Dr. James R. Smith
President of Atmospheric Observing Systems, Inc.
Dr. James R. Smith is the president of Atmospheric Observing Systems, Inc. He has a Ph. D. in physics from the University of Wyoming, has held research positions at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago, and has a deep background in the design, construction and use of infrared instrumentation for astronomy and atmospheric physics.
Three accomplishments illustrate his successful approach to scientific problems: he designs, builds and then uses scientific instrumentation to make innovative measurements for the observational sciences.
While at Caltech, he built a photometer and used it atop a 14,000' mountain to make the first extensive observations of submillimeter emission from cold (~20K) galactic dust clouds. They revealed the clouds' distributions of mass.
At the University of Chicago, he built an array of cryogenic bolometers, at the time a breakthrough in infrared instrumentation, and then used it on an airborne platform to make the first infrared image of an external galaxy. It revealed the galaxy-wide distribution of star formation.
In 1996, he founded Atmospheric Observing Systems, Inc. with the goal to build analyzers sensitive enough to measure the air-sea exchange of CO2. His participation in GASEX-98 proved the instrumental concept and demonstrated that the CO2 profile of the marine boundary layer can be measured from a ship. Ultimately, models of these and future measurements of air-sea exchange will give the distribution of the ocean's CO2 flux and its dependence on climatological factors.
EDUCATION
M.S. in Physics, University of Virginia (1972)
Ph.D. in Physics, University of Wyoming (1976)
RELEVANT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Atmospheric Observing Systems, Inc., 1996 – present
Construction of the Ocean Flux Analyzer System and development of instrumentation to measure the air-sea exchange of CO2 of the open ocean. Analyzers and associated system instrumentation constructed for the three primary micrometeorlogical techniques, Eddy Correlator, Eddy Accumulator, and Vertical Profiler. Participation in GASEX-98 to make the first measurements of the CO2 profile of the marine boundary layer of the open ocean. The other two techniques were deployed and evaluated well enough to make them productive for the next experiment at sea. Construction of the Background Analyzer and its deployment on an aircraft.
Research Fellow, University of Chicago, 1978 – 1982
Designed, constructed and tested array of cryogenic bolometers used in the far-infrared camera. Used the camera with the Kuiper Airborne Observatory to produce the first infrared image of an external galaxy. Built detectors and filters to improve sensitivity of existing far-infrared photometers. Participated in more than 20 flights of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Conducted systematic experiments to produce ideal cryogenic bolometers.
Research Fellow, Caltech, 1976 – 1978
Submillimeter Observatory set up at White Mountain and detection system constructed. Individual dust clouds of the galaxy mapped at 400 mm. Quality of site monitored for two years. Millimeter-wave detectors and filters constructed for use at Palomar Observatory.
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