
Contact Information
1301 W. Green St.
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Areas
Research Interests
Vertical Variability of Cloud Amounts with Climate Change in the Satellite Record
Research Description
The poor representation of clouds in global climate models (GCMs) remain the single largest source of uncertainty in climate modeling studies. In order to better test and constrain GCMs, it is imperative to have accurate, long-term global measurements of cloud structure and properties on the scale that only our long-term passive sensors on satellites, such as MISR or MODIS can provide us. Cloud-top-height (CTH) is one of the most important cloud properties for climate research, with an increase of cloud heights leading to a net warming effect on the Earth's climate while a lowering scenario would lead to net cooling.
With that in mind, the overarching goal of my research is to –
(i) improve our capabilities in detecting cloud vertical structure, especially under conditions of cloud overlap,
(ii) recognize and remove systematic biases in our satellite records of cloud top height (CTH) by combining products from multiple platforms, 3D radiative transfer (RT) simulations and measurements from field campaigns, and,
(iii) analyze fused satellite products of nearly two decades to detect long-term trends and address the possibility of multi-decadal cloud feedbacks in our satellite records.
Education
- Master of Science (M.Sc.), Physics, Presidency University, Kolkata, India. 2015-17.
- Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Physics, Presidency University, Kolkata, India. 2012-15.
- The Assembly of God Church School (Tollygunj), Kolkata, India. 1998-2012.
Awards and Honors
Best Student Poster (Honorary Mention). EUMETSAT-NOAA-AMS Joint Satellite Meterology Conference, Boston 2019.
American Geophysical Union Michael H. Freilich Student Visualization Competition (2021) Program, Runner-Up
External Links
I volunteer with the American Geophysical Union's Thriving Earth Exchange Program, as a Community Science Fellow (July 2021 Cohort) working with Greenville, SC community leaders to address the community science needs of the New Washington Heights Community. Read more about the project at: https://thrivingearthexchange.org/project/greenville-sc/
Highlighted Publications
- Mitra, A., Di Girolamo, L., Hong, Y., Zhan, Y., & Mueller, K. J. (2021). Assessment and error analysis of Terra-MODIS and MISR cloud-top heights through comparison with ISS-CATS lidar. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126, e2020JD034281. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD034281
- Tulasi Ram, S., Sai Gowtam, V., Mitra, A., & Reinisch, B. (2018). The improved two-dimensional artificial neural network-based ionospheric model (ANNIM). Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 123, 5807–5820. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025559