Earth Science Division

• First to predict that PSCs could form from nitric acid, not just ice. First to point out the important role that PSCs play in ozone chemistry by removing NO_x

• First to confirm this theory with direct in situ measurements of O₃ vs Cl

• First to demonstrate that select man-made halocarbons could be used to estimate the global concentration of OH radicals

• First to propose that organic nitrate compounds (such as PAN) must be ubiquitous components of the global troposphere, serving as temporary reservoirs of NO_x

• First to show how aerosols in ship exhaust can trigger long-lived cloud lines that appear in visible satellite imagery

• First to point out that aircraft exhaust could modify cirrus cloud

• First to measure aerosol particle growth in volcanic injections (Pinatubo) having strong cooling effects and contrary to some early models

• First to quantify the "Arctic haze" solar heating and the subsequent impact on the Arctic radiative energy budget

• First to show the Kuwaiti fires have only a temporary regional effect (not global)

• First airborne observations of the Super Greenhouse Effect over the central Pacific Ocean

• First to use field experiment data to show that solar absorption by clouds exceeds theoretical estimates by as much as 30%

• First measurement of soot aerosol samples in the exhaust wake of a supersonic Concorde aircraft by the NASA ER-2 on October 8, 1994, near New Zealand

• First to show that moderate amounts of soot can drastically reduce daytime cloud coverage in the tropics

• First to show that subvisible cirrus could be limiting the flux of water into the stratosphere

• First to show that 30% excess solar absorption by clouds implies unrealistic daytime evaporation in model simulations of marine stratocumulus

• First to quantify the stratospheric denitrification process and its effect on ozone recovery based on UARS observations

• First to observe that mountain waves in the Arctic stratosphere can drive temperatures below the formation point for Polar Stratospheric Clouds, which play a major role in ozone depletion

• First to observe methyl bromide production in tropical fire plumes

• First to show biochemical absorption in leaves and canopies by imaging spectrometry

• First to measure and model sources and controls of N biogenic trace gases

• First to develop and test a malaria transmission risk model for Mexico based on landuse/landcover derived from satellite data

• First to demonstrate the peridomestic risk of lyme disease using satellite imagery. NASA also was the first to develop and test a predictive model for individual risk for an infectious disease based upon satellite imagery

• First to correlate remotely sensed sea surface height and sea surface temperature with cholera cases

• First to map the spread of phylloxera disease in U.S. vineyards