|
ETL Scientists Receive DoC Silver Medals
November 18, 2004
Contact: Jorgeann Hiebert
Four ETL scientists recently received Department of Commerce Silver Medals in
a ceremony held last week in Washington, D.C. .
James Churnside along with William G. Pichel, NESDIS, were given a group
medal for development of a technique to detect ghostnets in the open ocean
using satellites and aircraft. Tons of lost and abandoned fishing nets
(ghostnets), drift in the oceans, killing fish, marine mammals, sea birds,
and turtles. These nets may become entangled in coral reefs, where they
destroy the coral as they continue to kill protected species. Searching the
entire ocean for ghostnets is too costly to be practical, so the recipients
developed a technique to search more effectively. Information from
satellite instruments locates regions of the ocean where the currents would
bring floating debris together. An instrumented aircraft sent to those
regions locates and identifies debris.
Robert Banta, Raul Alvarez, and Lisa Darby along with eight colleagues from
the Aeronomy Lab were given a group medal for the discovery of a
previously unrecognized major factor that causes ozone pollution in the
Houston, Texas area. They discovered that leaks of reactive gases from
the petrochemical refineries prevalent in the region are a much larger
factor than had been expected. Because of the improved scientific
understanding gained through the team's research, Texas air quality
managers altered their policy approach to more effectively target the
root causes of the region's poor air quality. An independent economic
analysis estimated that the application of the revised air quality
management plan instead of the original plan will save 65,000
jobs and $10B for the state by the year 2010.
More Information
|