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David Herring May 7, 2003
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/614-6219)

RELEASE:  03-54

NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT 
IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES

Distinguished Earth scientists from around the world-including Nobel 
Prize winner Paul Crutzen-assembled in Greenbelt on May 1 to 
celebrate the 40th Anniversary of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's 
Laboratory for Atmospheres.

The Laboratory pioneered the use of satellite remote sensors to 
advance scientific understanding of Earth's atmosphere and, for four 
decades, spearheaded the evolution of increasingly sophisticated 
space-based measurement capabilities.

"The first weather satellite-TIROS 1 (launched in April 1960)-was 
monumental in bringing in the satellite era," states William Bandeen, 
former director of Goddard's Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Division 
and among the first meteorological scientists recruited from the U.S. 
Army in the earliest days of NASA's formation.  "That launch led to 
the formation of the Laboratory in 1963, and a whole series of major 
scientific achievements."

The list of technical achievements and standards set by the Goddard 
atmosphere community through the 1960s and 1970s made modern day 
weather forecasting and climate modeling possible. Among some of the 
Laboratory's most notable contributions are the first infrared image 
of the Earth, the first geostationary weather satellite, the first 
remote sounding of atmospheric temperature, and the first measurement 
of the Earth's radiation budget.

In the early 1960s, NASA initiated a new science discipline, called 
"aeronomy," to bridge the gap between meteorology and astronomy. 
Little was known then about the uppermost layer of Earth's 
atmosphere, called the exosphere.  In April 1963, NASA Goddard 
personnel launched the first comprehensive aeronomy mission to 
measure the density, composition, pressure, and temperature of the 
atmosphere at altitudes from 155 to 560 miles (250 to 900 km).

In the 1970s and 80s, Goddard's community of atmospheric scientists 
solidified their role as a focal point for the international Earth 
science community to assimilate data from many satellites as well as 
surface-based and aircraft instruments into sophisticated computer 
models for visualizing how the atmosphere works and predicting future 
climate change scenarios.  And with the development of the 
Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information Processing System (AOIPS), 
the lab also pioneered the development of the modern remote sensing 
data processing center.

In 1977, NASA brought in renowned radar meteorologist Dave Atlas to 
lead the Laboratory.  Atlas served in the early 70s as president of 
the American Meteorological Society and gained greater fame during 
his tenure as director of NCAR's National Hail Research Experiment, 
in which scientists attempted to "seed" clouds with chemicals to 
reduce the size of crop-damaging hail.  In 1976, after several years 
of leading the experiment, Atlas angered U.S. science policy makers 
when he began to oppose the experiment and reported that it would 
ultimately prove fruitless because the physics of hail formation was 
too poorly understood.

Atlas led the Laboratory for Atmospheres from 1977-84, and is 
credited with recruiting 35 world-class atmospheric scientists to 
come work at Goddard Space Flight Center.  "Twenty-five years later, 
it is gratifying to note the remarkable successes attained by the 
vast majority of those we hired," Atlas observes.  Among those 
noteworthy individuals are Joanne Simpson, who is a global expert on 
tropical meteorology and who served as project scientist for the 
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM); Louis Uccellini, who led 
the now-famous investigation of the 1979 President's Day storm and 
who went on to become director of NOAA's Office of Meteorology and 
director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP); 
and Paul Kocin, winter storm expert at the Weather Channel.

In 1984, Atlas stepped down and was eventually succeeded by Marv 
Geller.  It was under Geller's watch that the various atmospheric 
sciences branches were joined into a single, integrated Laboratory 
for Atmospheres.  "The 1980s was an exciting time for the space 
program in the Earth sciences," recalls Geller.

Consider the 1985 discovery of the ozone hole by the British 
Antarctic Survey.  Data and research from Goddard's Laboratory for 
Atmospheres contributed significantly to scientific understanding of 
humanity's role in stratospheric ozone depletion, and eventually led 
to the Montreal Protocol restricting the use of CFCs."

According to William Lau, current Division Chief of the Laboratory, 
the ozone case study is just one example among many illustrating the 
Lab's ability go from an idea to developing a satellite measurement 
capability, to a research initiative, to a real-world application, 
and finally to a public policy decision that has benefits to global 
society.  Another milestone is the development and launch of the 
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), in partnership with the 
Japanese Space Agency (NASDA), which yielded the first accurate 
global measures of tropical rainfall.  TRMM data have been used to 
examine the internal structures of hurricanes and severe storms as 
well as to improve forecasts of the paths such storms will travel.

"Our data have been very important for monitoring the Earth's 
environment and assessing the potential for disasters around the 
world," Lau states.  "We work to save lives by providing timely 
information to government authorities who work to prevent or mitigate 
disasters."

The Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres has also played a lead role in 
developing and launching the Earth Observing System (EOS)-a series of 
satellites designed to examine our planet very comprehensively every 
day.  Since 1997, eight EOS satellites have been launched to help 
scientists understand how the atmosphere, cryosphere, oceans, lands, 
and life all interact to drive our world's climate system.

The outstanding accomplishments by Laboratory personnel over the last 
40 years are a great success story, concludes Lau.  "We have clearly 
set the nation's direction in terms of how satellite information 
should be collected and used for scientific research and societal 
applications."

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Mark S. Hess
Chief, Office of Public Affairs
NASA/GSFC, Code 130
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