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By NASA
Dr. Steven “Steve” Platnick took the NASA agency Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). His last work day was August 8, 2025. Steve spent more than three decades at, or associated with, NASA. While he began his civil servant career at the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in 2002, his Goddard association went back to 1993, first as a contractor and then as one of the earliest employees of the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), a cooperative agreement between the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and GSFC’s Earth Science Division. At JCET Steve helped lead the development of the Atmosphere Physics Track curricula. Previously, he had held an NRC post-doctoral fellow at the NASA’s Ames Research Center. Along with his research work on cloud remote sensing from satellite and airborne sensors, Steve served as the Deputy Director for Atmospheres in GSFC’s Earth Sciences Division from January 2015–July 2024.
Dr. Steve Platnick Image credit: NASA During his time at NASA, Steve played an integral role in the sustainability and advancement of NASA’s Earth Observing System platforms and data. In 2008, he took over as the Earth Observing System (EOS) Senior Project Scientist from Michael King. In this role, he led the EOS Project Science Office, which included support for related EOS facility airborne sensors, ground networks, and calibration labs. The office also supported The Earth Observer newsletter, the NASA Earth Observatory, and other outreach and exhibit activities on behalf of NASA Headquarter’s Earth Science Division and Science Mission Directorate (further details below). From January 2003 – February 2010, Steve served as the Aqua Deputy Project Scientist.
Improving Imager Cloud Algorithms
Steve was actively involved in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Science Team serving as the Lead for the MODIS Atmosphere Discipline Team (cloud, aerosol and clear sky products) since 2008 and as the NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP)/JPSS Atmosphere Discipline Lead/co-Lead from 2012–2020. His research team enhanced, maintained, and evaluated MODIS and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) cloud algorithms that included Level-2 (L2) Cloud Optical/Microphysical Properties components (MOD06 and MYD06 for MODIS on Terra and Aqua, respectively) and the Atmosphere Discipline Team Level-3 (L3) spatial/temporal products (MOD08, MYD08). The L2 cloud algorithms were developed to retrieve thermodynamic phase, optical thickness, effective particle radius, and derived water path for liquid and ice clouds, among other associated datasets. Working closely with longtime University of Wisconsin-Madison colleagues, the team also developed the CLDPROP continuity products designed to bridge the MODIS and VIIRS cloud data records by addressing differences in the spectral coverage between the two sensors; this product is currently in production for VIIRS on Suomi NPP and NOAA-20, as well as MODIS Aqua. The team also ported their CLDPROP code to Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) R-series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and sister sensors as a research demonstration effort.
Steve’s working group participation included the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Cloud Assessment Working Group (2008–present); the International Cloud Working Group (ICWG), which is part of the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), and its original incarnation, the Cloud Retrieval Evaluation Working (CREW) since 2009; and the NASA Observations for Modeling Intercomparison Studies (obs4MIPs) Working Group (2011–2013). Other notable roles included Deputy Chair of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Science Definition Team (2011–2012) and membership in the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Science Definition Team (2009–2011), the ABI Cloud Team (2005–2009), and the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Mission Concept Team (2010-2011).
Steve has participated in numerous major airborne field campaigns over his career. His key ER-2 flight scientist and/or science team management roles included the Monterey Area Ship Track experiment (MAST,1994), First (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Regional Experiment – Arctic Cloud Experiment [FIRE-ACE, 1998], Southern Africa Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI-2000), Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers – Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE, 2002), and Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4, 2007).
Supporting Earth Science Communications
Through his EOS Project Science Office role, Steve has been supportive of the activities of NASA’s Science Support Office (SSO) and personally participated in many NASA Science exhibits at both national and international scientific conferences, including serving as a Hyperwall presenter numerous times.
For The Earth Observer newsletter publication team in particular, Steve replaced Michael King as Acting EOS Senior Project Scientist in June 2008, taking over the authorship of “The Editor’s Corner” beginning with the May–June 2008 issue [Volume 20, Issue 3]. The Acting label was removed beginning with the January–February 2010 issue [Volume 22, Issue 1]. Steve has been a champion of continuing to retain a historical record of NASA science team meetings to maintain a chronology of advances made by different groups within the NASA Earth Science community. He was supportive of the Executive Editor’s efforts to create a series called “Perspectives on EOS,” which ran from 2008–2011 and told the stories of the early years of the EOS Program from the point of view of those who lived them. He also supported the development of articles to commemorate the 25th and 30th anniversary of The Earth Observer. Later, Steve helped guide the transition of the newsletter from a print publication – the November–December 2022 issue was the last printed issue – to fully online by July 2024, a few months after the publication’s 35th anniversary. The Earth Observer team will miss Steve’s keen insight, historical perspective, and encouragement that he has shown through his leadership for the past 85 issues of print and online publications.
A Career Recognized through Awards and Honors
Throughout his career, Steve has amassed numerous honors, including the Goddard William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science in 2023 and the Verner E. Suomi Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2016. He was named an AMS Fellow that same year. He received two NASA Agency Honor Awards – the Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2008 and the Exceptional Service Medal in 2015.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively. He earned a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Arizona.
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By NASA
Dr. Steven “Steve” Platnick stepped down from his role at NASA on August 8, 2025, after more than three decades of public service. Steve began his career at NASA as a physical scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center in 2002. He moved to the Earth Science Division in 2009, where he has served in various senior management roles, including as the Earth Observing System (EOS) Senior Project Scientist. In this role, he led the EOS Project Science Office and continued periodic meetings of the EOS Project Scientists, initiated by Michael King during his tenure. Steve expanded these meetings to include representatives of non-EOS Earth observing missions and representatives from Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO). In addition, Steve was named Deputy Director for Atmospheres in the Earth Science Division in January 2015 and served in this position until July 2024.
Dr. Steve Platnick Image credit: NASA During his time at NASA, Steve played an integral role in the development, sustainability, and advancement of NASA’s Earth Observing System platforms. From January 2003 – February 2010, Steve served as Deputy Project Scientist for Aqua. In this role, he applied his expertise in theoretical and experimental studies of satellite, aircraft, and ground-based cloud remote sensing to improve algorithms to benefit the data gathered from remote observing systems.
Taking the Lead to Improve Algorithms
Steve was actively involved in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Science Team, serving as the MODIS Atmosphere Team Lead. Steve helped advance several key components of the MODIS instrument, which flies on NASA’s Terra and Aqua platforms. He led a team that enhanced, maintained, and evaluated MODIS algorithms that support the Level-2 (L2) Cloud Optical/Microphysical Properties components (e.g., COD06 and MYD06) for MODIS on Terra and Aqua. The algorithms were designed to retrieve thermodynamic phase, optical thickness, effective particle radius, and water path for liquid and ice clouds. The team’s work also contributes to L3 products that address cloud mask, aerosols, clouds, and clear sky radiance for data within 1° grids over one-day, eight-day, and one-month repeat cycles. Under Steve’s leadership, the team also developed L2 products (e.g., MODATML2 and MYDATML2) that include essential atmosphere datasets of samples collected at 5–10 km (3–6 mi) that is consistent with L3 products to ease storage requirements of core atmospheric data.
Steve is also a member of the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Atmosphere Team, working on operational cloud optical and microphysical products. In this role, he contributed to algorithm development and refinement for the Cloud Product. In particular, he helped address a critical gap in the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) spectral channel, which was not designed to collect information for carbon dioxide (CO2) slicing and water vapor data in the same way as MODIS. Steve and his colleagues developed a suite of L2 algorithms for the spectral channels that were common to both MODIS and VIIRS to address cloud mask and cloud optical/microphysical properties. Through these efforts, the project has established a continuous cloud data record gathered from both instruments from 2017 to the present.
Steve also participated in numerous other working groups during the past 30 years. He participated in the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Cloud Assessment Working Group (2008–present), Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) Science Team (2023–present), ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) Earth–Venture Suborbital (EVS)-2 Science Team (2014–2023), Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Science Team (2014–present), Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Science Team (2014–2023), PACE Science Definition Team, Deputy Chair (2011–2012), Glory Science Team (2010–2014) NASA Observations for Modeling Intercomparison Studies (obs4MIPs) Working Group (2011), Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Science Definition Team (2009–2011), and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) R-series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Cloud Team (2005–2009).
Steve has also participated in numerous major airborne field campaigns in various roles, including: GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE, 2025), PACE Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PAX, 2024), the Westcoast & Heartland Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor Intensive Experiment (WH2yMSIE, 2024), ORACLES Science Team (2015–2019), Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) Science Team (2011–2015), Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) Management Team (2007), Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers – Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) Science Management Team (2002), Southern Africa Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI, 2000), First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) (1998), Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST, 1994), and ACE (1992).
Supporting Earth Science Communications
Through his senior leadership roles within ESD Steve has been supportive of the activities of NASA’s Science Support Office (SSO). He has participated in many NASA Science exhibits at both national and international scientific conferences, including serving as a Hyperwall presenter numerous times. He has met with task leaders frequently and has advocated on behalf of the SSO to management at NASA Headquarters, GSFC, and Global Sciences & Technology Inc.
For The Earth Observer newsletter publication team in particular, Steve replaced Michael King as Acting EOS Senior Project Scientist in June 2008, taking over the authorship of “The Editor’s Corner” beginning with the May–June 2008 issue [Volume 20, Issue 3]. The Acting label was removed beginning with the January–February 2010 issue [Volume 22, Issue 1]. Steve has been a champion of continuing to retain a historical record of NASA meetings to maintain a chronology of advances made by different groups within the NASA Earth Science community. He was supportive of the Executive Editor’s efforts to create a series called “Perspectives on EOS,” which ran from 2008–2011 and told the stories of the early years of the EOS Program from the point of view of those who lived them. He also supported the development of articles to commemorate the 25th and 30th anniversary of The Earth Observer. Later, Steve helped guide the transition of the newsletterfrom a print publication – the November–December 2022 issue was the last printed issue – to fully online by July 2024, a few months after the publication’s 35th anniversary. The Earth Observer team will miss Steve’s keen insight, historical perspective, and encouragement that he has shown through his leadership for the past 85 issues of print and online publications.
A Career Recognized through Awards and Honors
Throughout his career, Steve has amassed numerous honors, including the Robert H. Goddard Award for Science: MODIS/VIIRS Cloud Products Science Team (2024) and the William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science in 2023. He received the Verner E. Suomi Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2016 and was named an AMS Fellow that same year.
Steve has received numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards, including for the Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) Field Campaign Team (2020), Fire Influence of Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) Field Campaign Team (2020), ORACLES Field Campaign Team (2019), obs4MIPs Working Group (2015), SEAC4RS Field Campaign Team (2015), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) Instrument Recovery Team (2013), Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Mission Concept Team (2012), Earth Science Constellation Red Team (2011), Science Mission Directorate ARRA Team (2011), TC4 Team (2009), MODIS Science Data Support Team (2007), Aqua Mission Team (2003), CRYSTAL-FACE Science Team (2003), and SAFARI 2000 International Leadership Team (2002).
Steve received two NASA Agency Honor Awards – the Exceptional Service Medal in 2015 and the Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2008. He was also part of the NASA Agency Team Excellence Award in 2017 for his work with the Satellite Needs Assessment Team. The Laboratory for Atmospheres honored him with the Best Senior Author Publication Award in 2001 and the Scientific Research Peer Award in 2005.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively. He earned a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Arizona. He began his career at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) at University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1996 as a research associate professor. He held this appointment until 2002. Steve has published more than 150 scholarly articles.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Written by Michael Allen
An international team of astronomers using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), has challenged our understanding of what happens to matter in the direct vicinity of a black hole.
With IXPE, astronomers can study incoming X-rays and measure the polarization, a property of light that describes the direction of its electric field.
The polarization degree is a measurement of how aligned those vibrations are to each other. Scientists can use a black hole’s polarization degree to determine the location of the corona – a region of extremely hot, magnetized plasma that surrounds a black hole – and how it generates X-rays.
This illustration of material swirling around a black hole highlights a particular feature, called the “corona,” that shines brightly in X-ray light. In this depiction, the corona can be seen as a purple haze floating above the underlying accretion disk, and extending slightly inside of its inner edge. The material within the inner accretion disk is incredibly hot and would glow with a blinding blue-white light, but here has been reduced in brightness to make the corona stand out with better contrast. Its purple color is purely illustrative, standing in for the X-ray glow that would not be obvious in visible light. The warp in the disk is a realistic representation of how the black hole’s immense gravity acts like an optical lens, distorting our view of the flat disk that encircles it. NASA/Caltech-IPAC/Robert Hurt In April, astronomers used IXPE to measure a 9.1% polarization degree for black hole IGR J17091-3624, much higher than they expected based on theoretical models.
“The black hole IGR J17091-3624 is an extraordinary source which dims and brightens with the likeness of a heartbeat, and NASA’s IXPE allowed us to measure this unique source in a brand-new way.” said Melissa Ewing, the lead of the study based at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
In X-ray binary systems, an extremely dense object, like a black hole, pulls matter from a nearby source, most often a neighboring star. This matter can begin to swirl around, flattening into a rotating structure known as an accretion disc.
The corona, which lies in the inner region of this accretion disc, can reach extreme temperatures up to 1.8 billion degrees Fahrenheit and radiate very luminous X-rays. These ultra-hot coronas are responsible for some of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky.
Despite how bright the corona is in IGRJ17091-364, at some 28,000 light-years from Earth, it remains far too small and distant for astronomers to capture an image of it.
“Typically, a high polarization degree corresponds with a very edge-on view of the corona. The corona would have to be perfectly shaped and viewed at just the right angle to achieve such a measurement,” said Giorgio Matt, professor at the University of Roma Tre in Italy and a co-author on this paper. “The dimming pattern has yet to be explained by scientists and could hold the keys to understanding this category of black holes.”
The stellar companion of this black hole isn’t bright enough for astronomers to directly estimate the system’s viewing angle, but the unusual changes in brightness observed by IXPE suggest that the edge of the accretion disk was directly facing Earth.
The researchers explored different avenues to explain the high polarization degree.
In one model, astronomers included a “wind” of matter lifted from the accretion disc and launched away from the system, a rarely seen phenomenon. If X-rays from the corona were to meet this matter on their way to IXPE, Compton scattering would occur, leading to these measurements.
Fast Facts
Polarization measurements from IXPE carry information about the orientation and alignment of emitted X-ray light waves. The high the degree of polarization, the more the X-ray waves are traveling in sync. Most polarization in the corona come from a process known as Compton scattering, where light from the accretion disc bounces off the hot plasma of the corona, gaining energy and aligning to vibrate in the same direction. “These winds are one of the most critical missing pieces to understand the growth of all types of black holes,” said Maxime Parra, who led the observation and works on this topic at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan. “Astronomers could expect future observations to yield even more surprising polarization degree measurements.”
Another model assumed the plasma in the corona could exhibit a very fast outflow. If the plasma were to be streaming outwards at speeds as high as 20% the speed of light, or roughly 124 million miles per hour, relativistic effects could boost the observed polarization.
In both cases, the simulations could recreate the observed polarization without a very specific edge-on view. Researchers will continue to model and test their predictions to better understand the high polarization degree for future research efforts.
More about IXPE
IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. IXPE is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.
Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here:
https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe
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Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayContactCorinne Edmistoncorinne.m.edmiston@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) Marshall Astrophysics Marshall Science Research & Projects Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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Science: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang (National Tsing Hua University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory teamed up to identify a new possible example of a rare class of black holes, identified by X-ray emission (in purple) in this image released on July 24, 2025. Called NGC 6099 HLX-1, this bright X-ray source seems to reside in a compact star cluster in a giant elliptical galaxy. These rare black holes are called intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) and weigh between a few hundred to a few 100,000 times the mass of our Sun.
Learn more about IMBHs and what studying them can tell us about the universe.
Image credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang (National Tsing Hua University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The SWOT satellite caught the leading edge of the tsunami wave (red) that rolled through the Pacific Ocean on July 30. Sea level data, shown in the highlighted swath, is plotted against a NOAA tsunami forecast model in the background. A red star marks the location of the earthquake that spawned the tsunami.NASA/JPL-Caltech Data provided by the water satellite, a joint effort between NASA and the French space agency, is helping to improve tsunami forecast models, benefitting coastal communities.
The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite captured the tsunami spawned by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, 11:25 a.m. local time. The satellite, a joint effort between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), recorded the tsunami about 70 minutes after the earthquake struck.
Disturbances like an earthquake or underwater landslide trigger a tsunami when the event is large enough to displace the entire column of seawater from the ocean floor to the surface. This results in waves that ripple out from the disturbance much like dropping a pebble into a pond generates a series of waves.
“The power of SWOT’s broad, paintbrush-like strokes over the ocean is in providing crucial real-world validation, unlocking new physics, and marking a leap towards more accurate early warnings and safer futures,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, NASA Earth lead and SWOT program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
This visualization depicts the leading edge of the tsunami based on sea surface height data from SWOT looking from south to north, when the leading edge was more than 1.5 feet (45 centimeters) east of Japan in the Pacific Ocean.NASA/JPL-Caltech Data from SWOT provided a multidimensional look at the leading edge of the tsunami wave triggered by the Kamchatka earthquake. The measurements included a wave height exceeding 1.5 feet (45 centimeters), shown in red in the highlighted track, as well as a look at the shape and direction of travel of the leading edge of the tsunami. The SWOT data, shown in the highlighted swath running from the southwest to the northeast in the visual, is plotted against a forecast model of the tsunami produced by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Tsunami Research. Comparing the observations from SWOT to the model helps forecasters validate their model, ensuring its accuracy.
“A 1.5-foot-tall wave might not seem like much, but tsunamis are waves that extend from the seafloor to the ocean’s surface,” said Ben Hamlington, an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “What might only be a foot or two in the open ocean can become a 30-foot wave in shallower water at the coast.”
The tsunami measurements SWOT collected are helping scientists at NOAA’s Center for Tsunami Research improve their tsunami forecast model. Based on outputs from that model, NOAA sends out alerts to coastal communities potentially in the path of a tsunami. The model uses a set of earthquake-tsunami scenarios based on past observations as well as real-time observations from sensors in the ocean.
The SWOT data on the height, shape, and direction of the tsunami wave is key to improving these types of forecast models. “The satellite observations help researchers to better reverse engineer the cause of a tsunami, and in this case, they also showed us that NOAA’s tsunami forecast was right on the money,” said Josh Willis, a JPL oceanographer.
The NOAA Center for Tsunami Research tested their model with SWOT’s tsunami data, and the results were exciting, said Vasily Titov, the center’s chief scientist in Seattle. “It suggests SWOT data could significantly enhance operational tsunami forecasts — a capability sought since the 2004 Sumatra event.” The tsunami generated by that devastating quake killed thousands of people and caused widespread damage in Indonesia.
More About SWOT
The SWOT satellite was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA JPL, managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. The Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations were provided by CNES. The KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly was provided by CSA.
To learn more about SWOT, visit:
https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov
News Media Contacts
Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
ane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 07, 2025 Related Terms
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