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Earth Science Division: Earth Science Directory



SGG—Atmospheric Science Branch

Henry Selkirk


MS: 245-5
650-604-6489
hselkirk@mail.arc.nasa.gov

Education: B.A., 1977
The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington
  Ph. D., Meteorology, 1986
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA


Professional Experience:  
2002-Present Senior Scientist
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Sonoma, CA
1991-2002 Research Scientist
Space Physics Research Institute, Sunnyvale, CA
1988-1991 National Research Council Associate
NASA Ames Research Cener, Moffett Field, CA
1986-1988 Research Associate
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
1979-1986 Graduate Research Assistant
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA


Recent Activities and Accomplishments:
Principal Investigator, 2004-2006 Ticosonde collaborative sounding campaigns - Spearheaded four programs of intensive balloon sounding measurements in Costa Rica. Costa Rican partners have included faculty, staff and students from the Univ. de Costa Rica and the Univ. Nacional Autonoma, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional, and the Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnología. American partners have included scientists from the University of Colorado, MayComm Instruments, LLC and The Aerospace Corporation. The Ticosonde datasets include high-frequency, high-resolution radiosondes, numerous frostpoint and TDL profiles of water vapor and ozonesonde profiles and have been used in validation of A-Train satellite instruments as well as to support NASA-TCSP ( July 2005) and the CR-AVE mission (Jan-Feb 2006).
Principal Investigator, Investigations of subtropical cirrus and their large-scale environment: Diagnostic studies and meteorological guidance in support of CRYSTAL-FACE – Field mission responsibilities included coordination of forecasting.

Principal Investigator, SOLVE investigations of water vapor sources in lower Arctic stratosphere in the winter season (NASA UARP/AEAP) – Investigations of the origin of water vapor enhancements in the lowermost stratosphere observed during the SOLVE field deployments using back-trajectory analyses.
Meteorological support of recent aircraft field missions:

  • INTEX-A (Intercontinental Transport Experiment) Portsmouth, NH and St. Louis, MO, 8/2004: Provided scientific flight planning support for the DC-8 flights in the summertime North American troposphere.
  • Pre-AVE (Aura Validation Experiment) San Jose, Costa Rica, 1/2004: Provided surface weather forecasting and flight planning support for the WB-57 flights into the TTL over the eastern Pacific equatorial zone.
  • CRYSTAL-FACE (Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers – Florida Area Cirrus Experiment) Key West, Florida, 6-7/2002: Led team that provided twice-daily weather forecasts to the six aircraft operating in deep convection over south Florida.
  • SOLVE and SOLVE-II (SAGE-III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiments) Kiruna, Sweden, 11/1999–3/2000 and 1/2003–2/2003: Flight planning support for the DC-8.
  • ACCENT (Atmospheric Chemistry and Combustion Emissions Near the Tropopause) Houston, TX, 4/99 and 9/99: Provided flight planning support and meteorological satellite interpretation for the NASA WB-57.


Selected Publications and Conference Presentations Since 1991:
Selkirk, H. B., L. Pfister, B. Ridely and E. Atlas, Convective transport to the tropical and mid-latitude tropopause regions: II. Convective influence calculations, in preparation, 2006.
Vömel, H., H. Selkirk and 6 others, Radiation dry bias of the Vaisala RS92 humidity sensor. Submitted to the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology (in review), 2006.
Selkirk, H. B., and 9 others, Observations of layered structures in the lower tropical stratosphere over Costa Rica during Ticosonde-Aura/TCSP 2005. Presentation to the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, December 2005.
Selkirk, H, Amador, J, Zárate, E., Fernandez, W., Valdés, J, Diaz, J. Andrés, Pfister, L., Miloshevich, L., Stolz, W., Manso, P., and Heinrich, K., An examination of the rainy season diurnal cycle over Costa Rica using the Ticosonde-NAME 2004 Experiment radiosonde data. Presentation to the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, December 2004.
Ridley, B., E. Atlas, H. Selkirk and 18 others. Convective transport to the tropical and mid-latitude tropopause regions: I. Observations, Atmospheric Environment, 38, 1259-1274, 2004.
Selkirk, H. B., L. Pfister, and E. V. Browell, Origins of thin cirrus observed in the Pacific Ocean tropical tropopause layer: Convective influence case studies from GTE/PEM. Presentation to the 12th Middle Atmosphere Conference of the American Meteorological Society in San Antonio, Texas, November 4-7, 2002.
Pfister, L., H. B. Selkirk, E. Jensen, M. Schoeberl, O. Toon, E. Browell, W. Grant, B. Gary, M. Mahoney, T. Bui, and E. Hintsa 2000, Aircraft observations of thin cirrus clouds near the tropical tropopause, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 9765-9786, 2001
Jensen, E. J., O. B. Toon, J. Spinhirne and H. B. Selkirk, On the formation and persistence of subvisible cirrus clouds near the tropical tropopause, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 21361-21376, 1996.
Jensen, E. J., O. B. Toon, L. Pfister, and H. B. Selkirk, Dehydration of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by subvisible cirrus clouds near the tropical tropopause, Geophys. Res. Letts., 23, 825-828, 1996.
Selkirk, H. B., The tropopause cold trap in the Australian monsoon during STEP/AMEX 1987, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 8591-8610, 1993.
Russell, P. B., L. Pfister, and H. B. Selkirk, The tropical experiment of the Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project (STEP): Science objectives, operations and summary findings, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 8563-8589, 1993.






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