Category: Features

Great Barrier Reef Temperatures “Alarmingly High”, Bringing Unprecedented Heat Stress to Corals

February 9, 2022

A new paper by the NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program, an initiative supported by the ESSIC-administered Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS), shows that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) started the 2021-2022 summer season with more accumulated oceanic heat stress than ever before in the satellite record (i.e., 1985 to the present). As of December 14, 2021, NOAA CRW’s daily global 5km satellite coral bleaching heat stress products indicated that instantaneous heat stress and accumulated heat stress over the prior 12 weeks were unprecedented on the GBR.

ESSIC/CISESS at AMS Conferences

February 9, 2022

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting was held virtually this year from January 23 to 27. Simultaneously, AMS held a number of specialized conferences and symposiums, focusing on topics including hydrology, climate variability and change, and atmospheric chemistry. ESSIC/CISESS scientists contributed a large number of talks and posters at the event. Talks included:

Ocean Warming Continues Through 2021

January 18, 2022

2021’s world ocean was the hottest ever recorded, beating out even last year’s record high temperatures, finds Alexey Mishonov, Jim Reagan, and a team of international scholars.

Figure 1 | Flooding in July 2021 caused mass evacuation in Weihui, Henan province, in China.

Extreme Rainfall Slows the Global Economy

January 13, 2022

Xin-Zhong Liang was recently published in Nature’s “News and Views” section giving his insight on new research that reported a comprehensive assessment of changes in gross regional product (GRP) relating to excessive precipitation. The study concluded that increases in the numbers of wet days and in extreme daily rainfall dramatically reduces worldwide macroeconomic growth rates.

ESSIC/CISESS Presents at 2021 AGU Fall Meeting

January 11, 2022

ESSIC/CISESS had several talks, e-lightning sessions, posters, virtual town halls, and tutorials at this year’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, held in New Orleans and online from December 13 to 17.

CISESS Seed Grant Awards Announced

January 11, 2022

CISESS has announced four Seed Grant Program awards to help develop transformative research that requires a proof of concept to assist NOAA in recognizing and supporting new topics that eventually will be carried out in CISESS.

Announcing the 2021-22 Annual ESSIC Snow Prediction Pool

November 3, 2021

With Halloween behind us, wintery temps are fast approaching College Park! This year, we are resurrecting the historic ESSIC Annual Snow Prediction Pool. This is your opportunity to show off your weather prediction skills to your colleagues and earn bragging rights for the entire 2021-22 snow season.

ESSIC Holds 1st AI/ML Workshop: On the Pathway to a Digital Earth

October 28, 2021

Last month, researchers from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the University of Maryland (UMD) Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) gathered to explore the challenges and opportunities in applying machine learning and artificial intelligence in Earth systems science.

Ralph Ferraro wears a light blue plaid button-up, smiling in front of a blurred campus background

Ralph Ferraro Named ESSIC Associate Director

August 4, 2021

Ralph Ferraro, previously the Chief of the NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Satellite Climate Studies Branch (SCSB) and ESSIC Visiting Associate Research Scientist, has been named the Associate Director of Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) starting August 1, 2021.

Major Step for UMD’s DAWN Project as Agricultural Decision-Support Website Launches

July 27, 2021

The Dashboard for Agricultural Water Use and Nutrient Management (DAWN) launched its website today. This marks the latest development of the UMD led project to provide farmers and water managers across the Corn Belt with the most relevant and reliable information for farm-level decision-making.