Sushil Chandra, Senior Research Scientist

GEST Research Group:

Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics

GSFC Code:

613.3

Mailing Address:

Building 33, Room E410
NASA GSFC, Code 613.3
Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA

Phone:

(301) 614-6043

Fax:

(301) 614-5903

Email:

sushilchandra@comcast.net

Biography:

Prior to his GEST appointment, Dr. Sushil Chandra was a senior scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) where he conducted research in the fields of aeronomy, ionosphere, and many other aspects of atmospheric science. His terminal degree is a Ph.D. in Physics from Pennsylvania State University. He has over 100 publications, most all of which are in refereed journals and most of those as first author. Sushil Chandra was involved in the development of the first interactive ionosphereatmosphere model. This coupled model played a major role in the interpretation of data obtained from several NASA satellites including OGO-4, OGO-6, Explorer 31, ISIS, AE, AEROS-A and AEROS-B. As a principal investigator for the RPA (Retarding Potential Analyzer) on OGO-4, Sushil Chandra initiated several correlative studies using ionospheric and airglow data from a number of instruments on OGO-4. As a member of the AEROS Science Team, he initiated several collaborative studies of the thermospheric density and temperature involving US and German scientists. Later, Sushil Chandra moved to stratospheric ozone research and made significant contributions to understanding the variability of ozone and temperature on different time scales ranging from 27-day solar rotation periods to long term trends. Currently, Sushil Chandra is involved in developing new methods for deriving tropospheric ozone from satellite data. This work has produced a unique ~25-year record of tropospheric column ozone in the tropics and has helped in the understanding of the seasonal and long term changes in the tropical troposphere including inter-annual variability associated with QBO and El Nino events. Chandra is PI and Co-I for several NASA funded proposals. He was recently a Co-I for the WINDII (Wind Imaging Interferometer) experiment on the UARS and was a member of the UARS Science Team from the very beginning of the UARS program. Sushil Chandra became a visiting research scientist within GEST in April, 2003.