Large smoke clouds emitting from the Zaca forest wildfire in California

New UMBC/Los Alamos research on megafire smoke plumes clarifies what they contain, how they move, and their potential impacts

Apr 21, 2023 / 4 minutes of reading

In recent years, large, intense wildfires, known as megafires, have increasingly caused severe damage to forests, homes, and crops. In addition to megafires fatally impacting humans and wildlife alike, they may also be impacting climate change. New research led by UMBC’s Stephen Guimond provides insight into how the large smoke plumes produced by megafires can be more accurately modeled and characterized to improve our understanding of how they might impact the earth. Continue Reading New UMBC/Los Alamos research on megafire smoke plumes clarifies what they contain, how they move, and their potential impacts

Three people work with machinery in a lab. They wear protective glasses and gloves. One wears a sweater reading "UMBC Rerievers."

UMBC researchers listed among the world’s top 2% of most-cited scientists and engineers

Feb 10, 2023 / 3 minutes of reading

More than 40 active UMBC researchers are listed among the top 2% of the world’s most-cited scientists and engineers in an analysis recently published by Elsevier. “This analysis shows that our researchers are truly impacting the scientific community in a significant way,” says Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research and creative achievement. Continue Reading UMBC researchers listed among the world’s top 2% of most-cited scientists and engineers

Scientists may be underestimating Arctic ecosystem changes, new UMBC research shows

Nov 5, 2021 / 4 minutes of reading

A metric that climate scientists rely on, called NDVI, has limitations that may be causing them to misinterpret their results. Fred Huemmrich’s new paper suggests “that there very well may be more ecological change going on at high latitudes than we are perceiving, if we’re leaning on NDVI as the metric we’re using to detect these changes.” Continue Reading Scientists may be underestimating Arctic ecosystem changes, new UMBC research shows

NASA awards $72 million for new UMBC-led Earth science research partnership

Oct 28, 2021 / 5 minutes of reading

NASA has announced a major award of $72 million over three years for the new Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II center. UMBC serves as the lead for a national consortium and will receive over $38 million. Morgan State University serves as the primary partner. The GESTAR II consortium will support over 120 researchers, creating extensive opportunities for breakthroughs in earth and atmospheric science research. Continue Reading NASA awards $72 million for new UMBC-led Earth science research partnership

UMBC’s Reem Hannun to co-lead urban air quality study with NOAA Climate Award

Oct 12, 2021 / 5 minutes of reading

Emissions from household products are on the rise compared to emissions from combustion engines, but their effect on air quality is poorly understood. “So, if we want to have a better understanding of air quality, now and as climate continues to change, we really need to be able to understand how the chemistry changes with this new class of emissions,” says Reem Hannun. “It’s a new, interesting dynamic.” Continue Reading UMBC’s Reem Hannun to co-lead urban air quality study with NOAA Climate Award

a swirling white storm over ocean and islands

Hurricanes, well-being, and AI: START Awards set up UMBC researchers for success

Aug 6, 2021 / 6 minutes of reading

Physicist Steve Guimond and collaborators have received a new $682,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop, run, and analyze complex hurricane models on supercomputers. However, Guimond might never have received the grant if he hadn’t received a UMBC Strategic Award for Research Transitions (START) first. A new cohort of START funding recipients begins their projects this summer. Continue Reading Hurricanes, well-being, and AI: START Awards set up UMBC researchers for success

UMBC’s Ryan Kramer confirms human-caused climate change with direct evidence for first time

Apr 12, 2021 / 4 minutes of reading

Sixteen years of continuous data from NASA’s CERES mission confirm that humans’ role in climate change, indicated by a quantity known as the “radiative forcing,” is the driving factor pulling Earth’s energy budget out of balance. “As far as we can see, the long-term trend in the CERES record seems to be almost entirely accounted for by the radiative forcing,” Ryan Kramer says. Continue Reading UMBC’s Ryan Kramer confirms human-caused climate change with direct evidence for first time

On Thin Ice

Dec 2, 2020 / 11 minutes of reading

As scientists study how the Arctic affects and is affected by climate change, the work of Kurtz and others will fill in a crucial knowledge gap. Continue Reading On Thin Ice

satellite image of clouds along a coastline

NASA awards UMBC team $1.4M to develop AI that improves how computers process climate data from satellites

Oct 26, 2020 / 7 minutes of reading

“Now we have so much raw data. So how do we analyze it? How do we make it useful for the research community?” asks Jianwu Wang. As data archives balloon, the capabilities of artificial intelligence are rapidly increasing. There is also an urgent need to understand Earth’s systems as they shift due to climate change. All of these factors drove Wang and his collaborators to find ways to help researchers access satellite data much faster. Continue Reading NASA awards UMBC team $1.4M to develop AI that improves how computers process climate data from satellites

UMBC once again ranks among the top 150 universities in federal research funding

Feb 28, 2020 / 4 minutes of reading

The Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey aggregates federal research and development expenditures for fiscal year 2018. The survey data combines total funding from all federal agencies and also provides information on research funding from non-federal and non-governmental sources. Continue Reading UMBC once again ranks among the top 150 universities in federal research funding

Demoz meets with students on top of the physics building. Photo by Marlayna Demond '11.

Climate Shift

Dec 10, 2019 / 13 minutes of reading

Climate change and other environmental issues like air and water quality disproportionately affect people of color. Today, Demoz sees his role at UMBC as empowering students, especially students from underrepresented backgrounds, to take ownership of their research and contribute to their communities. Eventually, he hopes his graduates will also become mentors and advocates for their own students and colleagues—behaviors he models for them every day. Continue Reading Climate Shift

We have liftoff! UMBC-developed mini satellite launched into space to study climate, air quality

Nov 8, 2019 / 6 minutes of reading

“As an engineer, I’m looking to develop technology that can make the science happen,” says Dominik Cieslak. That’s exactly what Cieslak and the rest of the team have accomplished with their cubesat, HARP. When it is released from the International Space Station in about a month, it will collect new kinds of information about clouds and tiny particles in the atmosphere to increase our understanding of climate and air quality. Continue Reading We have liftoff! UMBC-developed mini satellite launched into space to study climate, air quality

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