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CONTACT: Patricia Viets, NOAA Elaine Prins, a meteorologist with NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service's team at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has been named NOAA Employee of the Month. She was nominated by the members of her team for exemplary service over the past two years. Prins, the Acting Team Leader of the Advanced Satellite Products Team in Madison for two years, developed the first automated technique for detecting fires using geostationary satellite data. Her technique for detecting fires has proven to be a valuable tool in the detection and monitoring of fire outbreaks in the Western Hemisphere. Without any manual guidance, her algorithm corrects for atmospheric conditions such as smoke or semi-transparent clouds, and indicates the locations of fires and their approximate size. Prins has been recognized globally by her peers as a scientific leader in the field of fire detection. Her team reports that a NOAA satellite program manager recently described important uses of NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), traditionally used for weather monitoring, as "monitoring weather and fires." This is due in part to the successful research program led by Prins on the automated detection of biomass burning with the GOES imagers. In addition, she recently gave an invited presentation of her work at the Regional Fire Workshop hosted by the National Space Development Agency of Japan in Tokyo, Japan. "Elaine Prins is a great team player," said Greg Withee, assistant administrator for satellite and information services. "She builds bridges not only within NESDIS, but also across agencies such as NOAA, NASA, and DOD, and countries like Brazil, Canada, Japan, and several European countries." Her skills as an organizer and leader are never more apparent than when responding to requests for information, her team said. For example, she recently pulled together a group of scientists from the Advanced Satellite Products Team and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies to fulfill an urgent request for simulations of the proposed GOES Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). Prins helped to facilitate the simulations of the proposed GOES ABI. After two weeks of research, including multi-sensor data analysis and modeling, a robust presentation of ABI characteristics for volcanic eruptions, fires, and clouds was delivered. Prins is responsive, capable, and professional, her team members said. She approaches her administrative and scientific activities with enthusiasm -- an enthusiasm that spreads like wildfire. Prins lives in Stoughton, Wisc., with her husband Ken Bywaters. 
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Last modified: Wednesday, 19-Sep-2007 13:46:56 UTC
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