Wenge Ni-Meister
Professor
Contact:
Email: Wenge.Ni-Meister@hunter.cuny.edu
Phone: 212-772-5321
Office: 1029 HN
Personal Website:
Biography:
Wenge Ni-Meister is Professor of Geography and Environmental Science at Hunter College of The City University of New York. She received B.S. and M.S. in meteorology and climatology in China, M.S. in land-atmosphere interactions from the University of Connecticut, and PhD in remote sensing science of terrestrial ecosystem from Boston University. She worked as a research scientist at the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center before joining Hunter College. Her main areas of interest are modeling of terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and land-atmosphere interactions and terrestrial ecosystem structure characterization from lidar remote sensing for carbon modeling and habitat and biodiversity study, and fusion of remote sensing data and physical models through data assimilation. She has been an investigator for numerous NASA projects, including one on developing a global dynamic terrestrial ecosystem model for coupling with Global Circulation Models (GCMs), fusion of remotely sensed 3D terrestrial ecosystem structure with a dynamic global terrestrial ecosystem model for improved estimates of carbon stocks and land-atmosphere exchanges and one on fusion of NASA satellite data with hydrological models for improved land surface soil moisture estimate. The main goal of her research is to develop schemes to merge remote sensing satellite data with ecological and hydrological physical models for improved estimate of terrestrial carbon, water and energy.
Education:
Ph.D. 1997 Boston University, Remote Sensing M.S. 1994 The University of Connecticut, Land-Atmosphere Interactions M.S. 1992 Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.R. China, Climatology B.A. 1988 Nanjing Institute of Meterology, P.R. China, Meteorology
Research Interests:
Her research aims at using satellite data and terrestrial ecosystem models to advance our scientific understanding of our terrestrial ecosystem structure and carbon, energy and water balance and their response to natural or human-induced climate changes. Her main areas of interest are modeling of terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and land atmosphere interactions and terrestrial ecosystem structure characterization from lidar remote sensing for carbon modeling and habitat and biodiversity study, and fusion of remote sensing data and physical models through data assimilation. Some recent projects include a) developing a global dynamic terrestrial ecosystem model for coupling with Global Circulation Models (GCMs), b) integration of remotely sensed 3D terrestrial ecosystem vegetation structure with a dynamic global terrestrial ecosystem model for improved estimates of carbon stocks and land-atmosphere exchanges, c) fusion of NASA satellite data with hydrological models for improved land surface soil moisture estimate, and d) assessing the effect of subgrid variability of snow cover in vegetated regions on land-atmosphere interactions. The main goal of her research is to develop schemes to merge remote sensing satellite data with ecological and hydrological physical models for improved estimate of terrestrial carbon, water and energy.
Find more on her research projects: http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/~wenge/research.html
Courses Taught:
- GTECH 321 / 712, EES75200 – Remote Sensing of Enviornment
- GTECH 322 / 713, EES753 – Advanced Digital Image Processing
- PGEOG 332 / 701.52, EES745 – Hydrology
- PGEOG 313 – Biogeography
