Frank Wentz
Encyclopedia
Frank Wentz is the director and founder of Remote Sensing Systems
a company specializing in research in satellite
microwave
remote sensing
in 1974. With Carl Mears
he is best known for developing a satellite temperature record from MSU and AMSU
. Intercomparison of this record with the earlier UAH satellite temperature record
, developed by John Christy
and Roy Spencer, revealed deficiencies in the earlier work; specifically, the warming trend in the RSS version is larger than the UAH one. From 1978 to 1982 he was a member of NASA
's SeaSat
Experiment Team involved in the development of physically based retrieval methods for microwave scatterometers and radiometers. He has also investigated the effect of warmer temperatures on the amount of evaporation, precipitation and surface winds, with his findings being different to most other climate change models.
Remote Sensing Systems
Remote Sensing Systems is a private research company founded in 1974 by Frank Wentz. It processes microwave data from a variety of NASA satellites. Most of their research is supported by the Earth Science Enterprise program. The company is based in Santa Rosa, California.They are a widely cited...
a company specializing in research in satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
remote sensing
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
in 1974. With Carl Mears
Carl Mears
Carl Mears is a Senior Scientist, at Remote Sensing Systems, since 1998. He has worked on validation of SSM/I derived winds, and rain-flagging algorithm for the QuikScat scatterometer. He is best known for his work with Frank Wentz in developing a satellite temperature record from MSU and AMSU...
he is best known for developing a satellite temperature record from MSU and AMSU
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit
The Advanced microwave sounding unit is a multi-channel microwave radiometer installed on meteorological satellites. The instrument examines several bands of microwave radiation from the atmosphere to perform atmospheric sounding of temperature and moisture levels.-Products:Level-1 radiance data...
. Intercomparison of this record with the earlier UAH satellite temperature record
UAH satellite temperature dataset
The UAH satellite temperature dataset, developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, attempts to infer the temperature of the atmosphere at various levels from satellite measurements of radiance....
, developed by John Christy
John Christy
John R. Christy is a climate scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville whose chief interests are satellite remote sensing of global climate and global climate change. He is best known, jointly with Roy Spencer, for the first successful development of a satellite temperature...
and Roy Spencer, revealed deficiencies in the earlier work; specifically, the warming trend in the RSS version is larger than the UAH one. From 1978 to 1982 he was a member of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's SeaSat
Seasat
SEASAT was the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans and had on board the first spaceborne synthetic aperture radar . The mission was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of global satellite monitoring of oceanographic phenomena and to help determine...
Experiment Team involved in the development of physically based retrieval methods for microwave scatterometers and radiometers. He has also investigated the effect of warmer temperatures on the amount of evaporation, precipitation and surface winds, with his findings being different to most other climate change models.
Education
- B.S. (1969) and M.S. (1971) in physics, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Service
- Member of various NASA panels
- National Research Council's Earth Studies Board
- National Research Council's Panel on Reconciling Temperature Observations
- A lead author for CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product on Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere