Biography

Dr. Wei Gao is a professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Warner College of Natural Resources and Director of the USDA Global Change/UV-B Monitoring and Research Program. He has published numerous academic papers and edited a dozen books, scientific proceedings, and journal special issues. He is a fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE). He served as the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Applied Remote Sensing.

Research Interests

• UV radiation and modeling on agriculture and ecosystems
• Remote Sensing application in ecosystems
• Geographic Information Systems
• Regional climate/ecosystems modeling
• Impact of climate change on agriculture

Education

PhD. Applied Meteorology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, In. 1997
M.S. Computer Information System, Regis University, Denver, Co. 2004
M.S. Agro-Micrometeorology and Modeling, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Ms. 1992
B.A. English, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China, 1987
B.S. Applied Meteorology, Nanjing Institute of Meteorology, Nanjing, China, 1982

Professional Affiliations

• International Optical Engineering Society(SPIE)
• American Society of Agronomy(ASA)
• American Meterological Society(AMS)
• The Geographical Society of China
• SPIE fellow

Selected Publications

Chen, Maosi, J.Davis, W. Gao. 2014. A new cloud screening algorithm for ground-based direct-beam solar radiation. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 31, 2591–2605.

Singh, S.K., K.R. Reddy, V.R. Reddy, and W. Gao, 2014, Maize growth and developmental responses to temperature and ultraviolet-B radiation interaction, Photosynthetica, 52 (2) 262-271

K. Raja Reddy, S. K. Singh, S. Koti, V. G. Kakani, D. Zhao, W. Gao, and V. R. Reddy, 2013, Quantifying the Effects of Corn Growth and Physiological Responses to Ultraviolet-B Radiation for Modeling, Agronomy Journal, 105:1367-1377

Liang, X.Z., M. Xu, W. Gao, K.R. Reddy, K. Kunkel, D.L. Schmoldt and A.N. Samel. 2012. Physical modeling of U.S. cotton yields and climate stresses during 1979-2005. Agronomy Journal, 104:675-683

Liang, X.Z., M. Xu, W. Gao, K. Raja Reddy, K. Kunkel, D.L. Schmoldt, and A.N. Samel. 2012. A Distributed Cotton Growth Model Developed from GOSSYM and Its Parameter Determination. Agronomy Journal, 104:661-674

Gao, Z.Q., W. Gao, and N.B. Chang. 2012. Evaluation of Dynamic Linkages between Evapotranspiration and Land Use/Land Cover Changes with Landsat TM and ETM+ Data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 33(12): 3733-3750

Liu, Y.A., M. Wei, W. Gao, and N. Li. 2012. Short-term automatic forecast algorithm of severe convective cloud identification using FY-2 IR images. Journal of Remote Sensing, 16(1): 79-92

Biography
Dr. Davis earned his MS and PhD at the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University finishing in 1981. After a postdoctoral appointment and serving as a research scientist at CSU, he was employed as a research meteorologist at the United States Army’s Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory at White Sands, NM from 1985 through 1988. He returned to the Department of Atmospheric Science in 1988 and was employed as a research scientist there and at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. Dr. Davis’ research focused on the interaction of solar and infrared radiation with clouds as it pertains to their role in the earth’s radiation balance. In addition, he developed models used in the study of visibility in the National Parks and for use models used by the Army for application in target acquisition. His work included modelling, measurement and instrument development. After formally retiring in 2004, he joined the staff of UVMRP on a part time basis and continued work in modeling of UV radiation in the atmosphere and development of data products tailored for use by the agricultural community.

Research Interests

• Modeling and measurement of UV solar radiation
• UV radiation climatology
• Instrument performance and calibration
• Support of the UVMRP user community

Education
Ph.D. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, 1981
M.S. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, 1977
B.S. Physics and Mathematics, Southern Colorado State College, 1970

Selected Publications
Chen, Maosi, J.Davis, W. Gao. 2014. A new cloud screening algorithm for ground-based direct-beam solar radiation. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 31, 2591–2605.

Gao, W., John M. Davis, Roger Tree, James R. Slusser and Daniel Schmoldt, 2009, An ultraviolet radiation monitoring and research program for agriculture. In: Gao, W., Daniel L. Schmoldt and James R. Slusser, (editors) UV Radiation in Global Climate Change. TSINGHUA University Press, Beijing, and Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht, London, New York. pp. 205-243.

Johnsen, Bjorn, Berit Kjeldstad, Tommy Nakken Aalerud, Lill tove Nilsen, Josef Schreder, Mario Blumthaler, Germar Bernhard, Chrysanthi Topaloglou, Outi Meinander, Asadollah Bagheri, James R. Slusser and John Davis, Intercomparison and Harmonization of global UVI and spectral irradiance, (2008), J. Geophys. Res., 113, D15206, doi:10.1029/2007JD009731.

Kerr, James B. and J. M. Davis, 2007. New methodology applied to deriving total ozone and other atmospheric variables from global irradiance spectra, J. Geophys. Res., 112, No.  D21, D21301, 10.1029/2007JD008708.

Goering, C.D., T. S. L'Ecuyer, G. L. Stephens, J. R. Slusser, G. Scott, J. Davis, J. C. Barnard, S. Madronich, 2005. Simultaneous retrievals of column ozone and aerosol optical properties from direct and diffuse solar irradiance measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 110, No. D5, D05204, 10.1029/2004JD005330.

Biography

Dr. Zhibin Sun is a research scientist in the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. As a mathematician, his research focuses on data assimilation theory and application, nonlinear dynamical systems and numerical computation. Since 2014, he serves as a Conference Committee member of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE).

Research Interests

• Application and development of data assimilation algorithms to Earth dynamical systems
• Large-scale numerical simulations of nonlinear dynamic systems

Education

PhD. Applied Mathematics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Md., 2007
M.S. Applied Mathematics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Md., 2004
M.S. Applied Mathematics, Central South University, China, 2000
B.S. Applied Mathematics, Central South University, China, 1997

Professional Affiliations

• International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE)

Selected Publications

Sun, Z. and W. Kuang, An ensemble algorithm based component for geomagnetic data assimilation. Terr. Atmos. Ocean. Sci., 26, 53-61, doi: 10.3319/TAO.2014.08.19.05(GRT), 2015

Liu, C., W. Gao, P. Liu and Z. Sun, Assimilation of remote sensing data into crop growth model to improve the estimation of regional winter wheat yield, Proc. SPIE 9221, Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability XI, 922104, doi:10.1117/12.2058931, 2014

Liu C., X. Shen, W. Gao, P. Liu and Z. Sun, Evaluation of CALIPSO aerosol optical depth using AERONET and MODIS data over China, Proc. SPIE 9221, Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability XI, 92210F, doi:10.1117/12.2058929, 2014

Warner, J. X., Yang, R., Wei, Z., Carminati, F., Tangborn, A., Sun, Z., Lahoz, W., Attié, J.-L., El Amraoui, L., and Duncan, B.: Global carbon monoxide products from combined AIRS, TES and MLS measurements on A-train satellites, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 103-114, doi:10.5194/acp-14-103-2014, 2014

Biography

Dr. Coughenour received his PhD. from Colorado State University, specializing in systems ecology and nutrient cycling in a southern Montana grassland. He subsequently studied the Serengeti grazing ecosystem of Tanzania, using simulation modeling and experimental studies to determine how the ecosystem supports the world’s largest ungulate herds. He was a co-PI on the South Turkana Ecosystem Project, investigating a native pastoral ecosystem in northern Kenya. He has carried out several major modeling and field studies of grazing ecosystems and assessments of ungulate carrying capacities in Yellowstone N.P., Rocky Mountain N.P., and the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. He has developed 3 ecosystem models: GRASS CSOM, GEMTM, and SAVANNA. He has been involved in research on pastoral and wildlife ecosystems in Tanzania, Kenya, S. Africa, Australia, Inner Mongolia, Kazakstan, Venezuela, Canada, and has consulted on grazing ecosystem ecology in other locations around the world. He is currently working part time with the UVB Monitoring and Research Program.

Research Interests

• Ungulate-dominated grazing and browsing ecosystems
• Livestock-wildlife interactions
• Terrestrial ecosystem responses to atmospheric changes
• African savannas
• Tree-grass interactions
• Human and pastoral ecology
• Atmosphere-biosphere interactions
• Plant responses to herbivory
• Ecological modeling

Education

PhD. Zoology/Systems Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Co., 1978
M.S. Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 1974
B.S. Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 1973

Professional Affiliations

• Ecological Society of America and Society for Range Management

Selected Publications
Michael B. Coughenour, Harinder P.S. Makkar, Conducting national feed assessments FAO Animal Production and Health Manual No. 15. Rome, Italy , 2012

Beltrán-Przekurat, Adriana, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Joseph L. Eastman and Michael B. Coughenour, Modeling the effects of land-use/land-cover changes on the near-surface atmosphere in southern South America International Journal of Climatology. doi: 10.1002/joc.2346 , 2011

Biography

Dr. Melina Zempila is a research scientist in the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. As an atmospheric physicist she has focused on the transfer of solar radiation in the atmosphere and the remote sensing of atmospheric parameters influencing the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. She was instrumental in running the Greek UV NETwork and also responsible for the operation of the Hellenic Network of Solar Radiation. Dr. Zempila's focal point is on the atmospheric effects on the surface UV solar radiation, its impacts and the procedures used to calibrate instruments deployed in the UVMRP network.

Research Interests

• Measurements of solar radiation
• UV portion of the solar spectrum and its impacts
• Solar radiation transfer in the atmosphere-Model assimilations
• Remote sensing of atmospheric parameters
• Solar energy applications
• Advanced techniques related to solar radiation applications

Education

PhD. Environmental Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2013
M.S. Environmental Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2005
B.S. Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2003

Selected Publications
Evaluation of ozone column measurements over Greece with NILU-UV multi-channel radiometers, A. Kazantzidis, A. F. Bais, M. M. Zempila, C. Meleti, K. Eleftheratos, C. S. Zerefos, International J. of Remote Sensing, 30:15, 4273-4281, 2009

Spatial and temporal UV irradiance and aerosol variability within the area of an OMI satellite pixel, S. Kazadzis, A.F. Bais, D. Balis, N. Kouremeti, M.M. Zempila, A. Arola, E. Giannakaki, V. Amiridis, A.Kazantzidis, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 9, 4593-4601, 2009.

Calculations of the human vitamin D exposure from UV spectral measurements at three European stations, A. Kazantzidis, Α. Βais, M.M. Zempila, Stelios Kazadzis, Peter N. den Outer, Tapani Koskela and Harry Slaper., Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, DOI: 10.1039/b811216a, 03/12/2008, 2008

Biography

Maosi Chen is a postdoctoral research fellow for the UVMRP in the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. His research focuses on solar radiation transfer in the ultraviolet (UV) to near infrared regions in the atmosphere, in-situ calibration methods of ground radiometers, and solar UV impacts on plant litter decomposition.

Research Interests

• Solar UV impacts on plant litter decomposition
• In-situ calibration methods of ground radiometers
• Retrieval algorithms of atmosphere properties
• Programming (Java, Perl, IDL, C++, FORTRAN)
• Database administration

Education

PhD. Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Co. 2015
M.S. Cartography and Geographical Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, China, 2009
B.S. Information Management and Information System, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China, 2006

Selected Publications
Chen M, Davis J, Sun Z, Gao W (2015), Two-stage reference channel calibration for collocated UV and VIS Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometers. Proceeding SPIE, Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability XII: 96100L. doi:10.1117/12.2185500

Chen M, Davis J, Gao W (2014), A New Cloud Screening Algorithm for Ground-Based Direct-Beam Solar Radiation. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 31(12): 2591-2605. doi: 10.1175/JTECH-D-14-00095.1

Liu C, Chen M, Shi R, Gao W (2014), Retrievals of aerosol optical depth and total column ozone from Ultraviolet Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer measurements based on an optimal estimation technique. Frontiers of Earth Science, 8(4): 610-624. doi: 10.1007/s11707-014-0455-6

Chen M, Davis J, Tang H, Ownby C, Gao W (2013), The calibration methods for Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer: a review. Frontiers of Earth Science, 7(3): 257-270. doi: 10.1007/s11707-013-0368-9

Tang H, Chen M, Davis J, Gao W (2013), Comparison of aerosol optical depth of UV-B monitoring and research program (UVMRP), AERONET and MODIS over continental united states. Frontiers of Earth Science, 7(2): 129-140. doi: 10.1007/s11707-013-0376-9

Biography
Rita Deike is a Program Assistant and has been with the USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program since 2004, and with Colorado State University since 1986. Rita was first employed in the Registrar’s Office, in the Department of Public Relations, CSU Extension, and the Colorado 4-H Office before coming to the Program. Rita collaborates closely with the director, staff and CSU offices to discuss and review all program and university processes. Rita assists with USDA NIFA REEport and University reporting protocols. She assists with the management of annual UV-B site contracts, subcontracts, service agreements, equipment purchases, travel for field technicians and staff, and the management and responsibilities of an off-campus administrative unit.

Areas of Interest

• Budgets
• Grant writing
• Networking
• Photography

Biography
Karen Adleman is an accounting technician and has been with Colorado State University since 1995. Karen works closely with the UVMRP office manager and staff to provide technical assistance for financial transactions, and assists with the review of program contracts, subcontracts, service agreements, shipping, and travel.

Areas of Interest

• Budgets
• Biking
• Camping
• Gardening

Education
B.S. Zoology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 1980

Biography

George Janson came to this program in September 1996 to fill the second field technician position. His prior background includes over eight years with Eastman Kodak Company at their Windsor, Colorado facility; a year with ANG Coal Gasification Company in Beulah, ND; over five years with Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co, Denver; over 3 years with Choice Heat Company, Fort Collins; and over 3 years with Horizon West Property Management, Fort Collins; plus a few other short-term employments in the Front Range area. Each job involved hands-on maintenance-type work and considerable travel, providing him with an abundance of skills to meet the needs of the nascent UVMRP.

Areas of Interest

• Instrumentation
• Calibration

Education
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. 1975
A.S. Math/Science, Columbia-Green Community College, Hudson, N.Y. 1973

Biography
Bill is a retired Senior Research Associate but still works part time. Bill was the first employee of the UVB program and came to work in 1993 under Jim Gibson and David Bigelow who started the program. Bill built most of the UVB sites in the period from 1994-2001 and has serviced all of them over the years. He worked as an astronomer with the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C, Flagstaff, AZ and the South Island of New Zealand from 1975 to 1991. Bill was involved in many projects in the offices that the UVB program did over the years. Bill was always involved with checking the data and solving problems with the sites and instruments and still travels to service and repair the sites and checks the data daily from home.

Areas of Interest

• Instrumentation
• Calibration

Biography

Scott is an experience engineering technician. His strengths are trouble shooting using an analytical and systematic approach and has an excellent knowledge and understanding of the scientific/physical properties of materials and manufacturing principals. His days are spent in our machine laboratory repairing our instrumentation and troubleshooting problems in the laboratory as well as at our various sites.

Research Interests

• Circuit board design and debugging failures
• Instrumentation Calibration
• Clean Energy Technology

Education

A.A.S. Clean Energy Technology, Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, Co., 2012
AutoCAD certificate, Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, Co., 1995
B.S. Physics, Colorado State University- Pueblo, Pueblo, Co., 1986

Biography

Becky is a Senior Research Associate and has been with the project since the early 1990's. She came aboard to develop a database structure for the data that was being collected from the instruments. Since then she has also developed the web page to make it accessible to the scientific community. She has been instrumental in developing a Quality Control Plan for our data and works tirelessly on our calibration issues and data quality. Her programming language of choice is Java but has also used C, Fortran and Python.

Research Interests

• Java programming
• Web design and programming
• Database Administration
• Scientific algorithms

Education

M.S. Applied Mathematics, St. Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1979
B.S. Mathematics Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., 1974

Biography
Jonathan Straube has been a Research Associate with the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory since 1997 and has been the IT manager for UV-B Monitoring and Research Program since 2013. He is responsible for the desktop support, the network infrastructure and IT budgeting and procurement. Jonathan has also dabbled in ecosystem modeling adding a photosynthetic sub-model to the DAYCENT biogeochemical model as part of his master’s thesis requirements. His next large project will be achieving the UV-B radiation data into CSU digital data repository.

Education
MS in Graduate Degree Program in Ecology from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2011
BS in Computer Science from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 1991

Biography

Bill Parton has spent the last 40 years studying the impacts of human activity on ecosystems and the environment with a focus on climatic change research and atmosphere-biosphere interactions. He was trained as a meteorologist and has made a career as an ecosystem ecologist with a primary research focus on the development of ecosystem models which predict the impact of human activity on natural and agricultural ecosystems. He is a primary author of the DayCent, Century,and ForCent models which are widely used around the world and was involved with the development of DayCent-CHEM model . He has published numerous( greater than 150 ) papers which describe his modeling and ecosystem biogeochemical research. Dr. Parton has been a Senior Research Scientist and Professor at Colorado State University for 34 years.

Research Interests

• Web-based distribution of the CENTURY Ecosystem Model.
• Linking of the CENTURY Ecosystem Model with the RAMS Atmospheric mesoscale model.
• Linking of the CENTURY Agroecosystem Model with the ASM Economic Model.

Education

PhD. Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. 1972
M.S. Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. 1968
B.S. Meteorology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa., 1966

Professional Affiliations

• Ecological Society of America
• American Geophysical Union

Selected Publications
Cheng, K., S.M. Ogle, W.J. Parton, and G.X. Pan., Predicting methanogenesis from rice paddies using the DAYCENT ecosystem model Ecological Modelling 261: 19-31, doi:10.1013/j.ecolmodel.2013.04.003., 2013

Biography
Dr. Reddy is a professor in the Dept. of Plant and Soil Science at Mississippi State University. He teaches graduate-level courses in environmental plant physiology and crop modeling. His research focuses on environmental plant physiology, global change biology, crop modeling, and remote sensing. Dr. Reddy uses sunlit plant growth chambers to quantify basic plant physiological process responses to environmental factors and apply those functional algorithms and knowledge to develop cropping system tool to a wide range of issues.

Research Interests

• Environmental Plant Physiology
• Crop Modeling
• Global Change Biology
• Bioenergy crops

• American Society of Agronomy
• Crop Science Society of America
• Biological Systems Simulation Working Group
• Gamma Sigma Delta, MSU Chapter
• Associations of Agricultural Scientists of Indian Origin
• Crop Science Society of America
• American Society of Agronomy
• Biological Systems Simulation Working Group
• Gamma Sigma Delta, MSU Chapter

Biography
In 1999, Liang was hired as a professor at the University of Illinois Champagne, bringing with him an ambitious vision for system modeling. He wanted to create a system model to predict patterns in things including extreme weather, extreme climate, air quality, water quality, invasive species and the future of climate change. When, just over three years ago, Liang visited ESSIC to see a seminar, not knowing that he would soon apply for a position at the center. The location and size of the University of Maryland campus particularly interested Liang, who liked the idea of being surrounded by large research organizations like NASA. In early 2010, a position opened at ESSIC, and he applied and was offered the job. Liang took the job here for its location and the benefits for his team. Dr. Liang Over had over 100 publications in reviewed literature in the following journals and books.

Research Interests

• Modeling
• limate change

Biography

Zigeng Chen is a Masters student in Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University. His research focuses on subalpine tree species’ responses to UVB, and how the responses vary with the species’ traits.

Research Interests

• Community ecology
• Ecosystem responses to climate change
• Plant ecophysiology

Education
B.A. Ecosystem Science and Sustainablity, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, U.S. 2015
B.A. Geography, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, 2015