Atmospher Sci & Global Chg
Staff Awards & Honors
October 2017
Flynn Receives Third NASA Group Achievement Award
Congratulations to Dr. Connor Flynn, atmospheric scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He was among the recipients of a 2017 NASA Group Achievement Award for participating in the KORUS-AQ (KORea United States Air Quality) airborne Earth science mission.
KORUS-AQ, a NASA/Republic of Korea study that observed air quality over South Korea, took place in May and June of 2016. During the mission, Flynn supported operation of the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research, an instrument known as 4STAR. He helped develop 4STAR, which is installed through the upper hull of an aircraft to collect sun and sky light. Researchers are using 4STAR and several related instruments to better understand the interplay of sun energy, tiny atmospheric aerosol particles, clouds, and gases that influence Earth system processes.
This is Flynn's third NASA Group Achievement Award. He was honored in 2011 for being part of the 4STAR Development Team. He won again in 2015 as part of the SEAC4RS (Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys) campaign, during which 4STAR flew on NASA's DC-8 over the Southeastern United States and Gulf of Mexico in the summer of 2013.
Flynn is an aerosol instrument mentor and data translator for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility, a U.S. Department of Energy scientific user facility. He has played a key role in efforts to make data processing consistent among ARM-operated aerosol observing systems.
