2011 Postdoctoral Fellow
Where are they now?
Dr. Kort is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan.
Measurement of Urban Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Final Report (4.1 MB pdf)
"The Measurement of Urban Greenhouse Gas Emissions project will acquire in-situ measurements of CO2 and CH4 in three urban centers, creating benchmark data sets of urban emissions with the necessary spatial and temporal resolution to develop space-based measurement strategies that characterize and quantify emissions from urban domes. Urban emissions represent a significant and increasing contributor to global greenhouse gas release, but present quantification is limited to isolated atmospheric studies and bottom-up reported data. Proven unreliability in reported emissions necessitates that any future global greenhouse gas treaty also employ direct atmospheric verification. For verification on the global scale, the spatial and temporal coverage of satellites is required. This proposed work, targeting objectives within the Keck Institute's program on 'Quantifying the Sources and Sinks of Atmospheric CO2', will quantify emissions of Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Edmonton with in-situ data, and develop a strategy for space-based remote sensing of urban emissions validated against real data."
Eric Kort's AGU megacity talk was highlighted in The Carbon Brief: Climate science at AGU: Our pick of the week. (December 2012)
"I am extremely grateful to KISS, and the wonderful people who make this organization such a unique place to work and think about big, interesting science. The KISS postdoc presents the special opportunity to work both at Caltech and JPL. I personally learned much and benefited greatly from this arrangement. I had offices both at Caltech and JPL, and regularly interacted with scientists at both organizations. The pool of excellent scientists and engineers with whom to discuss ideas over lunch is hard to find. The freedom and flexibility linked with the KISS postdoc really enables one to conceive and follow through on a broad array of activities—a rare find in a postdoctoral position. In my time as a KISS postdoc I learned much, and, even more importantly, had fun while doing so. I highly recommend this postdoctoral opportunity, and for those fortunate enough to join the KISS family, be sure to say yes to all KISS events linked to the Athenaeum." (October 14, 2013)
Read about Eric's past work in Science Daily in an article titled Study Finds Surprising Arctic Methane Emission Source.