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Earth Science Division Highlights for week ending Oct. 25, 2006.
Rama Nemani selected as member of Landsat Data Continuity Mission
(LDCM) Science Team:
Rama Nemani (SGE) was selected to the Landsat Data Continuity Mission
(LDCM) Science Team, October 16. He will serve as an advisor for
developing biophysical products for Landsat.
The LDCM Science Team combines USGS leadership, USGS and NASA
scientists, and a group of external scientists and satellite data
applications specialists. Expected to launch soon after 2010, the
LDCM is designed to supply Landsat-like data from the next generation
of Earth observing satellites. The scientists and engineers on the
science team will advise the USGS and NASA on issues critical to the
success of the LDCM and will recommend strategies for the effective
use of archived data from Landsat sensors. Additionally, they will
determine the requirements for future sensors that will meet the
needs of Landsat users, including the needs of policy makers at all
levels of government. The team will cooperate with other Earth
observing missions, both nationally and internationally.
The first meeting of the team will be held in November 2006. The
members will serve in their advisory capacity through the development
and launch of the next Landsat-type satellite and through the first
year of data collection. (POC: Rama Nemani, 4-6185)
Jay Skiles judges national science and tech competition:
Dr. Jay Skiles (SGE) was a judge for the ninth Siemens-Westinghouse
Science and Technology Competition held at the Education Testing
Service (ETS) campus in Princeton, NJ, October 12-17. High school
students from around the country submitted papers detailing their
research in such areas as mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer
science, and biology. Over 1050 papers were received for this year's
competition, more than 600 of them in biology. Skiles and fifteen
other biologists read and judged the biology papers and rated them
according to originality, merit, comprehensiveness, and clarity of
presentation. Those papers that survived the first cut were re-read
and judged against a more rigorous set of criteria that included
scientific importance, contribution to biology (or a sub-discipline
thereof) and contribution of mentors. A third stage consisted of
combining all of the finalists across all the disciplines and then
dividing the submissions into six geographic regions within the U.S.
Skiles read more than eighty papers during the five-day judging
period. A regional competition will be held in the first or second
week in November with regional winners receiving $25,000 scholarships
for their college education. Regional winners will compete in New
York City in December with the national winners (individual and team)
each receiving $100,000 collage scholarships. Skiles has served as
an invited judge for the Siemens-Westinghouse competition since 1999.
(POC: Jay Skiles, 4-3614)
SGG scientists participate in Sally Ride Science Festival:
Laura Iraci (SGG) and Jimmie Lopez (BAER Institute/SGG) supported the
Sally Ride Science Festival, held at NASA Ames on October 21. They
taught nearly fifty middle school girls about the structure and
chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere while demonstrating some neat
science. They generated nitrogen dioxide (NO2, one of the players in
smog formation) from copper pennies and used liquid nitrogen to
demonstrate the cold temperatures required for the polar
stratospheric clouds that facilitate the ozone hole. (POC: Laura
Iraci, 4-0129)
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