chinese-american oceanic and atmospheric association · chinese‐american oceanic and atmospheric...

Chinese‐AmericanOceanicandAtmosphericAssociationE‐News,Issue34,June2011

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Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

Mail Box: P. O. Box 1293, Greenbelt, MD 20768, USA

Web Page: http://www.coaaweb.org Editor: Yaping Zhou

(Flyer for COAA’s first Distinguished Scholar Sysmposium)

TableofContents

1. COAAelect2011‐2012boardmembers 2. COAA2011ChineseNew‐Yearluncheon3. COAAITECWorkshopfortheCMAWuhanRegionalClimateCenter 4. COAA2011DistinguishedScholarSymposium 5. CallforcontributionstoCOAAnewsletter

AbouttheCOAACOAA is a member‐led, all inclusive, non‐profit, professional association supporting itsmembers and promoting excellence in oceanic and atmospheric sciences and relatedactivities. Members have many opportunities to share information, news, studies andconcerns related to the fields of oceanic and atmospheric sciences through boardwork,submitting correspondence or articles to the COAA Newsletter, leading workshops andmakingpresentationsattheAnnualMeetings,makingcontributionstotheCOAAwebsite,and networking with people in a wide variety of careers (from well‐known seniorprofessionalstoyoungenvironmentalenthusiasts).

RenewmembershipanddonatetoCOAAthroughpaypalonlineat http://www.coaaweb.org/donate.php

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COAABoardofDirectorsfor2011‐2012President:FuzhongWeng(NOAA)President‐elect:Kung‐Hwa(Peter)Wang(NOAA)Secretary:ZhiboZhang(GSFC) Program(Atmosphere):Jian‐JianWang(GSFC)Program(Ocean):YongXie(NOAA)Treasury:HaifengQian(NOAA)Membership:CanLi(GSFC)Publicity:AijunZhang(NOAA)Newsletter:YapingZhou(GSFC)Webmaster:TianleYuan(GSFC)


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1.COAAelect2011‐2012boardmembersJanuary2011‐The2011COAAannualmeetingwas held at the University of Maryland,College Park on Saturday, January 8, 2011.ThiseventbroughttogethermanyofCOAA'spast boardmembers, as well as many newfriends.Exiting President Charles Sun presided overthe first half of the meeting when hesummarized COAA’s achievements in thepast year and directed the election of thenew board members. Five new boardmembers were elected for the 2011~2013term, including the new President‐elect Dr.Kung‐Hwa (Peter) Wang from NOAA, Drs.Jian‐Jian Wang (Program for Atmosphere),Can Li (Membership) and Tianle Yuan(Webmaster) from GSFC and Dr. Yong Xie(Program for Ocean) from GMU. The newboardwill be led by the newPresident, Dr.FuzhongWeng. Dr. Charles Sun offered tocontinuetakingcareofCOAA’sCFCfundandtoprovideguidancewhennecessary.After an official handover of COAA’spresidency, new president Dr. FuzhongWengwelcomedallthenewboardmembersand discussed his perspective and majorplansforthecomingyear.

(Dr.CharlesSunpassedCOAA‘sofficialsealto newPresidentDr. FuzhongWeng.NewsprovidedbyDr.HaifengQian)

2.COAA2011ChineseNewYearluncheon

February 2011 – The COAA celebratedChinese New Year with a luncheon at theHunan Manner Restaurant in Columbia onFebruary 12, 2011. Nearly 30 scholars andtheir families attended this special event,including current and several former COAApresident,Dr.FuzhongWeng,Dr.WilliamK.M.Lau,Dr.DalinZhangandDr.ZhanqingLi.TheCEOandpresidentofCOAA’sCorporateMember, ERT Inc., Dr. Jingli Yang and Dr.Peter Li, respectively, also attended theevent.

During the luncheon, President FuzhongWeng represented COAA to wish allmembers a happy and prosperous ChineseNewYear.Attendeesexchangedmanyideasfor COAA’s future development, especiallyontheissuesrelatedtoCOAA’sInternationalTechnology Exchange Center (ITEC), its


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potentialsignificance,andthesupervisionofitsdirectionandoperation.Several COAA exiting and continuing boardmembers, i.e. Drs. Charles Sun, RonghuaZhang, Xianjun Hao, Ningli Wang, HaifengQian and Zhibo Zhang received specialawards from President Fuzhong Weng fortheiroutstandingcontributionstoCOAA.Theluncheonwasfilledwithwarmgreetingsand friendship. It ended with a fun rafflethatsymbolizedgoodluckforthewinnersintheChineseRabbitYear.

(More photos can be found athttp://www.coaaweb.org,newsprovidedbyDr.HaifengQian)3.COAAITEC2011workshopfortheCMAWuhanRegionalClimateCenterThroughMarch 29 ‐ April 5, 2011, the COAAInternational Technology Exchange Center(ITEC) hosted a training workshop entitled"Emergency Response and ManagementTraining Program" for six delegates fromCMAWuhanRegionalClimateCenter.

The visiting group arrived at WashingtonD.C.onMarch29th,2011leadbyDr.HuanyinHuang, Chief of the Forecasting DivisionfromHubeiWeatherBureau,andtheDeputyDirector Dr. Zhou Yuehua. The group alsoincluded one senior engineer, Mr. LiuJinghui, and three engineers, Mr. Liu

Zhixiong, Mr. Gao Zhengxu and Mr. WangFangfang. The purpose of the visit was tostudy climate and hazardmonitoring in theUS, atmospheric chemical and physicalprocesses, and their modeling to supportlocal,stateandfederalpolicy‐makersonthestrategies for predicting weather andclimate and for minimizing the impacts ofhumanactivitiesonclimate.

The delegationwas hosted by COAA ITEC’sprojectdirectorandNOAAresearchscientistDr. Qian Haifeng. During this week‐longperiod the delegates visited several localresearch institutes, i.e.NOAANESDIS/NCEP,UniversityofMarylandCollegePark,andtheclimate research company IMSG. Specialseminars were arranged for the Chinesedelegates at each Institute. At NOAA’sClimate Prediction Center, Dr. Du Junpresented a new concept of determiningmanagement and emergency response inweather forecasting with more effectiveskills. Dr.WangWanqiu introduced NOAA’slatest Climate Forecast System (CFS)forecasts while Dr. Song Yang introducedCPC’s research and operations. Dr. ZhouYuehua also presented a brief introductionofWuhanRegionalClimateCenter.

In the UMD session, the delegation visitedthe COAA ITEC located in the University ofMaryland, College Park and held aprofessional exchange forum. ProfessorDalin Zhang from the Department ofAtmosphericandOceanicSciencepresented


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the latest modeling study of urbanizationeffects on theBaltimoremetropolitan area.Dr. Quanan Zheng, also from theDepartment of Atmospheric and OceanicScience, gave a talk on the US FederalEmergency Management Agency (FEMA).Dr. Yuehua Zhou presented a briefintroduction of the current status of theWuhan Regional Climate Center andafterwards, both parties exchangeddiscussion. The delegates were impressedby the US emergency response proceduresand measures and felt greatly benefitedfrom the visit. They suggested that bothsides conductmore in‐depth cooperation inthe futureonthetopicsof interest, suchasurbanizationeffects.

In the IMSG section, IMSGCEOVanceHam,Vice President Paul Chan, Chief scientistDr.Le Jiangand thedelegatesexchanged theirviews and discussed the relevant researchresults in‐depth. They looked forward tofuturecooperation.Throughthisworkshop,COAAandtheCMAWuhan Regional Climate Center gainedbetter understanding of each other andexpressed awillingness to establish furthercooperationandfriendshipinthefuture.TheWuhanRegionalClimateCenterDelegation's6 delegates concluded their 6‐day visit onApril4th,2011andflewbacktoWuhansafelyonApril5th.

(NewsprovidedbyDr.HaifengQian)4. COAA2011DistinguishedScholarSymposium

OnMay21,2011,COAAheldaspecial springworkshop–COAA2011DistinguishedScholarSymposium – the first of its kind, at theUniversity of Maryland. This is a newinitiative proposed by COAA President, Dr.Fuzhong Weng, to invite the mostdistinguished scientists from the US andChina to sharetheir life and researchexperiences for the benefit of youngscientists.

The symposium featured two distinguishedprofessors Xiaolei Zou and Shunlin Liangfrom Florida State University and theUniversity of Maryland, respectively. Bothspeakers are recipients of China’s mostprestigious award, the “One‐Thousand‐TalentsProgram”,andarecurrently leadingChina’snationalkeyprojectsinmeteorologyandsatelliteremotesensing.


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Several dozen colleagues and friends ofCOAA enjoyed immensely the lecture byProfessor Zou, who shared her personalstories, dreams, experiences, research andacademic achievements. Professor LiangtalkedabouthisworkinChinaasarecipientof the“One‐Thousand‐TalentsProgram”, itsroles and responsibility, science scope andchallenges.

The symposium was a great success.Everyonewasveryproudofandinspiredbythe speakers for their research excellenceand their patriotic compassion for servingour motherland. Profs. Zou and Liangreceived COAA’s honorary member awardsfrom Dr.Weng. The symposium fosteredmany exciting discussions and ideas forcollaboration that will serve COAA’s coremission.A Perfect Life and A Perfect CareerProf. Xiaolei Zou is a Named Professor, J.Charney,ofFloridaStateUniversity,anAMSFellow, and recipient of several prestigiousawards frombothChinaandtheU.S.She isnot only well known for her outstandingacademicachievements in thefieldsofdataassimilation and numerical weatherprediction, but also much admired by herfriends and colleagues for raising twoexceptional children. As one of the earliestscholarswhocametotheUSAafterChina’sopen policy began, Prof. Zou encounteredand overcome many personal and

professionaldifficulties.Whatwasthesecrettohersuccess?

(Prof.Zoushowsapictureofherchildhoodwithhersiblings)At COAA’s first distinguished scholarsymposium, Prof. Zou passionately sharedstories of her family, childhood, college,advisors, friends,studentsandchildren.Sheshowedmany picturesmarking her growthfrom a little girl born into a typical Chineseintellectual family to an accomplishedscholar of international fame. Herextraordinary characters, wisdom andpersistence,weremade evident as shewasspeaking. Prof. Zou told stories about hergrandfather, who taught her whatbenevolence was, and stories about herparents and siblings from whom sheinherited high intelligence, good characterand strong discipline. She shared fondmemoriesofattendingtheNanjingInstituteof Meteorology, and of the classmates,professorsandM.S.andPh.D.advisorswhoinfluenced her life and shaped her earliercareer. She even shared motherhood tipsaboutraisingtwohighlytalented,disciplinedand well‐rounded children. Even thoughswitching her field of study from


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mathematics (she loves math) to meteor‐ology was not her original idea whenentering the graduate program, sheembracedeveryobstacleandchallengewithpassionanddeterminationuntilonedayshelovedmeteorologyandfoundthebeautyofit. Her personal and professional successesseemtobeaperfectcombinationofpassion,perseverance, intellectual capability, and alovingandcaringpersonality.

(Prof. Zou accepts COAA’s HonoraryMemberAwardsfromDr.Weng)Prof. Zou also reported her recentinvolvement in Chinese Numerical WeatherPrediction (NWP) and climate initiatives. Asrecipient of China’s “One‐Thousand‐TalentsProgram” through her alma mater NanjingUniversity of Information and Technology(formerlyNanjingInstituteofMeteorology),and Science Director of ChinaMeteorological Administration (CMA) NWPCenter, Prof. Zou is working closely withscientists in China to improve numericalweatherforecastingskillsandtoeducatethenextgeneration.Thesearevery challengingtasks that require a tremendous amount oftime and effort.What is hermotivation fordoingthis?Heranswerwasverysimpleandtouching: “It comes from the hometowncomplex, national complex and alma matercomplex. China provided me with all the

education I needed to succeed. I have servedUS formore than twentyyears ‐ it’s time formetoserveChinaalittle.”AMissionTooHeavytoWalkAway

(Prof. Liang accepts COAA’s HonoraryMemberAwardsfromDr.Weng)Prof. Shunlin Liangwasoneof theearliestscholars recruited into China’s “One‐Thousand‐TalentsProgram”.Afterobtainingmostofhis education inChinaandworkinginthecuttingedgesofremotesensingintheUSfornearlytwentyyears,Prof.LiangfoundawaytocontributebacktoChina.Thesamemotivation has propelled many Chinesescholars to go back and seek opportunitiestoservetheircountry.Invited to speak at COAA’s first distinguishscholar symposium, Prof. Liang briefedCOAA colleagues on China’s key national“863”projectheisleading,the“Globallandsurface characterization productdevelopment and applications” with totalfunding of 40M Yuan. This project has theambitious goal of establishing China's ownseries of products of global land surfaceparameters such as global leaf area index,


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surfacealbedo,emissivity,surfacelongwaveand shortwave radiation, andphotosynthetic active radiation. This workwill raise China’s current remote sensingcapabilities fromqualitative to quantitative.Prof. Liang gave an excellent lecture onremote sensing of Earth’s surface energybudgetandmanyothersurfaceparameters,ranging from algorithm development tovarious practical applications. Prof. Liang isgreatly concerned about climate andenvironmental change and subsequentshortages of natural resources in China. Hementioned theongoingscientificdebateonwhetherforestationofthegreatNorthwestdesert region is beneficial to thepreservation of underground water levels.He talked about the dryness of the YellowRiver and the severe water shortage inNorthern China. These problems affect thelives of millions of people. He hopes hisresearchwillcontributetothedevelopment

ofquantitativeremotesensingcapabilitiesinChina and help to monitor environmentalchangeinChinaandaroundtheglobe.(NewsbyDr.YapingZhou,PhotosprovidedbyDr.ZhiboZhang)5. Call for contributions to COAAnewsletterPleaseletusknowifyouhaveexcitingnewsto share with other COAA members,including awards, promotions, importantpublications, etc.Wewill post themon theCOAAwebsiteandnewsletter.Pleasesendyourannouncementsto:[email protected] current job listings, visit the COAAwebsite:http://www.coaaweb.org/career.php

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