Professor Vanderlei Martins
Professor · Tenured
Department of Physics Earth and Space Institute
College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Earth and Space Institute
He/Him/His/Himself
About
Dr. Martins worked at the Climate and Radiation Branch of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as part of the UMBC-GSFC Joint Center for Earth Systems and Technology (JCET), where he keeps close association and collaboration. He previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Sao Paulo. He was part of the MODIS and Glory Science teams and he is the PI for HARP and HARP2 space instruments, and for the AirHARP, PI-Neph, Open-INeph, PACS, RPI, and Cloud Scanner airborne instruments, which have flown multiple NASA missions measuring optical properties of aerosol and clouds. Dr. Martins founded and is the Director of the Earth and Space Institute at UMBC.
Research interests
Aerosol and Cloud Properties, Physics of the Atmosphere, Satellite Remote Sensing, Aircraft Measurements of the Atmosphere, Optics, Polarization, Instrument Development.
Teaching interests
Radiative Transfer, Aerosol and Cloud Physics, Remote Sensing, Laboratory Measurements, Laboratory of Optics. and Laboratory ofModern Physics..
Education
- Ph D, Physics — University of Sao Paulo (1999)
- MS, Physics — University of Sao Paulo (1994)
- BS, Physics — Unviersity of Sao Paulo (1991)
Publications
- A new way to see the clouds: the hyper-angular rainbow polarimeter (HARP2) on the NASA PACE satellite mission 2025
- HARP2 Pre-Launch Calibration Overview: The Effects of a Wide Field of View 2025
- Life after launch: a snapshot of the first six months of NASA’s plankton, aerosol, cloud, ocean ecosystem (PACE) mission 2024
- Optimization of the Polarized Imaging Nephelometer (PI-Neph) for continuous monitoring of multiwavelength aerosol phase functions in support of space polarimetry missions 2024
- Retrievals of aerosol size distribution, spherical fraction and complex refractive index from airborne in situ angular light scattering and absorption measurements 2019
- Polarimetric mapping of the lunar surface with the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter 2 (HARP2) on the NASA PACE mission
- Science Products as Feedback for Calibration: Examples from the HARP2 polarimeter on NASA’s PACE mission
- Multi-angle and polarimetric characterization of various Earth surface types with the PACE HARP2 polarimeter
Presentations
- Retrieval of aerosol and surface properties from PACE polarimetric and spectrometric observations using GRASP algorithm 2025
- On-Orbit Performance Assessment of the HARP2 Multi-Angle Polarimeter on the NASA PACE Mission: Intercomparison with OCI and SPEXOne Instruments 2025
- The First Year of HARP2/PACE Performance Based on its Ground and On-Orbit Characterization 2025
- The First Year of the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP2) on the NASA PACE mission: Performance, Science, and Synergy 2025
- Retrieving Aerosol and Surface Products Using Multi-Pixel approach from PACE Polarimeter HARP2 Observations with GRASP 2024
- Advanced cloud products from the PACE mission 2024
- Aerosol and Surface Products from PACE Polarimeter HARP2 Observations using GRASP 2024
- The use of multi-angle polarization exploiting the synergy between in-situ and remote sensing measurements of aerosol and cloud particles 2024
- First Results and On-Orbit Performance of the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter on the PACE Satellite 2024
- The measurement of aerosol and gases from space for climate and air pollution application 2024
- The Climate-n constellation of Small Satellites for the detailed measurement of aerosol pollution, cloud properties, and greenhouse gases 2024
- Assessment of Aerosol Retrieval Accuracy with Multi-Angle Polarimeters Using Synthetic Data and Particle Size Distribution from the CAMP2Ex Field Campaign 2024
- Assessment of Aerosol Retrieval Accuracy with Multi-Angle Polarimeters Using Synthetic Data and Particle Size Distribution from the CAMP2Ex Field Campaign 2024
- Advancements on the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) polarization characterization during NASA Plankton Aerosol and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) pre-launch calibration 2023
- Hygroscopic Measurements of Aerosol Particles in Colorado during the Discover AQ Campaign 2014 2014
Grants and Contracts
- An AI-driven approach for retrieving aerosol and surface properties from HARP family of multi-angle polarimeter measurements 2025
- Establishing Altiplano Benchmark Sites for Vicarious Calibration of Satellite Polarimeters
- The Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder for the International Space Station, TIGERISS, an Exceptional Nucleosynthesis Pioneer
Courses Taught
- Modern Physics Lab