6th GPM International Planning Workshop
November 20, 2006
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), conceived by NASA (USA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and supported by many other agencies, is an international space endeavor that has sparked global interest. The 6th GPM International Planning Workshop convened at the Historic Inns of Annapolis in Annapolis, Maryland 6-8 November 2006. The major objective of the workshop was for participants to exchange information and promote partnership opportunities. This by-invitation-only workshop had sessions on GPM's programmatic, technical, and scientific status, as well as presentations on GPM science frontiers, ground validation, and practical application of GPM data. William Lau (NASA GSFC, the Laboratory for Atmosphere) gave an invited presentation on "GPM for atmospheric water cycle and climate change: Trends in tropical rainfall characteristics" highlighting the essential components of water cycle studies and the main findings of his recent research with Jenny Wu (SSAI and the Climate and Radiation Branch) who also attended the meeting. A scientific paper, "Detecting trends in tropical rainfall characteristics, 1979-2003" by Lau and Wu, is in press by International Journal of Climatology.

(submitted by Jenny Wu) Full Story

New Earth Science Journal Highlights the Work of Climate and Radiation Branch Scientists
November 1, 2006
In its first issue, a new earth science journal, Environmental Research Letters, highlighted the work carried out by two researchers associated with the Climate & Radiation Branch. In a paper published in the first issue of the journal, Dr. Ilan Koren, UMBC/GEST (now affiliated with the Weizmann Institute in Israel) shows that contrary to what was previously thought, most of the Saharan dust that reaches the east coast of the United States originates from a single source, the Bodele depression in Chad. Since the study is mostly based on measurements, this research helps global climate modelers to improve their model predictions. Dr. Lorraine Remer wrote an introductory article highlighting the importance of dust in the global climate and current outstanding issues that remain to be solved in aerosol research. Click here to view the articles.

(submitted by Santiago Gasso)
Full Story