[[IMAGE||/system/internal_resources/details/original/72_shapeimage_1_2.jpg||Left||237||shapeimage_1_2||||||323||]]JPL researcher Moustafa Chahine is the 2010 winner of the George W. Goddard award in recognition of his exceptional achievement in optical science and instrumentation for aerospace and atmospheric research.

The Goddard Award is given annually by the International Society for Optical Engineering in recognition of exceptional achievement in optical or photonic instrumentation for aerospace, atmospheric science or astronomy. The award is for the invention and development of a new technique, photonic instrumentation, instrument or system. An honorarium of $2,000 will be presented.

Chahine, JPL's former chief scientist and currently science team leader for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft, is internationally recognized for his work in atmospheric remote sensing and its applications to weather and climate research. He is credited with developing an efficient inversion algorithm known as the 'relaxation method' to convert satellite data to atmospheric variables, such as temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide. The AIRS CO2 data from 2002 onward have been released to the research community and are available at http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/AIRS/data-holdings. The AIRS data show a previously unknown belt of carbon dioxide enhancement surrounding the southern hemisphere at a height of 3-10 miles above the surface.

A time-series visualization of the global distribution and spatial variation of the concentration of mid-tropospheric CO2 observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder is available at

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003600/a003685.

[[IMAGE||/system/internal_resources/details/original/73_PIA12339_modest.jpg||Left||300||PIA12339_modest||||||243||]]The AIRS data show a previously unknown belt of carbon dioxide enhancement surrounding the southern hemisphere at a height of 3-10 miles above the surface.