The Center for Atmospheric Sciences | » Robert P. Loughman

Robert P. Loughman

Dr. Loughman received his Bachelor of Science degree from the College of William and Mary in 1993 (Physics major, Mathematics minor). He then attended the University of Arizona, receiving M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Atmospheric Science in 1995 and 1998, respectively. After five years as a post-doctoral Research Associate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, he joined the faculty at Hampton University, where he is currently Chairman and Associate Professor of the Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

Teaching Experience: Developed undergraduate and graduate courses in Atmospheric Physics, as well as graduate courses in Atmospheric Radiative Transfer and Atmospheric Measurements.

Research Interests: Improving our ability to understand the Earth-atmosphere system through analysis of remote sensing data is my primary research goal. This work has several aspects, including

– Developing new tools for modeling radiative transfer more efficiently and accurately

– Extending knowledge of the underlying physics of the Earth-atmosphere system to identify promising measurement strategies

– Developing rigorous methods to forecast the expected performance of various retrieval systems (and to assess their actual performance using measured data).

More specifically, retrieval of aerosol properties and ozone concentration from measurements of the solar radiation scattered by the limb of the atmosphere has been my primary research focus. Several past and present space-borne limb scattering sensors have contributed to this research, including SOLSE/LORE, SAGE III (Meteor-3M), OSIRIS, SCIAMACHY, and particularly the OMPS Limb Profiler. Reconciling remote sensing measurements of aerosol properties with in-situ measurements is a particular area of emphasis.

  • A link to my CV is here.

Project: Characterizing aerosol properties in the upper troposphere and stratosphere from limb scatter radiance

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The most important stratospheric aerosol property for most applications is the aerosol extinction coefficient ka, which represents the rate at which energy is removed by aerosols from a beam per unit of path length traversed, and varies with both altitude z and wavelength λ. The aerosol single-scattering albedo (SSA) indicates the fraction of aerosol extinction […]

Project: Limb Scattering Radiative Transfer Model Development in Support of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler Mission

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My recent work has been funded by NASA through a sub-contract with SSAI, which has supported radiative transfer model improvements relevant for the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) sensor.  This sensor launched aboard the Suomi NPP satellite in October 2011, and the current acting leader for the OMPS LP algorithm team […]

Project: The Living, Breathing Planet

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The Living, Breathing Planet

Graduate student opportunities available now! More information here. Hampton University Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences has been selected to lead a team within the Nexus for Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS). As one of 17 teams, we work to advance NASA’s search for life by bringing together Planetary Science, Heliophysics, Astrophysics, and Astrobiology to deepen […]

Project: HU Center for Atmospheric Research and Education (CARE)

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The Atmospheric and Planetary Science (APS) Department at Hampton University (HU) has established the Center for Atmospheric Research and Education (CARE) in collaboration with NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and partners at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Supported by NASA’s MUREP Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) Program, CARE will […]

Project: X-59 Quiet Supersonic Flight Community Testing

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NASA is designing and building the X-59 research aircraft – a piloted, single-seat supersonic X-plane – with technology that reduces the loudness of a sonic boom to that of a gentle thump. NASA’s aeronautical innovators are leading a team across government and industry to collect data that could allow supersonic flight over land, dramatically reducing […]