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Cynthia M. O'Carroll
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.	March 6, 2003
(Phone: 301-614-5563)
Cynthia.m.ocarroll{at}nasa.gov


RELEASE: 03-26

NASA SCIENTIST AWARDED DISTINCTION OF AGU 2003 FELLOW

Dr. Anne Thompson, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space 
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has been awarded the distinction of 
Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate on 
Wednesday April 10 during the Honors Ceremony at the Joint EGS-EUG-AGU 
Meeting in Nice, France.

AGU has a diverse program for recognizing members who have attained an 
acknowledged eminence in a branch of the geophysical sciences. This 
designation is conferred upon not more than 0.1% of all AGU members in 
any given year.  Thompson is one of 41 new Fellows chosen by a 
Committee of Fellows.

A researcher within the Laboratory for Atmospheres, Thompson was cited 
"for important innovative research and leadership in elucidating 
variations in tropospheric chemistry and their relationship to climate 
change."

Thompson, a Pennsylvania native, received a Bachelor of Arts with 
Honors in chemistry from Swarthmore College, a master's degree from 
Princeton University and a doctorate in physical chemistry from Bryn 
Mawr College. This was followed by postdoctoral research at Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and by 
a visiting scientist appointment at the National Center for 
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. In 1986, Thompson became a NASA 
employee in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch at Goddard.

Thompson's discoveries about the chemistry of the atmosphere have 
ranged from computer model studies to experiments on ship and research 
aircraft. The EPA and NASA use her modeling work to develop strategies 
on global warming, tropospheric ozone (smog) and methane in the 
atmosphere. In 1997, Thompson served as Chief Scientist for an 
aircraft campaign to study the atmospheric impacts of jet travel over 
the Atlantic Ocean. Her research showed that North American pollution 
and lightning were as important a source of nitrogen oxide as aircraft 
engine emissions.

Over the past 12 years, Thompson's major achievements have been in the 
field of tropical tropospheric ozone. She has promoted the use of 
novel satellite techniques to look at how tropical storm systems and 
grasslands fires interact with ozone. In 1999 she discovered an ozone 
"paradox" over the tropical Atlantic while taking data on an 
oceanographic cruise from Norfolk to South Africa.  "We were startled 
to find even higher ozone in the southern Atlantic during their wet 
season than close to the biomass fires of northern Africa where it was 
dry.  Researchers are coming up with a variety of explanations for 
this phenomenon, including lightning," Thompson says.

Thompson's most recent field experiment involved launching the first 
ozone-measuring balloons in the African city of Lusaka. She and her 
colleagues were surprised to find a layer of local smog underneath 
ozone layers imported from a dozen other African nations. Since 1998, 
Thompson has been the Principal Investigator for the SHADOZ (Southern 
Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes) network of 12 ozone ground stations 
in the tropics.  By pulling together a team of US, Japanese, African 
and South American ozone experts, Thompson's research has greatly 
improved our knowledge of this little-known part of the globe while 
providing vital ground-truth for NASA satellites.  "As with our 
aircraft and field campaigns," Thompson states, "SHADOZ has shown that 
weather and El-Nino-type climate variations are as important in the 
tropical ozone story as human pollution."

Thompson's honors and awards include a NASA Exceptional Achievement 
Medal, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science, and Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. In 1998 
she received the COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Nordberg Medal 
for her achievements in using and improving satellite data to study 
chemistry in the Earth's atmosphere.

Thompson serves on the International Ozone Commission, the Executive 
Committee of the American Meteorological Society and as current 
President of the International Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and 
Global Pollution. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Earth System 
Science Interdisciplinary Center and a Meteorology Department Lecturer 
at the University of Maryland. Thompson has authored more than 130 
articles in scientific journals and books.

Thompson lives in Lanham, Md., with her husband, Nels Larson. In 
addition to her work at Goddard, Thompson enjoys community activities, 
reading, and photography.

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