Susan Kulawik

Affiliation: Bay Area Environment Research Institute (BAERI) 

Branch: Atmospheric Science Branch (SGG)

Email: susan.s.kulawik@nasa.gov

Phone: 650-604-0958

Professional Biography

Principal Investigator of ROSES project “Reducing OCO-2 regional biases through novel 3D cloud, albedo, and meteorology estimation” 

Co-Investigator of ROSES projects involving the development of PeroxyAcetyl Nitrate (PAN) (Vivienne Payne, Principal Investigator) and MEaSUREs project developing long-term carbon dioxide records (Vineet Yadev,, Principal Investigator) 

Algorithm development and prototyping for trace gases in TROPESS project including AIRS, CrIS, OCO-2, TES, and other satellites, including error analysis, constraint optimization, spectral window optimization, and development of quality flags (Kevin Bowman, Principal Investigator) 

Education

Ph.D., Physics, University of Michigan, 1999. 

M.A., Physics, University of Michigan, 1995. 

B.A., Physics, Ohio State University, 1991. 

Research Interests

Optimal estimation approaches in atmospheric remote sensing to develop and characterize tropospheric products, Using satellite data to understand air quality, Using satellite data to understand the carbon cycle.

Awards & Others

2019: NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal, for exceptional achievement in atmospheric remote sensing, enabling development of new atmospheric composition products and algorithmic advances across NASA missions. 

Select Publications

Shogrin, MJ, Payne, VH, Kulawik, SS, Miyazaki, K, Fischer, EV: Spatiotemporal variability of peroxy acyl nitrates (PANs) over Mexico City from TES and CrIS satellite measurements, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 1-23, 2022. 

Worden, HM, Francis, GL Kulawik, SS, Bowman, KW, Cady-Pereira, K, Fu, D et al., TROPESS/CrIS carbon monoxide profile validation with NOAA GML and ATom in situ aircraft observations, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 15 (18), 5383-5398, 2022 

Kulawik, SS, Worden, JR, Payne, VH, Fu, D, Wofsy, SC McKain, K, et al.: Evaluation of single-footprint AIRS CH4 profile retrieval uncertainties using aircraft profile measurements, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 14 (1), 335-354 13, 2021 

Juncosa Calahorrano, JF, Payne, VH, Kulawik, S., Ford, B, Flocke, F, et al.: Evolution of Acyl Peroxynitrates (PANs) in Wildfire Smoke Plumes Detected by the Cross‐Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) Over the Western US During Summer 2018.  Geophysical Research Letters 48 (23), e2021GL093405 4, 2021 

Kulawik, S. S., Worden, J. R., Payne, V. H., Fu, D., Wofsy, S. C., McKain, K., Sweeney, C., Daube Jr., B. C., Lipton, A., Polonsky, I., He, Y., Cady-Pereira, K. E., Dlugokencky, E. J., Jacob, D. J., and Yin, Y.: Evaluation of single-footprint AIRS CH4 profile retrieval uncertainties using aircraft profile measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 335–354, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-335-2021, 2021. 

Buchholz, RR, Worden, HM, Park, M, Francis, G, Deeter, MN, Edwards, DW, … Kulawik, SS, et al.: Air pollution trends measured from Terra: CO and AOD over industrial, fire-prone, and background regions.  Remote Sensing of Environment 256, 112275, 26, 2021 

Kulawik, S. S., O’Dell, C., Nelson, R. R., and Taylor, T. E.: Validation of OCO-2 error analysis using simulated retrievals, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5317–5334, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5317-2019, 2019. 

Worden, J. R., Kulawik, S. S., Fu, D., Payne, V. H., Lipton, A. E., Polonsky, I., He, Y., Cady-Pereira, K., Moncet, J.-L., Herman, R. L., Irion, F. W., and Bowman, K. W.: Characterization and evaluation of AIRS-based estimates of the deuterium content of water vapor, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2331–2339, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2331-2019, 2019. 

Fu, D., Kulawik, S. S., Miyazaki, K., Bowman, K. W., Worden, J. R., Eldering, A., Livesey, N. J., Teixeira, J., Irion, F. W., Herman, R. L., Osterman, G. B., Liu, X., Levelt, P. F., Thompson, A. M., and Luo, M.: Retrievals of tropospheric ozone profiles from the synergism of AIRS and OMI: methodology and validation, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5587–5605, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5587-2018, 2018. 

Kulawik. SS, O’Dell, C, Payne VH, Kuai, L, Worden HM, Biraud, SC, et al.:,Lower-tropospheric CO2 from near-infrared ACOS-GOSAT observations, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17 (8), 5407-5438 

Kulawik, SS, Wunch, D, O’Dell, C, Frankenberg, C, Reuter, M, Oda, T, et al.: Consistent evaluation of ACOS-GOSAT, BESD-SCIAMACHY, CarbonTracker, and MACC through comparisons to TCCON, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 9 (2), 683-709, 2016. 

Press Releases

https://baeri.org/nasa-honors-baer-institute-scientists/  “Dr. Kulawik, a researcher in the Atmospheric Science Branch within NASA Ames’ Earth Science Division, is recognized for her exceptional achievement in atmospheric remote sensing.” 

https://baeri.org/dr-susan-kulawik-publishes-breakthrough-article-on-satellite-observations-of-co2/  “Dr. Kulawik’s paper discusses a new analysis of the data which discriminates between carbon dioxide near the surface and carbon dioxide above 2.5 km.  Carbon dioxide near the surface is heavily influenced by regional effects, whereas carbon dioxide above 2.5 km is more likely to be transported from up to thousands of miles away.” 

Cited in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sixth Assessment https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2019rf/pdf/1_Volume1/19R_V1_Ch06_QA_QC.pdf, page 14.