Last updated in Dec. 2020.
Dr. Zhibo Zhang
Professor
Physics Department
Associate Director of JCET
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Email: zzbatmos@umbc.edu
Phone: (410) 455-6315
Education and Experiences:
Ph.D. 2008 Texas A&M University
B.A. 2001 Nanjing University
Experience in Higher Education:
2021 – present UMBC, Physics Dept. Professor
2014 – 2019, Physics Dept. Graduate Program Director, ATPH
2016 – 2021 UMBC, Physics Dept. Associate Professor
2011 – 2016 UMBC, Physics Dept. Assistant Professor
Experience in Other than Higher Education
05/2011 – 09/2011 JCET/UMBC Assistant Research Scientist
11/2009 – 05/2011 GEST/UMBC Postdoc Research Associate
Honors Received:
2016 International Radiation Commission (IRC) Young Scientist Award
2014 NASA New (Early Career) Investigator Program Award
2013 ~ Present Member of NASA PACE Mission Science Definition Team
2011 ~ Present Member of NASA MODIS Science Team
2013 ~ Present Member of NASA CALIPO/CloudSat Science Team
2007 AGU 2007 Fall Meeting Outstanding Student Paper Award
2005 Geosciences Graduate Excellence Scholarship, TAMU
2000 People’s Scholarship, Nanjing University, China
1998 People’s Scholarship, Nanjing University, China
Mentorship
A. Postdocs:
Dr. Hyoun-Myoung Cho (2011 ~ 2014)
Dr. Frank Werner (2014 ~ 2018)
Dr. Hua Song (2015 ~ 2018)
Dr. Chamara Raja (2020-present)
Dr. Daniel Miller (2020-present)
B. Ph.D. Students:
2020 – Present Achala Denagamage Physics Dept. Committee Chair
2020 – Present Jianyu Zheng Physics Dept Committee Chair
2016 – Present Qianqian Song Physics Dept Committee Chair
2012 – 2017 Daniel Miller Physics Dept Committee Chair
2020 – Present Neranga Kaluappuwa Physics Dept. Committee Member
2020 – Present Pei Guo Information Systems Committee Member
2020 – Present Noah Sienkiewicz Physics Dept Committee Member
2020 – Present Ken Pryor Physics Dept Committee Member
2018 – Present Matthew Mclinden GES Committee Member
2016 – Present Brent McBride Physics Dept Committee Member
2016 – 2020 Brian Carroll Physics Dept Committee Member
2016 – 2020 Lipi Mukherjee Physics Dept Committee Member
2013 – 2017 Reed Espinosa Physics Dept Committee Member
2013 –2017 Edward Strobach Physics Dept Committee Member
2014 – 2017 Daniel Orozco Physics Dept Committee Member
2014 – 2015 John Sullivan Physics Dept Committee Member
2012 – 2013 Li Zhu Physics Dept Committee Member
2011 – 2013 Patricia Sawamura Physics Dept Committee Member
2013 –2013 Gergely Dolgos Physics Dept Committee Member
C. M.S. Students:
9/2014 – 7/2016 Roy Prouty Physics Dept Committee Chair
9/2013 – 6/2014 Nigel Anton Physics Dept Committee Chair
D. Undergraduate Students
2018 – Present Olivia Norman Supported by UMBC fellowship (URAS)
2017 – Present Erik Shepherd Supported by NASA fellowship and intern
2015 – 2016 David Lyon Supported by UMBC fellowship (URAS)
2011 – 2012 Brent McBride Supported by UMBC fellowship (URAS):
Teaching
PHYS 220: Intro. Computational Physics
PHYS 408: Modern Optics
PHYS 640: Computational Physics
PHYS 621: Atmospheric Physics I
PHYS 721 Radiative Transfer
Research Support and/or Fellowships:
Current Support
(Over 6 Million external research grants from NASA, NSF and DOE to UMBC)
- Current Support
Project/Proposal Title: CyberTraining: DSE: Cross-Training of Researchers in Computing, Applied Mathematics and Atmospheric Sciences using Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Resources
Source of Support: NSF
UMBC Award Amount: $499,971
Award Period Covered: 09/01/17 – 08/31/20
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: Co-I
Project/Proposal Title: Efficient and Flexible Aggregation and Distribution of MODIS Atmospheric Products based on Climate Analytics-as-a-Service Framework
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Award Amount: $274,953
Award Period Covered: 03/27/18 – 03/26/20
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: Co-I
Project/Proposal Title: Understanding the Variability and Net Radiative Effect of Mineral Dust in Recent Decades by Using Satellite Measurements from Terra, Aqua, and Suomi NPP
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Award Amount: $217,996
Award Period Covered: 07/01/17 – 06/30/20
Location of Project: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Role: Co-I
Project/Proposal Title: Improving our understanding on the Link between Aerosols, Marine Stratocumulus Clouds and Radiative Effects: Combining Novel Cloud Classification Approach with Satellites, Airborne Observations and Climate Models
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Budget: $92,861
Award Period Covered: 07/01/19 – 06/30/22
Location of Project: NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL)
Role: Co-I
Project/Proposal Title: Using CloudSat and CALIPSO observations to assess and inform Global Climate Model hydrometeor generators about the horizontal and vertical subgrid variability of clouds and precipitation
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Budget: $126,105
Award Period Covered: 09/01/19 – 08/30/22
Location of Project: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Role: Co-I
Project/Proposal Title: Using IIR, CALIOP and Other Satellite Observations to Better Understand the Thermal Infrared Optical Depth and Radiative Effects of Dust Aerosols
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Budget: $584,408
Award Period Covered: 09/01/19 – 08/30/22
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: PI
Project/Proposal Title: Investigate the Radiative and Microphysical Effects of Above-cloud Dust Aerosols in North-East Atlantic
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Budget: $135,000
Award Period Covered: 09/01/19 – 08/31/22
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: PI (Student fellowship: Qianqian Song FINESST)
Project/Proposal Title: Characterizing the Variation and Covariation of Cloud Microphysical Properties and Implications for Simulation of Subgrid-scale Warm-Rain Processes in Earth System Models
Source of Support: DOE
UMBC Budget: $598,016
Award Period Covered: 09/01/19 – 08/31/22
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: PI
Project/Proposal Title: Remote sensing of cloud properties using PACE SPEXone and HARP2
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Budget: $259,582
Award Period Covered: 02/01/2020 – 01/31/23
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: Co-I
Project/Proposal Title: Developing Passive Satellite Cloud Remote Sensing Algorithms using Collocated Observations, Numerical Simulation and Deep Learning
Source of Support: NASA
UMBC Budget: $1,479,068
Award Period Covered: 10/01/2020 – 09/31/23
Location of Project: UMBC
Role: Co-I
Completed
2013~2016 Title: “Investigating the Impacts of Absorbing Aerosols Overlying Marine Boundary Layer Clouds over the Southeast Atlantic Ocean: Aerosol-Adjusted Cloud Optical Properties and Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing”
Role: Co-I
Funding Agency: NASA
2013~2016 Title: “Enhancing CALIPSO’s Capability of Measuring Above-Cloud Absorbing Aerosols and Assessing Aerosol Long-Range Transport and Radiative Effects Through an A-Train Integration”
Role: Co-I
Funding Agency: NASA
2014~2017 Title: “Quantifying the direction radiative effects of above-cloud aerosols over global ocean using multiple NASA datasets”
Role: PI
Funding Agency: NASA
2014~2017 Title: “Using MODIS, ASTER, CloudSat and large-eddy-simulation to better understand the microphysical and optical properties of heterogeneous and precipitating marine boundary layer clouds”
Role: PI
Funding Agency: NASA
2014~2017 Title: “Investigating cloud horizontal structure and 3D radiative transfer effects on passive remote sensing of marine boundary layer clouds: An integrated study of NASA field campaign data and large-eddy simulations”
Role: PI (My student’s NASA fellowship)
Funding Agency: NASA
2014~2017 Title: “Retrieval Studies In Support of Cloud Property Products from the PACE Ocean Color Imager ”
Role: Co-I
Funding Agency: NASA
2015~2018 Title: “EVALUATION OF NCAR CAM5 SIMULATED MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER CLOUD PROPERTIES USING A COMBINATION OF SATELLITE AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS”
Role: PI
Funding Agency: DOE
2011~2014 Title: “Toward a better understanding of the vertical structure of marine boundary layer clouds using MODIS observations and large-eddy simulation models”
Role: PI
Funding Agency: NASA
SERVICE TO THE DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY, COMMUNITY, AND PROFESSION
Service to the UMBC
2019 – Present Associated Director of Academics for JCET
2017– Present Member of UMBC IT Steering Committee
2016 – Present Governance committee for UMBC High-Performance Computing Facility
2014 – 2019 Graduate Program Director, Atmospheric Physics
2018 2019 Member of Search Committee for Pre-professorate researcher in ATPH
2013 2014 Chair of Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Atmos. Phys.
2011 – 2014 Advisor for Physics Majors
2012 – 2013 Member of Departmental Affairs Committee.
2012 – 2014 Member of Department Affiliation Committee
2012 – 2014 Member of Departmental Strategic Planning Committee
Service to the Community
- Leadership
2020 – Present President of Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
2017 – Present Representative of UMBC for University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
2019 – Present Member of the Atmospheric Chemistry Committee, American Meteorological Society
- Editorship
2020 – Present Associated Editor Remote Sensing of Environment
2012 – Present Associated Editor Advances in Atmospheric Sciences
2019 – Present Guest Editor Special Issues in Remote Sensing
Ad hoc reviewer of the Following Journals
- Remote sensing of environment
- Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmosphere
- Monthly Weather Review
- Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
- Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer
- Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
- Atmospheric Research
- Applied Optics
- Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
- Theoretical and Applied Climatology
- Advance in Atmospheric Science
- Scientific Online Letter on the Atmosphere
- Proposal/Panel Review
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Department of Energy
- Netherland Organization for Scientific Research
- Conference/Meeting/Workshop Organizer
- Session Chair: Aerosol-Radiation Interactions, American Geophysics Union Fall meeting 2019, San Francisco.
- Session Chair: Observing and Simulating Aerosol-Cloud-Radiation Interactions in a 3-D Atmosphere, American Geophysics Union Fall meeting 2019, San Francisco.
- Session Chair: Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Dust and Ash: Techniques and Applications, American Geophysics Union Fall meeting 2019, San Francisco
- Session Chair: Advances in observational and modeling studies of role of mineral dust in the Earth system, AMS annual meeting 2019
- Session Co-chair Impacts of aerosols on radiation, Eighth Symposium on Aerosol–Cloud–Climate Interactions, AMS annual meeting 2016
- Session Co-chair Impacts of aerosols on radiation, Ninth Symposium on Aerosol–Cloud–Climate Interactions, AMS annual meeting 2017
- Session Co-chair Impacts of aerosols on radiation, Tenth Symposium on Aerosol–Cloud–Climate Interactions, AMS annual meeting 2018
- Workshop Convenor: 1st PACE-OCI-Polarimeter workshop at UMBC Oct. 2018, UMBC
- Workshop Convenor: 2nd PACE-OCI-Polarimeter workshop at UMBC Oct. 2019, UMBC