Carlos L. Pérez Díaz
Carlos L. Pérez Díaz calls San Juan, Puerto Rico, home. He is currently a Civil Engineering doctoral student in Water Resources at The City College of the City University of New York (CCNY). He completed both his Bachelor’s (BS) degree in Civil Engineering and Master’s (MSCE) degree in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (UPRM). While completing his BS in Civil Engineering, he worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an intern. He is an Engineer in Training (EIT), passed his Professional Engineer (PE) exam and has worked with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Autoridad de Carreteras de Puerto Rico (ACT).
Carlos joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Center (NOAA-CREST) team at CCNY in 2013 and is working towards completing his PhD thesis entitled Development of a remote sensing (MW/IR) based snow product through the incorporation of snow wetness. His research consists on investigating what extent the volumetric water content of the snow affects microwave satellite retrievals and is also working to improve global snow cover mapping by developing a product capable of estimating snow depth with better accuracy than algorithms based on these findings.
He is conducting snow research using both a ground station and satellite remote sensing. The NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology – Snow Analysis and Field Experiment (CREST-SAFE) is a ground station located within the premises of the National 6 Weather Service offices in Caribou, ME funded, created, and operated by NOAA-CREST CCNY where manual and automated snow measurements and operations are executed throughout the winter months. He is hopeful that his research will help improve current microwave emission satellite retrieval models and consequently help save human lives and property damage by creating a flood and/or avalanche warning system.
As a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Hydraulic Engineering course in the Civil Engineering Department, Carlos has participated in mentoring high school students who participated in the High School Initiative in Remote Sensing of the Earth Systems (HIRES) program in summer 2015. He plans to use his mentoring experiences to continue engaging not only high school, but also NOAA-CREST undergraduate and graduate students in remote sensing research in addition to conducting training for elementary, middle, and HS students in after school programs.
