Mahesh Mundakkara Kovilakam (Contractor)
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Title: Senior Research Scientist
Technical Focus Areas: Chemistry & Dynamics, Atmospheric Composition
Mission/Project: SAGE III/ISS
Study Topics: Stratospheric aerosols, remote sensing, In-situ measurements
Email: mahesh.kovilakam@nasa.gov
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About:
Mahesh earned his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Wyoming in 2012 under the mentorship of Prof. Terry Deshler. His dissertation, titled “On the Accuracy of Stratospheric Aerosol Extinction and Surface Area Derived from In Situ and Remote Measurements,” utilized SAGE II aerosol extinction coefficient and surface area density data as primary remote measurements for validation. After completing his Ph.D., Mahesh became a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), where he studied precipitation changes in the southwestern U.S., using CMIP5 models. He later joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as a postdoctoral research associate, gaining expertise in General Circulation Models (GCMs) and high-performance computing. At ORNL, he conducted and analyzed experiments using CAM4, incorporating BC distributions modified to match the vertical profile of smoke derived from CALIPSO satellite measurements. In 2017, Mahesh joined the SAGE III/ISS team, where he contributed to the development of version 2.0 of the Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (GloSSAC). His contributions have played a key role in the development process, including the most recent release, which features a revised aerosol-cloud categorization for SAGE III/ISS.
Publication Bibliography:
Select Publications:
- Kovilakam, M., Thomason, L., and Knepp, T.: SAGE III/ISS aerosol/cloud categorization and its impact on GloSSAC, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2709–2731, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2709-2023, 2023.
- Thomason, L. W., Kovilakam, M., Schmidt, A., von Savigny, C., Knepp, T., and Rieger, L.: Evidence for the predictability of changes in the stratospheric aerosol size following volcanic eruptions of diverse magnitudes using space-based instruments, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1143–1158, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1143-2021, 2021.
- Kovilakam, M., Thomason, L., Ernest, N., Rieger, L., Bourassa, A., and Millan, L.: A Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (Version 2.0): 1979-2018, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-56, accepted, 2020.
- Deshler, T., B. Luo., M. Kovilakam., T. Peter., L. Kalnajs (2019) : Retrieval of Aerosol Size Distributions From In Situ Particle Counter Measurements: Instrument Counting Efficiency and Comparisons With Satellite Measurements., Journal of Geophysical Research- Atmospheres, 124, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029558
- Kovilakam, M., S. Mahajan, R. Saravanan, and P. Chang (2017): Climate impacts of CALIPSO-guided corrections to black carbon aerosol vertical distributions in a Global Climate Model, Geophysical Research Letters, 44, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074652
- Kovilakam, M., and S. Mahajan (2015): Black carbon aerosols induced Northern Hemisphere tropical expansion, Geophysical Research Letters, 42, 4964-4972, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL064559
- Kovilakam, M., and T. Deshler (2015): On the accuracy of stratospheric aerosol extinction derived from in situ size distribution measurements and surface area density derived from remote SAGE II and HALOE extinction measurements, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 120, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023303
- Allen R.J., J. R. Norris, and M. Kovilakam (2014): In uence of anthropogenic aerosols and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on tropical belt width, Nature Geosci, 7, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2091
Professional Memberships:
- AGU
- AMS
Education/Professional Experience:
- University of Wyoming, WY, USA, Ph.D., Atmospheric Sciences, Aug. 2012 Advisor: Prof. T. Deshler
- Senior Research Scientist, SSAI/NASA Langley Research Center, Sept. 2019-present
- NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA Langley Research Center, Sept. 2017-Aug. 2019
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Computational Earth Sciences Group, Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oct. 2014-Jul. 2017, Postdoc
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, Oct. 2012-Sep. 2014
National or International Leadership Positions:
- Stratospheric Sulfur and its Role in Climate (SSiRC) steering committee member.
- CMIP7 forcings task team stakeholder.