Prof. Tzortziou and her research team share NASA recognition
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences professor Maria Tzortziou and her research team have been selected to receive a 2019 NASA Group Achievement Award for their work on a two-year, multi-agency field campaign program in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Ozone Water–Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS), which involved participants from NASA, the EPA, and NOAA, sought to better understand and ultimately represent and predict the atmospheric chemistry and complex air flow in coastal areas where approximately 40% of the U.S. population resides.
Among the main objectives of the program has been to link results to air quality management and public health decision making activities. Using multidisciplinary observations from fixed ground-based stations, aircraft, boats, vehicles, and space-based platforms, OWLETS provided a novel observational strategy to synchronously measure pollutants “over land” and “over water” and provide a more complete picture of chemical gradients across coastal boundaries for addressing both the needs of state and local environmental management as well as new remote sensing technology development.
Working with NASA lead scientists Tim Berkoff and John Sullivan, Tzortziou led and coordinated the shipboard measurements for the program. Three CCNY graduate students, Brian Lamb, Owen Parker and Corey Scher, had an opportunity to participate in the OWLETS Program.
NASA will present the Group Achievement Medal to the OWLETS Team at NASA Langley's Honors Awards Ceremony on September 17.
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