Principal Investigator
Dr. Cara Wilson, the Project Principal Investigator (PI), is the PI of CoastWatch’s West Coast Regional Node (WCRN) and has expertise in increasing user engagement for satellite data.
Operations Manager
Sunny Hospital is responsible for the development and maintenance of the PolarWatch web presence and value added data products. She brings years of experience with data management, statistical modeling, scientific computing and user engagement.
Deputy Manager
Dr. Dale Robinson, an active consultant to the project, is the CoastWatch WCRN operations manager and has experience with satellite observations in the polar regions.
Science Advisor, National Ice Center Chief Scientist
Dr. Ludo Brucker has worked on microwave remote sensing of sea ice, terrestrial snow, and ice sheets since 2006. His research aims to provide climate-related variables to the cryospheric community for the satellite era. Ludo serves as the Chief Scientist for the National Ice Center and is a science advisor to PolarWatch.
PolarWatch builds upon and leverages the existing NOAA CoastWatch/OceanWatch program. A broader team of ocean remote sensing experts in STAR/SOCD (e.g., for sea surface height, sea surface temperature, ocean color et al.), led by Dr. Paul DiGiacomo, are involved in the development of data sets for PolarWatch. Dr. Veronica Lance is the overall Program Manager for CoastWatch/OceanWatch (as well as PolarWatch) and the capabilities of these complementary programs will be significantly leveraged as well.