Claire Parkinson

American Earth scientist and climatologist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Claire Lucille Parkinson (born March 12, 1948) is an American Earth scientist and climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Quick facts Alma mater, Fields ...
Claire L. Parkinson
Credit: NASA/Steve Graham
Alma materWellesley College
Ohio State University
Scientific career
FieldsEarth climate
Arctic sea ice
InstitutionsOhio State University
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Goddard Space Flight Center
Close

Education

Parkinson has a B.A. in mathematics from Wellesley College, where she was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, and a Ph.D. in geography/climatology from Ohio State University.

Career

Parkinson is a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where she works with the Earth Observing System.[1][2] Parkinson has developed a computer model of sea ice, and she has done field work in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Her research emphasis has been on polar sea ice and its connections to the rest of the climate system and to climate change, with a particular emphasis on satellite remote sensing. This work has involved satellite data set generation and analysis, including the determination of decreases in Arctic sea ice coverage since the 1970s and examination of their regional and interannual variabilities and impacts, plus the quantification and analysis of the very different time series of sea ice changes in the Antarctic. Dr. Parkinson is the Project Scientist for the Aqua satellite mission, which launched in May 2002 and continues to transmit data on many atmospheric, ocean, land, and ice variables.[1][3][4] The Aqua data have been used in thousands of research publications by scientists worldwide and in numerous practical applications, including weather forecasting and forest fire detection.

Outreach

Parkinson has done considerable outreach to children and the general public, serving as the sole science advisor to the photographic exhibit “Antarctica On Thin Ice” that opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on December 17, 2007.[1] She wrote books about history of science, and is active in promoting women in science.[5]

Bibliography

Parkinson has authored more than 100 scientific publications and author or editor of 15 books, among them she is the lead author of an atlas of Arctic sea ice from satellite data and a coauthor of two other sea ice atlases.[6][7]

Books

  • Parkinson, Claire L.; Parkinson, C. L. (1985). Breakthroughs: A chronology of great achievements in science and mathematics, 1200 - 1930. Boston: Hall. ISBN 978-0-8161-8706-5.
  • Parkinson, Claire L. (1997). Earth from above: using color-coded satellite images to examine the global environment. Sausalito, Calif: University Science Books. ISBN 978-0-935702-41-5.
  • Parkinson, Claire; Greenstone, Reynold (October 2000). EOS Data Products Handbook. Vol. 2. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1494740429.
  • Parkinson, Claire; Washington, Warren (May 16, 2005). Introduction To Three-dimensional Climate Modeling (2nd ed.). University Science Books. ISBN 978-1891389351.
  • Parkinson, Claire; Ward, Alan; King, Michael (2006). Earth Science Reference Handbook. NASA.
  • Parkinson, Claire; King, Michael; Partington, Kim; Williams, Robin (November 12, 2007). Our Changing Planet: The View from Space (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521828703.
  • Parkinson, Claire (April 16, 2010). Coming Climate Crisis?: Consider the Past, Beware the Big Fix. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0742568303.
  • Parkinson, Claire; Millar, Pamela; Thaller, Michelle (2011). Women of Goddard : careers in science, technology, engineering & mathematics. Cambridge University Press.

Selected publications

Honors and awards

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI