July 17, 2003

Elvia H. Thompson
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1696)

Rob Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-4044) 

NOTE TO EDITORS: n03-070

NASA PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

NASA scientists will present a variety of Earth science topics at the 
International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) at the 
Centre de Congres Pierre Baudis, Toulouse, France, July 21-25, 2003. 

Presentations of particular interest (all times local): 

Remote Sensing Of Evapotranspiration For Precision-Farming 
Applications 
John Norman, a NASA funded scientist, from the University of 
Wisconsin-Madison will discuss how researchers developed a two-tier 
method for estimating evaporation from plants and soil. His talk 
describes the procedures for conducting observations and presents 
validation data demonstrating the usefulness of this method. July 21, 
2:20 p.m., Salle Guillaumet One, Congres Centre, Level 4.

A Quarter Century Of Space Radar Geology: From SEASAT To The Shuttle 
Radar Topography Mission 
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Director Charles Elachi, a 
leading expert on imaging radar and other remote-sensing 
technologies, travels back in time to highlight the many space radar 
missions and instruments involving the agency and how they relate to 
our knowledge and understanding of Earth yesterday, today and 
tomorrow. July 21, 4:40 p.m., Amphitheatre Verdi, Atria Hotel.

The Decadal Tropical Mean Radiation Data And The Iris Hypothesis 
As the climate changes, will the Earth's 'Iris' counteract predictions 
of global warming and help cool the planet? Bing Lin from NASA's 
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., will present the newest 
results that cast doubt on the global cooling theory called the Iris 
Hypothesis. This presentation is in the Earth Radiation Budget 
session on July 22, 8:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Salon Caravelle 1, 
Congres Centre, Level 1.

Climatic Trigger Events For Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreaks: "The 
Forest, The Fly, And The Virus" 
Compton Tucker, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., 
will discuss spatially continuous satellite data on precipitation 
within tropical Africa. He will show the majority of documented Ebola 
hemorrhagic fever outbreaks were closely associated with sharply 
drier conditions at the end of the rainy season followed immediately 
by a sharply wetter period as the dry season started. July 22, 2:40 
p.m., Auditorium de Saint Exupery, Congres Centre, Level 4.

Multi-Year MODIS Observation Of Global Aerosols From EOS TERRA/AQUA 
Satellites 
Lorraine Remer, GSFC, discusses how the MODIS instrument has been 
collecting data on global aerosols from the Terra satellite for three 
years. These data give a three-year time series of the global state 
of the Earth's aerosols (dust, sea salt, smoke, particles). The data 
is the beginning of global aerosol climatology, and gives insight 
into the inter-annual variability of these particles, vital to 
building global climate models that attempt to incorporate the role 
of aerosols into estimates of global change. July 23, 9:20 a.m., 
Auditorium de Saint Exupery, Congres Centre, Level 4.

QUIKSCAT Wind Retrievals For Tropical Cyclones 
JPL project scientist Timothy Liu will discuss new methods of 
retrieving ocean surface wind measurements under the strong winds and 
rainy conditions of a tropical cyclone using the Seawinds 
scatterometer instrument aboard NASA’s Quikscat satellite. July 24, 9 
a.m., Ampitheatre Verdi, Atria Hotel.

Volcanic Hazards Monitoring With ASTER Data  
A graphic presentation by JPL research scientists Michael Abrams and 
David Pieri features detailed images from the Advanced Spaceborne 
Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, an imaging instrument on 
NASA’s Earth-orbiting Terra satellite, that helps monitor and predict 
volcanic eruptions. July 25, 8:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Salon Caravelle 
1, Congrès Centre (A corresponding presentation by Abrams is on July 
24, 11:20 a.m., Salle Spot in the Congrès Centre).

For more information see the IGARSS website: 

http://www.igarss03.com/ 

	
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