Science Team

Dr. Kahn received his PhD in applied physics from Harvard University in 1980. He spent 20 years as a Research Scientist and Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he studied climate change on Earth and Mars, and also led the Earth & Planetary Atmospheres Research Element. Kahn is Aerosol Scientist for the NASA Earth Observing System's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument. He focuses on using MISR’s unique observations, combined with other data and numerical models, to learn about wildfire smoke, desert dust, volcano and air pollution particles, and to apply the results to regional and global climate-change and air quality questions. Kahn has lectured on Climate Change and atmospheric physics at Caltech, UCLA, and many other venues, is Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, and is editor and founder of PUMAS, the on-line journal of science and math examples for pre-college education. He has authored over 200 publications in refereed scientific journals and book chapters. Kahn is chair of Commission A of COSPAR (the international Committee on SPAce Research) and co-chair of AeroSat, the international association of the satellite aerosol remote-sensing community. He has received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the Robert H. Goddard award for Exceptional Achievement in Science, the American Geophysical Union’s Yoram J. Kaufman award, the William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science, and is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Visit Dr. Kahn's website at https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/bio/ralph.a.kahn.