Dr. Pengwang Zhai wins NASA Award

NASA has selected Pengwang Zhai as a science team member of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. Pengwang Zhai is an associate professor in the Physics Department, UMBC. His research group will develop a state-of-the-art radiative transfer simulator for the three PACE payloads: Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2, and aerosol polarimeter SPEXone. Moreover, Dr. Zhai will also contribute to a remote sensing algorithm which retrieves aerosol and ocean color properties from the PACE polarimeter measurements. This research will lead to more accurate and reliable remote sensing tools for coastal and in-land waters, which is important for advancing the PACE science.