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Anthony B. Davis

Photo of Anthony Davis

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 233-200

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.354.0450

Curriculum Vitae:

Click here

Member of:

Aerosols And Clouds

Education

  • PhD, Physics, McGill University (1992)
  • MS, Physics, University of Montreal (1980)
  • BSc, Physics, University Pierre & Marie Curie/Paris VI (1977)

Professional Experience

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Research Scientist (2009-Present)
  • UCLA - JIFRESSE, Visiting Research Scientist (2010-2017)
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory, Guest Scientist, (2009-2016)
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory, Technical Staff Member, Space & Remote Sensing Group (1998-2008)
  • NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center, GSFC Visiting Scientist (USRA), Climate & Radiation Branch (1992-1997)
  • Various teaching, outreach and research positions (1978-1986).

Research Interests

  • Remote sensing techniques, as applied to the Earth’s cloudy atmosphere, in visible, near-IR and shortwave-IR spectral regions, now emphasizing polarization diversity and oxygen absorption spectroscopy.
  • Tomographic reconstruction of 3D clouds and aerosol plumes (outer shapes, internal structures and microphysical properties) using passive multi-spectral/multi-angle imagery.
  • Visibility, imaging and atmospheric correction in scattering planetary atmospheres, e.g., Titan (in support of TRN) and Venus (in support of surface sensing from a below-cloud platform).
  • Computational vector radiative transfer in 1D vertically variable atmospheres over anisotropic polarizing surfaces, and in spatially complex 3D scattering or reflecting media such as clouds, cloud/aerosol/surface systems, vegetation and rough terrain.
  • Bayesian cloud and aerosol retrieval algorithms and information content analysis.
  • Sensor-level observation system simulation experiments (OSSEs) and retrieval uncertainty quantification (UQ).
  • New instrument concepts/synergies, e.g., using active modalities such as off-beam/multiple-scattering cloud lidar.
  • Large- and small-scale radiation energetics for realistic 3D clouds and cloud/aerosol/surface systems.
  • Climate impacts of clouds and aerosols via energy and water cycles.
  • Multi-scale/multi-moment statistical analyses of nonlinear atmospheric processes using wavelet transforms, fractals and multifractals.
  • Fluid-dynamical, stochastic and hybrid simulation techniques, and validation with remote sensing data.
  • Statistical sampling issues, e.g., ground-based or airborne versus satellite platforms.

Selected Publications

Selection here is only since joining JPL in 02/2009. For a comprehensive list, please request by email.

  1. A. B. Davis, Y. Yang, and A. Marshak, EPIC/DSCOVR as a pathfinder in cloud and aerosol remote sensing using differential oxygen absorption spectroscopy,Frontiers in Remote Sensing 3 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.796273
  2. A. Levis, A. B. Davis, J. R. Loveridge, and Y. Y. Schechner, 3D cloud tomography and droplet size retrieval from multi-angle polarimetric imaging of scattered sunlight from above, in S.P.I.E. Proceedings, Vol. 11833, “Polarization Science and Remote Sensing X,” M. K. Kupinski, J. A. Shaw and F. Snik (Eds.), 11833-05, 15pp. (2021). https://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2593369
  3. L. Forster, A. B. Davis, D. J. Diner, and B. Mayer, Toward cloud tomography from space using MISR and MODIS: Locating the "veiled core" in opaque convective clouds, J. Atmos. Sci. 78, 155-166 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-19-0262.1
  4. A. Levis, Y.Y. Schechner, A.B. Davis, and J. Loveridge, Multi-view polarimetric scattering cloud tomography and retrieval of droplet size, Remote Sensing 12, 2831- (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172831
  5. G. Matheou, A.B. Davis, and J. Teixeira, The spiderweb structure of stratocumulus clouds, Atmosphere 11, 730- (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11070730
  6. L.A. Remer, A.B. Davis, S. Mattoo, R.C. Levy, O.V. Kalashnikova, J. Chowdhary, K. Knobelspiesse, Z. Ahmad, E. Boss, B. Cairns, O. Coddington, H. M. Dierssen, D.J. Diner, B. Franz, R. Frouin, B.-C. Gao, A. Ibrahim, J. V. Martins, A.H. Omar, O. Torres, S.E. Platnick, F. Xu, and P.-W. Zhai, Retrieving Aerosol characteristics from the PACE Mission, Part 1: Ocean Color Instrument, Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 152- (2019). https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00152/full
  7. A. B. Davis and O. V. Kalashnikova, Aerosol layer height over water via oxygen A-band observations from space: A tutorial, in Springer Series in Light Scattering, vol. 3: Radiative Transfer and Light Scattering, A. A. Kokhanovsky (Ed.), Springer, Heidelberg (Germany), pp. 133-166 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03445-0
  8. A.B. Davis, N. Ferlay, Q. Libois, A. Marshak, Y. Yang, and Q. Min, Cloud information content in EPIC/DSCOVR's Oxygen A- and B-band Channels: A physics-based approach, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 220, 84-96 (2018). http://www.umr-cnrm.fr/IMG/pdf/davis2018_epic_clouds_oxygen_band.pdf
  9. A.B. Davis, G. Merlin, C. Cornet, L. C.-Labonnote, J. Riédi, N. Ferlay, P. Dubuisson, Q. Min, Y. Yang, and A. Marshak, Cloud information content in EPIC/DSCOVR's Oxygen A- and B-band Channels: An optimal estimation approach, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 216, 6-16 (2018). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022407317309147
  10. G. Bal, J. Chen, and A.B. Davis, Reconstruction of cloud geometry from high-resolution multi-angle images, Inverse Problems in Imaging 12, 261-280 (2018). https://doi.org/10.3934/ipi.2018011
  11. F. Xu, G. van Harten, D. J. Diner, A. B. Davis, F. Seidel, B. Rheingans, M. Tosca, M. Alexandrov, B. Cairns, R. Ferrare, S. Burton, M. Fenn, C. Hostetler, R. Wood, and J. Redemann, Coupled retrieval of liquid water cloud and aerosol above cloud properties using the Airborne Multi-angle Spectro-Polarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), J. Geophys. Res. - Atmospheres 123, 3175-3204 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027926
  12. A. B. Davis, F. Xu, and D. J. Diner, Generalized radiative transfer theory for scattering by particles in an absorbing gas: Addressing both spatial and spectral integration in multi-angle remote sensing of optically thin aerosol layers, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 205, 148-162 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2017.10.003. Addendum, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 206, 251-253 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2017.11.018.
  13. A. Levis, Y.Y. Schechner, and A.B. Davis, Multiple-scattering microphysics tomography. In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR17), pp. 5797-5806 (2017). http://openaccess.thecvf.com/content_cvpr_2017/papers/Levis_Multiple-Scattering_Microphysics_Tomography_CVPR_2017_paper.pdf"
  14. T. Fauchez, A. B. Davis, C. Cornet, F. Szczap, S. Platnick, P. Dubuisson, and F. Thieulieux, A fast hybrid (3D/1D) model for thermal radiative transfer in cirrus via successive orders of scattering, J. Geophys. Res. - Atmospheres 122, 344-366 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025607
  15. G. Merlin, J. Riédi, L. C.-Labonnote, C. Cornet, A. B. Davis, P. Dubuisson, M. Desmons, N. Ferlay, and F. Parol, Cloud information content analysis of multi-angular measurements in the oxygen A-band: Application to 3MI and MSPI, Atmos. Meas. Techn. 9, 4977-4995 (2016). https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4977-2016
  16. F. Xu, A. B. Davis and D. J. Diner, Markov chain formalism for generalized radiative transfer in a plane-parallel medium, accounting for polarization, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 184, 14-26 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2016.06.004
  17. M.J. Garay, A.B. Davis, and D.J. Diner, Tomographic reconstruction of an aerosol plume using passive multiangle observations from the MISR satellite instrument, Geophys. Res. Lett. 43, 12,590-12,596 (2016). https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016GL071479
  18. I. Yanovsky and A. B. Davis, Separation of radiances from a cirrus layer and broken cumulus clouds in multispectral images, IEEE Trans. Geosc. and Remote Sens. 53, 2275-2285, (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2014.2352319
  19. A. A. Kokhanovsky, A. B. Davis, B. Cairns, O. Dubovik, O. Hasekamp, I. Sano, S. Mukai, V. V. Rozanov, P. Litvinov, T. Lapyonok, I. S. Kolomiets, Y. A. Oberemok, S. Savenkov, W. Martin, A. Wasilewski, A. Di Noia, F. A. Stap, J. Rietjens, F. Xu, V. Natraj, M. Duan, T. Cheng, and R. Munro, Space-based remote sensing of aerosols: The multi-angle spectro-polarimetric frontier, Earth-Science Reviews 145, 85-116 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.01.012
  20. A. Levis, A. Aides, Y.Y. Schechner, and A.B. Davis, Airborne three-dimensional cloud tomography. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision 2015 (ICCV15), pp. 3379-3387 (2015). http://www.cv-foundation.org/openaccess/content_iccv_2015/html/Levis_Airborne_Three-Dimensional_Cloud_ICCV_2015_paper.html
  21. A. B. Davis and F. Xu, A Generalized linear transport model for spatially-correlated stochastic media, Journal of Computational and Theoretical Transport (formerly, Transport Theory and Statistical Physics) 43, 474-514 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/23324309.2014.978083. Preprint available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.8200.
  22. S. Sanghavi, A. B. Davis, and A. Eldering, vSmartMOM: A vector matrix operator method-based radiative transfer model linearized with respect to aerosol properties, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 133, 412-433 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2013.09.004
  23. I. Langmore, A.B. Davis, and G. Bal, Multi-pixel retrieval of structural and optical parameters in a 2D scene with a path-recycling Monte Carlo forward model and a new Bayesian inference engine, IEEE Trans. Geosc. and Remote Sens. 51, 2903-2919 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2012.2217380
  24. F. Xu, R. A. West, and A. B. Davis, A hybrid method for polarized radiative transfer computation in a spherical-shell planetary atmosphere, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 117, 59-70 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2012.10.013
  25. A. B. Davis, M. J. Garay, F. Xu, Z. Qu, and C. Emde, 3D radiative transfer effects in multi-angle/multi-spectral radio-polarimetric signals from a mixture of clouds and aerosols viewed by a non-imaging sensor, in S.P.I.E. Proceedings, Vol. 8873, "Polarization Science and Remote Sensing VI," J. A. Shaw and D. A. LeMaster (Eds.), p. 887309 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023733
  26. A. B. Davis, Some new lidar equations for laser pulses scattered back from optically thick media such as clouds, dense aerosol plumes, sea ice, and turbid coastal waters, in S.P.I.E. Proceedings, Vol. 8872, "Lidar Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring XIV," U. N. Singh (Ed.), p. 88720E (2013), https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2025341
  27. F. Xu, A. B. Davis, S. Sanghavi, J. V. Martonchik, and D. J. Diner, Linearization of Markov chain formalism for radiative transfer in a plane-parallel atmosphere/surface system, Appl. Opt. 51, 3491-3507 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.51.003491
  28. D. J. Diner, R. Hodos, A. B. Davis, M. J. Garay, J. V. Martonchik, S. Sanghavi, P. von Allmen, A. A. Kokhanovsky, and P. Zhai, An optimization approach for aerosol retrievals using simulated MISR radiances, Atm. Res. 116, 1-14 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2011.05.020
  29. G. Bal, A.B. Davis, and I. Langmore, A hybrid (Monte-Carlo/deterministic) approach for multi-dimensional radiation transport, J. Comput. Phys. 230, 7723-7735 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2011.06.029
  30. A. B. Davis and R. Sanchez, Preface - Two truly special sessions at the 2009 International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods (M&C 2009): Transport ... across disciplinary divides, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 112, 560-565 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2010.11.014
  31. A.B. Davis and M.B. Mineev-Weinstein, Radiation propagation in random media: From positive to negative correlations in high-frequency fluctuations, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 112 (Special Issue on "M&C2009"), 632-645 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2010.10.001
  32. O. V. Kalashnikova, M. J. Garay, A. B. Davis, D. J. Diner, and J. V. Martonchik, Sensitivity of multi-angle photo-polarimetery to vertical layering and mixing of absorbing aerosols: Quantifying measurement uncertainties, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transf. 112, 2149-2163 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2011.05.010
  33. F. Xu and A. B. Davis, Derivatives of light scattering properties for a nonspherical particle computed with the T-matrix method, Opt. Lett. 36, 4464-4466 (2011). Also in Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics (VJBO) 7, 1/4/2012, pp. 4464- (2011), http://www.opticsinfobase.org/vjbo/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-36-22-4464.
  34. F. Xu, A. B. Davis, R. A. West, J. V. Martonchik, and D. J. Diner, Markov chain formalism for vector radiative transfer in a plane-parallel atmosphere overlaying a polarizing surface with bidirectional reflectivity, Opt. Lett. 36, 2083-2085 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.36.002083
  35. F. Xu, A. B. Davis, R. A. West, and L. W. Esposito, Markov chain formalism for polarized light transfer in plane-parallel atmospheres, with numerical comparison to the Monte Carlo method, Opt. Expr. 19, 946-967 (2011). Also in Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics (VJBO) 6, 2/17/2011, pp. 946- (2011), http://www.opticsinfobase.org/vjbo/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-19-2-946.
  36. M. de la Torre Juárez, A. B. Davis, and E. J. Fetzer, Scale-by-scale analysis of probability distributions for global MODIS-AQUA cloud properties: How the large-scale signature of turbulence may impact statistical analyses of clouds, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 11, 2893-2901 (2011). https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-2893-2011
  37. N. Ferlay, F. Thieuleux, C. Cornet, A. B. Davis, C. Vanbauce, F. Ducos, P. Dubuisson, F. Parol, and J. Riédi, Toward new inferences about cloud structures from multidirectional measurements in the oxygen A-Band: Middle-of-cloud pressure and cloud geometrical thickness from POLDER-3/PARASOL, J. Appl. Meteor. Clim. 49, 2492-2507 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JAMC2550.1
  38. A. B. Davis and A. Marshak, Radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: A 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts, Rep. Prog. Phys. 73, 26801-26870 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/73/2/026801
  39. A.B. Davis, I.N. Polonsky, and A. Marshak, Space-time Green functions for diffusive radiation transport, in application to active and passive cloud probing, in Light Scattering Reviews, Vol. 4, A. Kohkanovsky (Ed.), Springer, Heidelberg (Germany), pp. 169-292 (2009). http://i3rc.gsfc.nasa.gov/Publications/Davis_etal_LSRv4_2009.pdf