-aircraft campaign called ICARTT/INTEX/NEAQS (International Consortium on Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation / Intercontinental Transport Experiment/New England Air Quality Study). The study region was dominated by a series of weak frontal systems that mixed aged pollution with stratospheric ozone in the middle troposphere and analysis suggests that meteorological conditions led to reduced levels of ozone during summer 2004.
Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. local CDT), Hall B
Presenters: Anne Thompson, Penn State University/NASA GSFC; Jesse Stone, Penn State University, State College, Penn.; Jacquelyn Witte, NASA GSFC.
Attribution of Climate Variability During the Last 100 Years
This session will focus on the causes and attribution of recent variations and trends in climate. The capacity to distinguish climate fluctuations from true change, and identifying the forcings of each is the key for providing meaningful estimates on the uncertainty in the Earth's climate.
Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24 at 11:30 a.m. EDT (10:30 a.m. local CDT), Room 220
Presenters: Martin P. Hoerling, NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center; Arun Kumar, NOAA Climate Prediction Center; Siegfried Schubert, NASA GSFC.
Abrupt Climate Change and the Invention of Agriculture (Poster Session)
This research draws attention to the effect of abrupt climate change on a major event in human history, the invention of agriculture. By using time-scale analysis of model and other data, researchers argue that climatic changes were too great and too frequent to permit the development of a successful agriculture until 11,000 years ago.
Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24 at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. local CDT), Hall B
Presenters: Joan Feynman and Alexander Ruzmaikin, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
On the Nature of the Changes in Predictability of Drought and Pluvial Conditions in the U.S. Great Plains over the Last 100 Years
This presentation discusses the role of sea surface temperature and other factors in extended periods of wet and dry conditions over the central U.S. using century-long simulations with NASA computer models. The changes in predictability are interpreted in terms of their dependence on the strength of soil moisture feedbacks, long-term (decadal) changes in the sea surface temperature, and El Nino.
Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24 at 3 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. local CDT), Room 220
Presenters: Siegfried Schubert, Max J. Suarez, Philip J. Pegion, and Julio Bacmeister, all of NASA GSFC.
Extreme Winter Precipitation Events in the Western United States: The Impact of ENSO and the Madden-Julian Oscillation (INVITED)
This session reviews current understanding of the nature of western U.S. winter storms that often batter the coastline over a few week period, and how their occurrence and evolution is impacted by El Nino/Southern Oscillation and the Madden Julian Oscillation. Time/Location: Wednesday, May 25 at 9:45 a.m. EDT (8:45 a.m. local CDT), Room 220
Presenters: Siegfried Schubert, Y. Chang, Max J. Suarez, Philip J. Pegion, NASA GSFC.
Looking Past ENSO, What is Causing the Recent Extreme Climate Signals? (Poster Session)
The researchers examine whether recent extreme weather events, such as the persistent drought over the western U.S., are driven by the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, or instead by potentially predictable climate phenomenon, such as El Nino.
Time/Location: Thursday, May 26 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. local CDT), Hall B
Presenters: Philip J. Pegion, Siegfried Schubert, and Max J. Suarez, NASA GSFC.
Subarctic Ocean-Bottom Pressure Oscillation and Its Link to the Tropical Pacific El Nino Southern Oscillation-Related Mass Oscillation
In this session, new data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission will be presented indicating that GRACE can detect El Nino Southern Oscillation-related changes in ocean mass several months ahead of the El Nino Southern Oscillation surface signal detected by satellite altimetry.
Time/Location: Friday, May 27 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. local CDT), Room 08
Presenter: Y. Tony Song, NASA JPL
ICESat Observations of Topographic Change in the Northern Segment of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake Rupture Zone
This session examines the use of Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) data in documenting observations of uplift and submergence on the shorelines of the Andaman Islands in association with the December 26, 2004 Sumatran earthquake.
Time/Location: Friday, May 27 at 10:15 a.m. EDT (9:15 a.m. local CDT), Room 243
Presenters: David J. Harding, Jeanne Sauber, Scott Luthcke, Claudia Carabajal, and Jordan Muller, all of NASA GSFC.
Excitation of Earth Rotation and Gravitational Field Changes by the December 26, 2004 Sumatran Earthquake
An earthquake can rearrange the Earth's mass, causing the Earth's rotation and gravitational field to change. In this session, scientists discuss how the Sumatran earthquake of December 26, 2004, may have altered the length-of-day, the Earth's oblateness, and mean position of rotation.
Time/Location: Friday, May 27 at 11:45 a.m. EDT (10:45 a.m. local CDT), Room 243
Presenters: Richard Gross, NASA JPL and Ben Chao, NASA GSFC.
Analysis of Satellite Time-lapse and Sunglint Imagery of Tsunami Waves From the December 26, 2004 Great Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft was able to capture unique time-lapse, animated imagery of extremely large tsunami-generated waves breaking at various points along the western Indian coast on December 26, 2004, and details of these waves and others observed in sunlight reflected from the ocean surface off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka will be discussed. Time/Location: Friday, May 27 at 12:15 p.m. EDT (11:15 a.m. local CDT), Room 243
Presenters: Michael J. Garay, David J. Diner, Jeffrey R. Hall, Eric M. DeJong, NASA JPL; V. Titov, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory/University of Washington; Clare Averill, Raytheon Information Technology and Scientific Services.
Estimating the Sumatra Earthquake Source Using Seismic Inversion and Satellite Observation (Poster Session) In this session, the presenter will demonstrate how ground-based seismic data and satellite observations of tsunami waves were used to reconstruct consistent fault parameters of the December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake.
Time/Location: Friday, May 27 at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. local CDT), Hall B
Presenter: Dr. Y. Tony Song, NASA JPL