Two summer interns have joined the MSFC Disasters Team this summer through NASA Internship Program. Emma Gilligan just completed her undergraduate work at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science & Geography. She plans to start her Master of Science in Geography and Environmental Systems at UMBC this fall. Emma’s internship is sponsored by NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project. The second intern to join the Disasters Program for the summer is, Emily Wisinski. Emily is a rising junior in the Department of Atmospheric and Earth Sciences at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her primary concentration is in Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology and a secondary concentration in Geographic Information Systems/Remote Sensing. Emily is sponsored through the Science Mission Directorate Sally K. Ride Intern Award. Both interns are working together to build a comprehensive database of hail damage swaths throughout the Midwest and Great Plains over the last 20 years by using NASA daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) imagery. This events database will then be used by both interns to look at impacts that the swaths have had on annual agricultural crops, recovery rates of damage swaths that occur early in the growing season, and trends in frequency of occurrence to El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
