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Xiaoguang (Richard) Xu

Xiaoguang (Richard) Xu

Aff Res Asst Prof

Physics
Earth and Space Institute

Physics 328

Education

Ph D University of Nebraska-Lincoln 2015

MS Lanzhou University 2008

BS Lanzhou University 2005

xxu@umbc.edu

About

Xiaoguang Xu’s research area has focused on development of retrieval algorithms, data assimilation, and OSSEs for aerosol remote sensing data, with emphasis on the integration of satellite remote sensing and global models to characterize aerosol emitting sources, distributions, as well as their climate & environmental impacts. He has developed aerosol retrieval algorithms for both satellite and ground-based remote sensing platforms. He implemented the capability to use GEOS-Chem adjoint for inverse modeling of dust emissions from satellite radiances. Xu is the primary developer of a numerical testbed for remote sensing of aerosol known as UNL-VRTM (https://unl-vrtm.org). He currently leads the development of HARP2 level 1 data processing algorithm for NASA PACE satellite at UMBC.

Research Interests

Chemistry transport modeling; radiative transfer; satellite remote sensing of aerosols

Teaching Interests

Climate modeling; Physical meteorology; atmospheric physics and chemistry; Remote Sensing

Selected Classes
  • Fall 2021 PHYS 335 – Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere

Contracts, Fellowships, Grants, and Sponsored Research

Xu, Xiaoguang (Principal). “Constraining Dust Refractive Index and Direct Radiative Effect in Long Wave Using Paired Sounder-Imager Sensors,” Grant (Not Funded). Sponsored By: NASA: TASNPP.

Xu, Xiaoguang (Principal). “Snapshot spectral imaging CubeSat for dense multi-angle measurements,” SubContract (Not Funded). Sponsored By: NASA: INVEST.

Xu, Xiaoguang (Co-Principal). “Sensitivity analysis and recovery of dust emissions from spectral climate signals,” Grant (Funded). Sponsored By: NASA: ACSCS, PI: Dr. Jun Wang. (Nov 1, 2014 – Oct 31, 2017).

Xu, Xiaoguang (Co-Principal). “Multi-phase inversion of aerosol sources using MODIS, MISR, OMI, and AERONET data and the GEOS-Chem adjoint,” SubContract (Funded). Sponsored By: NASA: ACMAP, PI: Dr. Daven Henze. (Feb 17, 2017 – Feb 16, 2020).

Xu, Xiaoguang (Principal). “Retrieval of Aerosol Vertical Distributions with Measurements from O2 A/B Bands and Polarimetric Data from Blue Bands: Algorithm Development and Synergistic Analysis,” Grant (Funded). Sponsored By: NASA: Remote Sensing Theory for Earth Science. (Oct 15, 2020 – Oct 14, 2024).

Xu, Xiaoguang (Principal), Smith, Rachel (Co-Principal), Sienkiewicz, Noah (Co-Principal). “Determining Atmospheric Aerosol Properties from the UMBC HARP CubeSat in Space,” Grant Sponsored By: UMBC. (Jun 1, 2021 – May 31, 2023).

Xu, Xiaoguang (Co-Principal), Wang, Jun (Principal). “EPIC Hourly Aerosol Optical Centroid Height (AOCH) product: mapping the diurnal variation of smoke and dust vertical distributions for air quality and climate studies,” Grant (Funded). Sponsored By: NASA. (Mar 9, 2022 – Mar 8, 2026).

Xu, Xiaoguang (Principal), Smith, Rachel (Supporting). “Model Development for Polarimetric Remote Sensing of Clouds in the Thermal Infrared,” Grant Sponsored By: UMBC CIDER. (Jun 1, 2023 – Jun 30, 2025).

Xu, Xiaoguang (Principal), Knobelspiesse, Kirk (Co-Principal). “Travel support for students and early-career researchers to attend the 4th Advancement of POLarimetric Observations (APOLO-2024) Conference,” Grant (Funded). Sponsored By: NASA. (Aug 1, 2024 – Jul 31, 2025).

Puthukkudy, Anin (Principal), Martins, Jose V. (Supporting), Xu, Xiaoguang (Supporting), McBride, Brent (Supporting). “An AI-driven approach for retrieving aerosol and surface properties from HARP family of multi-angle polarimeter measurements,” Sponsored Research (Funded). Sponsored By: UMBC. (Jan 1, 2025 – Jun 30, 2026).

Puthukkudy, Anin (Principal), Xu, Xiaoguang (Co-Principal), Wang, Jianwu (Co-Principal). “CAIG: Accelerating Radiative Transfer for Aerosol Satellite Remote Sensing Test Beds using Physics-Informed Neural Network,” Sponsored Research (Currently Under Review). Sponsored By: NSF. (Jan 1, 2026 – Dec 31, 2028).

Intellectual Contributions

Martins, Jose V., Borda, Roberto F., Puthukkudy, Anin, Xu, Xiaoguang, SIenkiewicz, Noah, Smith, Rachel, McBride, Brent, Dubovik, Oleg, Remer, Lorraine A. (2024). . 13192 SPIE Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XXVIII.

McBride, Brent, Martins, Jose V., Cieslak, Jan D., Borda, Roberto F., Puthukkudy, Anin, Xu, Xiaoguang, Sienkiewicz, Noah, Cairns, Brian, de Melo Jorge Barbosa, Henrique. (2024). Pre-launch calibration and validation of the Airborne Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP) instrument. 19. 17 5709-5729 ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES.

Sienkiewicz, Noah, Martins, Jose V., McBride, Brent, Xu, Xiaoguang, Puthukkudy, Anin, Smith, Rachel, Borda, Roberto F. HARP2 Pre-Launch Calibration Overview: The Effects of a Wide Field of View. Atmospheric Measurements and Technology.

Presentations

Puthukkudy, Anin (Author & Presenter), Martins, Jose V., Xu, Xiaoguang, Litvinov, Pavel, Fuertes, David, García Gómez, Alejandro, Lopatin, Anton, Matar, Christian, Antuña-Sánchez, Juan Carlos, Sienkiewicz, Noah, Dubovik, Oleg. AGU Fall Meeting 2024. Oral Presentation. "Retrieving Aerosol and Surface Products Using Multi-Pixel approach from PACE Polarimeter HARP2 Observations with GRASP," AGU. (Dec 1, 2024).

Puthukkudy, Anin (Author & Presenter), Martins, Jose V., Xu, Xiaoguang, Sienkiewicz, Noah, McBride, Brent, Litvinov, Pavel, Fuertes, David, Dubovik, Oleg. APOLO 2024. Oral Presentation. "Aerosol and Surface Products from PACE Polarimeter HARP2 Observations using GRASP," (Nov 1, 2024).

Martins, Jose V., Dubovik, Oleg, Fuertes, David, Giralda, Marcos, Remer, Lorraine A., Xu, Xiaoguang, McBride, Brent. SPIE Sensors and Imaging. Oral Presentation. "The measurement of aerosol and gases from space for climate and air pollution application," (Sep 16, 2024).

Martins, Jose V., Borda, Roberto F., Sienkiewicz, Noah, Xu, Xiaoguang, Puthukkudy, Anin (Author & Presenter), Smith, Rachel E., McBride, Brent, Dubovik, Oleg, Remer, Lorraine A. SPIE Sensors and Imaging. Oral Presentation. "First Results and On-Orbit Performance of the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter on the PACE Satellite," (Sep 16, 2024).

Martins, Jose V., Xu, Xiaoguang. NOAA/ESSIC Seminar Series. Seminar. "First results and on-orbit performance of the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP2) on the PACE satellite," NOAA. (Jan 1, 2024).

Sienkiewicz, Noah (Author & Presenter), Martins, Jose V. (Author), Borda, Roberto F. (Author), Xu, Xiaoguang (Author), Puthukkudy, Anin (Author), Smith, Rachel (Author). ELS 2023. Poster. "Advancements on the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) polarization characterization during NASA Plankton Aerosol and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) pre-launch calibration," (May 18, 2023).