Recent advances in machine learning hold great potential for converting a deluge of data into weather forecasts that are fast, accurate, and detailed.
remote sensing
A Better Way to Measure Cloud Composition
An enhanced satellite remote sensing suite accurately measures ice particles, temperature, and water vapor.
Salinity from Space Improves El Niño Forecasts
Assimilating satellite observations of ocean surface salinity significantly improves coupled model forecasts of El Niño.
Monitoring Volcanic Craters with Infrasound “Music”
Volcanic craters act as giant horns that emit intense low-frequency sounds. Changes in this infrasound may be used to track rising lava lakes and identify signals of future eruptions.
Seismic Clues to Surging Glaciers
Measuring seismic waves passing through a glacier suggests that not only is liquid water playing a role in periodic surging but the water is channeled into cracks from across the ice.
A New Way of Visualizing Iceland’s Crustal Deformation
A novel method of calculating strain rates from GPS data shows the South Iceland Seismic Zone is experiencing rapid deformation, including inflation near the island’s most active volcano.
Measuring Explosive Events on Earth from the Ionosphere
Natural and manmade explosive events occurring on or below the Earth’s surface can be measured remotely in different ways and different places from the ionosphere.
The Thermosphere Responds to a Weaker Than Normal Solar Cycle
Infrared emissions from nitric oxide and carbon dioxide in Earth’s upper atmosphere, which are closely tied to incoming solar radiation, are drastically lower than in the previous solar cycle.
Improving Retrievals for Vertically Inhomogeneous Warm Clouds
Cloud droplet size changes with height, but passive sensors are virtually blind to see it; however, combining passive with active sensors helps profile it in vertically inhomogeneous warm clouds.
Observing Volcanoes from Space
The first multidecadal, satellite-based study of Latin America’s most active volcanoes could help researchers better predict eruptions.
