Huang, Arteaga, Albayrak and others publish in various journals

We're happy to share the following publications from recent months that are authored and/or co-authored by GESTAR II researchers.

Stacey Huang (61A/UMBC) is lead author of the 2026 paper, “Estimating Tropospheric Delay in Spotlight Mode InSAR Data Using Multi-Squint Processing,” in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. Dr. Huang summarized that “We studied the technical feasibility of a multi-satellite multisquint satellite architecture under consideration by NASA for the Surface Deformation and Change (SDC) mission study. We found that a multisquint configuration can concurrently solve for tropospheric delay and deformation from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and we developed a method to enable these retrievals even in suboptimal conditions. We show there is great promise for new science with this architecture, enabling the simultaneous observation of atmosphere and deformation signals: these capabilities could be instrumental in characterizing difficult-to-observe slowly deforming phenomena, … thus improving our understanding of how subtle Earth signals evolve over time and influence other terrestrial processes.”

Stacey Huang (61A/UMBC) and co-authors, including MinJeong Jo (618/UMBC) and Jeanne Sauber (61A/UMBC), published the 2026 paper “Emergent capabilities for remote coastline and flood mapping with ultra-high-resolution SAR: A case study in American Samoa” in Environmental Research Communications. Dr. Huang: “This paper showcases new capabilities for coastline and flood mapping of ultra-high-resolution SAR data through NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program. These new capabilities augment existing optical-based remote sensing methods that struggle in inclement weather and heavily cloud-covered regions. We demonstrate these new capabilities with a case study in American Samoa, a traditionally challenging region for remote sensing, capturing changes in shorelines with tidal cycles and high-tide flooding.” 

Lionel Arteaga (610.1/UMBC) led the 2026 paper with Ivona Cetinić (616/MSU) as one of the co-authors titled “Extreme 2016 El Niño heatwave weakened carbon export and respiration in the Equatorial Pacific” published in Nature journal Communications Earth and Environment.

Arif Albayrak (618/UMBC) led the 2026 paper “Converting Raw Data Into Actionable Information: A topical review of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital twins in disaster management” in IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine.

Hiren Jethva (614/MSU) is first author of the 2026 paper "Global retrieval dataset of UV-VIS extinction and absorption of above-cloud aerosols from synergy of A-train active-passive measurements: part I — Above-cloud aerosol optical depth from CALIOP depolarization ratio method" in Frontiers in Environmental Science.

Hiren Jethva (614/MSU) along with co-authors including Thomas Eck (618/UMBC) and Sergey Korkin (613/UMBC) published the 2026 paper "Ground-based MFRSR UV-Vis spectral retrievals of Saharan dust absorption at Izaña Observatory" in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Sergey Korkin (613/UMBC) and co-authors including Andrew Sayer (616/UMBC) published “A Practical Guide to Simulating Continuum Absorption in Earth’s Atmosphere” in Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer.

Michael Himes (614/MSU) led the 2026 paper "Continuing the MLS water vapor record with OMPS LP using neural networks" published in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. 

Natalie Thomas (610.1/UMBC) is first author on the 2026 paper “Variability and trends in dates of the last spring freeze and first fall freeze over the United States” published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

Nikki Privé (610.1/MSU) and co-authors including Erica McGrath-Spangler (610.1/MSU) published the 2026 paper "Analysis and forecast error correlations explored in an observing system simulation experiment framework" in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.