Title

Associate Professor

Education

Ph.D. Earth and Planetary Science, The Johns Hopkins University, 1992
M.A. Earth and Planetary Science, The Johns Hopkins University, 1990
B.S. Physics, Rhodes College, 1985, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Previous Experience

Prior to joining the UMBC Physics Department, Dr. McMillan was a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Professional Interests

Global, regional, and local measurements of pollution are necessary to monitor the health of the atmosphere, to assess human impacts on the environment, and to support forecasting of significant pollution events. My research combines the analysis of satellite and ground-based retrievals from infrared spectra of two key components of atmospheric pollution: carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone. As a member of the science team for NASA's Aqua satellite based Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS), I have overseen validation and optimization of AIRS CO retrievals. My Atmospheric Remote-sensing Facility (ARF) is home to the Baltimore Bomem Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (BBAERI), the first commercial prototype ground-based infrared sounder.

The now more than six years of AIRS data provides the large scale context for my group's research into local and regional air quality, boundary layer mixing, climatic influences on biomass burning, and the exchange of gases between the troposphere and stratosphere. AIRS daily global views of CO enable us to see the motion of pollution similarly to our perspective of weather. Analysis of regional aircraft data acquired through NASA field experiments is critical to these integrated investigations in collaboration with teams of national and international researchers in atmospheric physics, chemistry, and dynamical modeling. The latest products in development by ARF are retrievals of near surface CO2 from BBAERI and similar ground-based instruments.

Selected Publications

“AIRS views of transport from 12-22 July 2004 Alaskan/Canadian fires: Correlation of AIRS CO and MODIS AOD with forward trajectories and comparison of AIRS CO retrievals with DC-8 in situ measurements during INTEX-A/ICARTT,” McMillan, W. W., J. X. Warner, M. M. Comer, E. Maddy, A. Chu, L. Sparling, E. W. Eloranta, R. M. Hoff, G. Sachse, C. Barnet, I. A. Razenkov, and W. Wolf, J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2007JD009711 (2008).

“Global AIRS and MOPITT CO Measurements: Validation, Comparison, and Links to Biomass Burning Variations and Carbon Cycle,” Yurganov, L., McMillan, W. W., Dzhola, A, Grechko, E., Jones, N., van der Werf, G., J. Geophys. Res, 113, D09301, doi:10.1029/2007JD009229 (2008).

“Arctic smoke – record air pollution levels in the European Arctic during a period of abnormal warmth, due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe” Stohl, A., T. Berg, A. M. Fjæraa, C. Forster, A. Herber, C. Lunder, W. W. McMillan, S. Oltmans, S. Solberg, K. Stebel, J. Ström, K. Tørseth, K. E. Yttri, Atmos. Chem. Physics, 7, 511-534 (2007).

“Alaskan and Canadian forest fires exacerbate ozone pollution over Houston, Texas, on 19 and 20 July 2004” Morris, G., S. Hersey, A.M. Thompson, O.R. Cooper, A. Stohl, P.R. Colarco, W.W. McMillan, J. Warner, B.J. Johnson, J.C. Witte, T.L. Kucsera, D.E. Larko, and S.J. Oltmans, J. Geophys. Res., 111(D24S03), doi:101029/2006JD007090 (2006).

“Daily Global Maps of Carbon Monoxide from NASA's Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder” McMillan, W. W., C. Barnet, L. Strow, M. Chahine, J. Warner, M. McCourt, P. Novelli, S. Korontzi, E. Maddy, S. Datta, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L11801, doi:10.1029/2004GL012821 (2005).

“Tropospheric carbon monoxide measurements from the Scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder on September 7, 2000, in southern Africa during SAFARI” McMillan, W. W., M. McCourt, H. Revercomb, R. O. Knuteson, T. J. Christian, B. G. Doddridge, P. V. Hobbs, J. V. Lukovich, P. C. Novelli, S. J. Piketh, L. Sparling, D. Stein, R. J. Swap, R. J. Yokelson, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D20307, doi:10.1029/2004JD004805 (2004).

“Retrieval of tropospheric CO column density from AERI spectra: Case study during March 2-4, 1998” He, H., W. W. McMillan, R. Knuteson, W. Feltz, Atmospheric Environment, 35(3), 509-514 (2001).