CEE Graduate Student Selected for Summer Policy Colloquium

Nasrin Nasrollahi, a second-year Ph.D. candidate working in the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS) with Distinguished Professor Soroosh Sorooshian, Ph.D., and Associate Adjunct Professor Kuo-lin Hsu, Ph.D., has been selected as one of the 50 participants in the 2011 American Meteorological Society (AMS) Summer Policy Colloquium in Washington, D.C., June 5-14, 2011.

Narollahi’s main objective in her research is to develop a multi-spectral, multi-satellite precipitation retrieval algorithm. The idea is to improve precipitation algorithms by taking advantage of additional NASA satellites, including CloudSat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), which are not currently being used in operational precipitation products.

Her approach intends to utilize supplementary sources of information on cloud characteristics in order to detect non-precipitating clouds and eliminate false precipitation estimates from satellites. The improved global precipitation data will be available to the scientific community and decision makers for research and application purposes.

The AMS Summer Policy Colloquium brings a select group to Washington, D.C. for an intense, 10-day immersion in atmospheric policy. The Colloquium provides an overview of policy basics, how decisions are made governing the course and future of atmospheric science, and opportunities for participants to meet and dialog with the federal officials, Congressional staffers and others who make those decisions.

Participants in the Colloquium include mid-level federal managers and scientists, mid-level private sector executives, university faculty, and selected graduate students of demonstrated scientific and leadership potential.