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Thierry Leblanc

Photo of Thierry Leblanc

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S TMO-

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

760.249.1070

Fax:

760.249.5392

Member of:

Laboratory Studies And Atmospheric Observations

Biography

Dr. Leblanc is an atmospheric scientist and is the Principal Investigator for the Lidar and Balloon Projects at JPL-Table Mountain Facility. His research interests are centered on lidar-based observations of the composition and dynamics of Earth's atmosphere. Most of his work has focused on the differential absorption lidar and Raman lidar measurements performed at the JPL Table Mountain Facility in California since 1989 and the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1993, which provide vertical profiles of ozone, temperature, water vapor, and aerosols. His research contributes to the characterization and understanding of long-term atmospheric composition changes (e.g., stratospheric ozone depletion and recovery, changes in air quality, interaction between atmospheric composition and climate).

Education

  • Ph.D., Atmospheric Physics, Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris, France (1995)
  • M.S., Applied Physics, UPMC, Paris France (1990)
  • B.S., Physics, UPMC, Paris, France (1989)

Professional Experience

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1996-Present)
    • Research Scientist, Atmospheric Lidar Group (1999-Present)
    • JPL-Caltech Postdoctoral fellow (1998)
    • National Research Council Resident Research Associate (1996-1997)

Research Interests

  • Atmospheric ozone and temperature variability from synoptic to decadal scales
  • Coupling of the dynamics and chemistry in the UT/LS region
  • Water Vapor in the UT/LS region
  • Transport processes in the UT/LS region
  • Long-term trends of ozone, temperature, water vapor, and aerosols
  • QBO and ENSO signatures of ozone, temperature, and water vapor
  • Lidar instrument algorithms: Development and optimization

Selected Awards

  • NASA Group Acheivement Award: GLOPAC Mission (2011)
  • 25th International Laser-radar Conference (ILRC) Best Paper Award (2010)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award: NO2 and MOHAVE-2 Campaigns (2009)
  • NASA Space Act Award: Water Vapor Raman Lidar (2009)
  • National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship (1996-1998)

Selected Publications

  1. Chouza, F., T. Leblanc, J. Barnes, M. Brewer, P. Wang, and D. Koon (2020), Long-term (1999–2019) variability of stratospheric aerosol over Mauna Loa, Hawaii, as seen by two co-located lidars and satellite measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20(11), 6821-6839.
  2. Eleftheratos, K., et al. (2020), Possible Effects of Greenhouse Gases to Ozone Profiles and DNA Active UV-B Irradiance at Ground Level, Atmosphere, 11(3), 228.
  3. Knepp, T. N., L. Thomason, M. Roell, R. Damadeo, K. Leavor, T. Leblanc, F. Chouza, S. Khaykin, S. Godin-Beekmann, and D. Flittner (2020), Evaluation of a method for converting Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) extinction coefficients to backscatter coefficients for intercomparison with lidar observations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13(8), 4261-4276.
  4. Leblanc, T., F. Chouza, G. Taha, S. Khaykin, J. Barnes, J.-P. Vernier, and L. Rieger, 2019: A 25-year high in global stratospheric aerosol loading [in “State of the Climate in 2019"]. Bull. Amer. Meteor., 101 (8), S88–S89, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0104.1.
  5. Steiner, A. K., et al. (2020), Observed temperature changes in the troposphere and stratosphere from 1979 to 2018, Journal of Climate, 01-72.
  6. Wang, H. J. R., et al. (2020), Validation of SAGE III/ISS Solar Occultation Ozone Products With Correlative Satellite and Ground-Based Measurements, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125(11), e2020JD032430.Johnson, M. S., X. Liu, P. Zoogman, J. Sullivan, M. J. Newchurch, S. Kuang, T. Leblanc, and T. McGee (2018), Evaluation of potential sources of a priori ozone profiles for TEMPO tropospheric ozone retrievals, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11(6), 3457-3477.
  7. Chouza, F., T. Leblanc, M. Brewer, and P. Wang (2019), Upgrade and automation of the JPL Table Mountain Facility tropospheric ozone lidar (TMTOL) for near-ground ozone profiling and satellite validation, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12(1), 569-583.
  8. Dirksen, R. J., et al. (2019), Progress in managing the transition from the RS92 to the Vaisala RS41 as the operational radiosonde within the GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network, Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst. Discuss., 2019, 1-40.
  9. Langford, A. O., et al. (2018), Coordinated profiling of stratospheric intrusions and transported pollution by the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) and NASA Alpha Jet experiment (AJAX): Observations and comparison to HYSPLIT, RAQMS, and FLEXPART, Atmos. Environ., 174, 1-14.
  10. Tarasick, D., et al. (2019), Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report: Tropospheric ozone from 1877 to 2016, observed levels, trends and uncertainties, Elementa-Sci. Anthrop., 7.
  11. Tikhomirov, A. B., G. Farhani, E. M. McCullough, R. J. Sica, P. F. Fogal, T. Leblanc, and J. R. Drummond (2019), Ozone Measurements Using the Refurbished Eureka Stratospheric Differential Absorption Lidar, Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 1-21.
  12. Leblanc, T., et al. (2018), Validation of the TOLNet lidars: the Southern California Ozone Observation Project (SCOOP), Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11(11), 6137-6162.
  13. De Mazière, M., Thompson, A. M., Kurylo, M. J., Wild, J. D., Bernhard, G., Blumenstock, T., Braathen, G. O., Hannigan, J. W., Lambert, J. C., Leblanc, T., McGee, T. J., Nedoluha, G., Petropavlovskikh, I., Seckmeyer, G., Simon, P. C., Steinbrecht, W., and Strahan, S. E.: The Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC): history, status and perspectives, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4935-4964, 10.5194/acp-18-4935-2018, 2018.
  14. Langford, A. O., Alvarez, R. J., Brioude, J., Evan, S., Iraci, L. T., Kirgis, G., Kuang, S., Leblanc, T., Newchurch, M. J., Pierce, R. B., Senff, C. J., and Yates, E. L.: Coordinated profiling of stratospheric intrusions and transported pollution by the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) and NASA Alpha Jet experiment (AJAX): Observations and comparison to HYSPLIT, RAQMS, and FLEXPART, Atmos. Environ., 174, 1-14, 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.11.031, 2018.
  15. Granados-Muñoz, M. J., Johnson, M. S., and Leblanc, T.: Influence of the North American monsoon on Southern California tropospheric ozone levels during summer in 2013 and 2014, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 6431-6439, 10.1002/2017gl073375, 2017.
  16. Yates, E. L., Johnson, M. S., Iraci, L. T., Ryoo, J. M., Pierce, R. B., Cullis, P. D., Gore, W., Ives, M. A., Johnson, B. J., Leblanc, T., Marrero, J. E., Sterling, C. W., and Tanaka, T.: An Assessment of Ground Level and Free Tropospheric Ozone Over California and Nevada, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 10089-10102, 10.1002/2016jd026266, 2017.
  17. Steinbrecht, W., Froidevaux, L., Fuller, R., Wang, R., Anderson, J., Roth, C., Bourassa, A., Degenstein, D., Damadeo, R., Zawodny, J., Frith, S., McPeters, R., Bhartia, P., Wild, J., Long, C., Davis, S., Rosenlof, K., Sofieva, V., Walker, K., Rahpoe, N., Rozanov, A., Weber, M., Laeng, A., von Clarmann, T., Stiller, G., Kramarova, N., Godin-Beekmann, S., Leblanc, T., Querel, R., Swart, D., Boyd, I., Hocke, K., Kampfer, N., Barras, E. M., Moreira, L., Nedoluha, G., Vigouroux, C., Blumenstock, T., Schneider, M., Garcia, O., Jones, N., Mahieu, E., Smale, D., Kotkamp, M., Robinson, J., Petropavlovskikh, I., Harris, N., Hassler, B., Hubert, D., and Tummon, F.: An update on ozone profile trends for the period 2000 to 2016, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17, 10675-10690, 10.5194/acp-17-10675-2017, 2017.
  18. Huang, G. Y., Liu, X., Chance, K., Yang, K., Bhartia, P. K., Cai, Z. N., Allaart, M., Ancellet, G., Calpini, B., Coetzee, G. J. R., Cuevas-Agullo, E., Cupeiro, M., De Backer, H., Dubey, M. K., Fuelberg, H. E., Fujiwara, M., Godin-Beekmann, S., Hall, T. J., Johnson, B., Joseph, E., Kivi, R., Kois, B., Komala, N., Konig-Langlo, G., Laneve, G., Leblanc, T., Marchand, M., Minschwaner, K. R., Morris, G., Newchurch, M. J., Ogino, S. Y., Ohkawara, N., Piters, A. J. M., Posny, F., Querel, R., Scheele, R., Schmidlin, F. J., Schnell, R. C., Schrems, O., Selkirk, H., Shiotani, M., Skrivankova, P., Sutbi, R., Taha, G., Tarasick, D. W., Thompson, A. M., Thouret, V., Tully, M. B., Van Malderen, R., Vomel, H., von der Gathen, P., Witte, J. C., and Yela, M.: Validation of 10-year SAO OMI Ozone Profile (PROFOZ) product using ozonesonde observations, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 10, 10.5194/amt-10-2455-2017, 2017.
  19. Leblanc, T., et al.: Proposed standardized definitions for vertical resolution and uncertainty in the NDACC lidar ozone and temperature algorithms - Part 1: Vertical resolution, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4029-4049, 10.5194/amt-9-4029-2016, 2016
  20. Leblanc, T., et al.: Proposed standardized definitions for vertical resolution and uncertainty in the NDACC lidar ozone and temperature algorithms - Part 2: Ozone DIAL uncertainty budget, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4051-4078, 10.5194/amt-9-4051-2016, 2016
  21. Leblanc, T., Sica, R. J., van Gijsel, J. A. E., Haefele, A., Payen, G., and Liberti, G.: Proposed standardized definitions for vertical resolution and uncertainty in the NDACC lidar ozone and temperature algorithms - Part 3: Temperature uncertainty budget, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4079-4101, 10.5194/amt-9-4079-2016, 2016
  22. Granados-Muñoz, M. J., and Leblanc, T.: Tropospheric ozone seasonal and long-term variability as seen by lidar and surface measurements at the JPL-Table Mountain Facility, California, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9299-9319, 10.5194/acp-16-9299-2016, 2016
  23. Bodeker, G. E., Bojinski, S., Cimini, D., Dirksen, R. J., Haeffelin, M., Hannigan, J. W., Hurst, D. F., Leblanc, T., Madonna, F., Maturilli, M., Mikalsen, A. C., Philipona, R., Reale, T., Seidel, D. J., Tan, D. G. H., Thorne, P. W., Vomel, H., and Wang, J.: REFERENCE UPPER-AIR OBSERVATIONS FOR CLIMATE From Concept to Reality, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 97, 123-135, 2016.
  24. Funatsu, B. M., Claud, C., Keckhut, P., Hauchecorne, A., and Leblanc, T.: Regional and seasonal stratospheric temperature trends in the last decade (2002-2014) from AMSU observations, J. Geophys. Res., 121, 8172-8185, 10.1002/2015jd024305, 2016.
  25. Hubert, D., et al.: Ground-based assessment of the bias and long-term stability of 14 limb and occultation ozone profile data records, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2497-2534, 10.5194/amt-9-2497-2016, 2016
  26. Orphal, J., Staehelin, J., Tamminen, J., Braathen, G., De Backer, M. R., Bais, A., Balis, D., Barbe, A., Bhartia, P. K., Birk, M., Burkholder, J. B., Chance, K., von Clarmann, T., Cox, A., Degenstein, D., Evans, R., Flaud, J. M., Flittner, D., Godin-Beekmann, S., Gorshelev, V., Gratien, A., Hare, E., Janssen, C., Kyrola, E., McElroy, T., McPeters, R., Pastel, M., Petersen, M., Petropavlovskikh, I., Picquet-Varrault, B., Pitts, M., Labow, G., Rotger-Languereau, M., Leblanc, T., Lerot, C., Liu, X., Moussay, P., Redondas, A., Van Roozendael, M., Sander, S. P., Schneider, M., Serdyuchenko, A., Veefkind, P., Viallon, J., Viatte, C., Wagner, G., Weber, M., Wielgosz, R. I., and Zehner, C.: Absorption cross-sections of ozone in the ultraviolet and visible spectral regions: Status report 2015, J. Mol. Spectrosc., 327, 105-121, 10.1016/j.jms.2016.07.007, 2016.
  27. Harris, N. R. P., Hassler, B., Tummon, F., Bodeker, G. E., Hubert, D., Petropavlovskikh, I., Steinbrecht, W., Anderson, J., Bhartia, P. K., Boone, C. D., Bourassa, A., Davis, S. M., Degenstein, D., Delcloo, A., Frith, S. M., Froidevaux, L., Godin-Beekmann, S., Jones, N., Kurylo, M. J., Kyrölä, E., Laine, M., Leblanc, T., Lambert, J. C., Liley, B., Mahieu, E., Maycock, A., de Mazière, M., Parrish, A., Querel, R., Rosenlof, K. H., Roth, C., Sioris, C., Staehelin, J., Stolarski, R. S., Stübi, R., Tamminen, J., Vigouroux, C., Walker, K. A., Wang, H. J., Wild, J., and Zawodny, J. M.: Past changes in the vertical distribution of ozone - Part 3: Analysis and interpretation of trends, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9965-9982, 10.5194/acp-15-9965-2015, 2015.
  28. Lin, M. Y., Horowitz, L. W., Cooper, O. R., Tarasick, D., Conley, S., Iraci, L. T., Johnson, B., Leblanc, T., Petropavlovskikh, I., and Yates, E. L.: Revisiting the evidence of increasing springtime ozone mixing ratios in the free troposphere over western North America, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 8719-8728, 10.1002/2015gl065311, 2015.
  29. Eckert, E., von Clarmann, T., Kiefer, M., Stiller, G. P., Lossow, S., Glatthor, N., Degenstein, D. A., Froidevaux, L., Godin-Beekmann, S., Leblanc, T., McDermid, S., Pastel, M., Steinbrecht, W., Swart, D. P. J., Walker, K. A., and Bernath, P. F.: Drift-corrected trends and periodic variations in MIPAS IMK/IAA ozone measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2571-2589, 10.5194/acp-14-2571-2014, 2014.
  30. Kirgis, G., Leblanc, T., McDermid, I. S., and Walsh, T. D.: Stratospheric ozone interannual variability (1995-2011) as observed by lidar and satellite at Mauna Loa Observatory, HI and Table Mountain Facility, CA, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5033-5047, 10.5194/acp-13-5033-2013, 2013
  31. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, and T. D. Walsh, Ground-based water vapor Raman lidar measurements up to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere for long-term monitoring, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5(1), 17-36, 2012
  32. Cooper, O. R., Gao, R. S., Tarasick, D., Leblanc, T., and Sweeney, C.: Long-term ozone trends at rural ozone monitoring sites across the United States, 1990-2010, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D2230710.1029/2012jd018261, 2012
  33. David, C., Haefele, A., Keckhut, P., Marchand, M., Jumelet, J., Leblanc, T., Cenac, C., Laqui, C., Porteneuve, J., Haeffelin, M., Courcoux, Y., Snels, M., Viterbini, M., and Quatrevalet, M.: Evaluation of stratospheric ozone, temperature, and aerosol profiles from the LOANA lidar in Antarctica, Polar Sci., 6, 209-225, 10.1016/j.polar.2012.07.001, 2012
  34. Garcia-Comas, M., Funke, B., Lopez-Puertas, M., Bermejo-Pantaleon, D., Glatthor, N., von Clarmann, T., Stiller, G., Grabowski, U., Boone, C. D., French, W. J. R., Leblanc, T., Lopez-Gonzalez, M. J., and Schwartz, M. J.: On the quality of MIPAS kinetic temperature in the middle atmosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 6009-6039, 10.5194/acp-12-6009-2012, 2012
  35. Nair, P. J., Godin-Beekmann, S., Froidevaux, L., Flynn, L. E., Zawodny, J. M., Russell Iii, J. M., Pazmiño, A., Ancellet, G., Steinbrecht, W., Claude, H., Leblanc, T., McDermid, S., van Gijsel, J. A. E., Johnson, B., Thomas, A., Hubert, D., Lambert, J. C., Nakane, H., and Swart, D. P. J.: Relative drifts and stability of satellite and ground-based stratospheric ozone profiles at NDACC lidar stations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 1301-1318, 10.5194/amt-5-1301-2012, 2012
  36. Stiller, G. P., Kiefer, M., Eckert, E., von Clarmann, T., Kellmann, S., Garcia-Comas, M., Funke, B., Leblanc, T., Fetzer, E., Froidevaux, L., Gomez, M., Hall, E., Hurst, D., Jordan, A., Kampfer, N., Lambert, A., McDermid, I. S., McGee, T., Miloshevich, L., Nedoluha, G., Read, W., Schneider, M., Schwartz, M., Straub, C., Toon, G., Twigg, L. W., Walker, K., and Whiteman, D. N.: Validation of MIPAS IMK/IAA temperature, water vapor, and ozone profiles with MOHAVE-2009 campaign measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 289-320, 10.5194/amt-5-289-2012, 2012
  37. Leblanc, T., et al., Measurements of Humidity in the Atmosphere and Validation Experiments (MOHAVE)-2009: overview of campaign operations and results, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4(12), 2579-2605, 2011
  38. Leblanc, T., and I. S. McDermid, Reply to "Comments on Accuracy of Raman lidar water vapor calibration and its applicability to long-term measurements" by Whiteman et al, Appl. Opt., 50(15), 2177-2178, 2011
  39. Cooper, O. R., Parrish, D. D., Stohl, A., Trainer, M., Nedelec, P., Thouret, V., Cammas, J. P., Oltmans, S. J., Johnson, B. J., Tarasick, D., Leblanc, T., McDermid, I. S., Jaffe, D., Gao, R., Stith, J., Ryerson, T., Aikin, K., Campos, T., Weinheimer, A., and Avery, M. A.: Increasing springtime ozone mixing ratios in the free troposphere over western North America, Nature, 463, 344-348, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7279/suppinfo/nature08708_S1.html, 2010
  40. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, and R. A. Aspey, First-Year Operation of a New Water Vapor Raman Lidar at the JPL Table Mountain Facility, California, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 25(8), 1454-1462, 2008
  41. Leblanc, T., and I. S. McDermid, Accuracy of Raman lidar water vapor calibration and its applicability to long-term measurements, Appl. Opt., 47(30), 5592-5603, 2008
  42. Leblanc, T., O. P. Tripathi, I. S. McDermid, L. Froidevaux, N. J. Livesey, W. G. Read, and J. W. Waters, Simultaneous lidar and EOS MLS measurements, and modeling, of a rare polar ozone filament event over Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33(16), L16801, 2006
  43. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, and A. Hauchecorne. A study of ozone variability and its connection with meridional transport in the Northern Pacific lower stratosphere during summer 2002, J. Geophys. Res., DOI:10.1029/2003JD004027, 2004.
  44. McDermid, I. S., G. Beyerle, D. A. Haner, and T. Leblanc, Redesign and improved performance of the JPL-TMF tropospheric ozone lidar, Appl. Opt., 41, 7550-7555, 2002.
  45. Leblanc, T., and I. S. McDermid, Quasi-biennial oscillation signatures in ozone and temperature observed by lidar at Mauna Loa, Hawaii (19.5°N, 155.6°W), J. Geophys. Res., 106, 14,869-14,874 (2001)
  46. Leblanc, T., and I. S. McDermid, Stratospheric ozone climatology from lidar measurements at Table Mountain (34.4°N, 117.7°W) and Mauna Loa (19.5°N, 155.6°W), J. Geophys. Res., 105, 14,613-14,623 (2000)
  47. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, and D. A. Ortland, Lidar observations of the middle atmospheric thermal tides and comparison with HRDI and GSWM. Part II: October observations at Mauna Loa (19.5°N)., J. Geophys. Res., 104, 11,931-11,938 (1999)
  48. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, and D. A. Ortland, Lidar observations of the middle atmospheric thermal tides and comparison with HRDI and GSWM. Part I: Methodology and winter observations at Table Mountain (34.4°N)., J. Geophys. Res., 104, 11,917-11,930 (1999)
  49. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, C. Y. She, D. A. Krueger, A. Hauchecorne, and P. Keckhut, Temperature climatology of the middle atmosphere from long-term lidar measurements at mid- and low-latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 103., 17,191-17,204 (1998)
  50. Leblanc, T., I. S. McDermid, A. Hauchecorne, and P. Keckhut, Evaluation and optimization of lidar temperature analysis algorithms using simulated data, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 6177-6187 (1998)
  51. Leblanc, T., and A. Hauchecorne, Recent observations of the mesospheric temperature inversions, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 19,471-19,482 (1997)
  52. Leblanc, T., A. Hauchecorne, M. L. Chanin, F. W. Taylor, C. D. Rodgers, and N. Livesey, Mesospheric temperature inversions as seen by ISAMS (UARS), Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 1485-1488 (1995)
  53. Leblanc, T., Observation et modélisation numérique des inversions mésosphériques de température, Thése de Doctorat de l'Université Paris VI, 258 pp. (1995)

Projects

Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC)
Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet)