MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Contact: Diane Ainsworth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Moshe Pniel, science project manager of Japan’s Advanced
Spaceborne Thermal
Emission and Reflection Radiometer on board NASA’s Terra Earth-
observing spacecraft, has been named manager of scatterometer
projects at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Pniel will oversee JPL’s scatterometer projects, which
measure sea surface wind speed and direction as part of NASA’s
Earth Observations System Program. Current JPL scatterometer
projects include the recently launched SeaWinds/Quikscat
mission and the NASA SeaWinds instrument scheduled to be
launched in November 2001 on the Japanese ADEOS-11 satellite.

In his new role, Pniel will lead JPL’s effort to obtain a
long-term, daily data set of winds at the ocean surface around
the globe for weather, climate and oceanographic studies.

Since 1996, Pniel has served and will continue in his role
as science project manager for the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal
Emission and Reflection Radiometer, called ASTER, recently
launched as part of NASA’s Earth Observing System satellite
Terra. Prior to becoming ASTER project manager, Pniel was
responsible for the development of ASTER’s science data system
from 1993-96. He was also responsible for developing the
science data system for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder,
called AIRS, part of the second Earth Observing System
satellite tentatively set for launch in December 2000.

Pniel’s previous work at JPL includes key engineering
roles on pre-projects and projects including NASA’s Space
Infrared Telescope Facility, the Mars Network study, and the
designs of four generations of hypercube supercomputers
developed at JPL and transferred to industry.

Pniel received a bachelor’s degree in electrical
engineering from California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona, in 1982 and a practical engineering degree in
electrical engineering in 1976 from the Junior Technical
College at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.
Pniel resides with his wife, Marion, in San Dimas, Calif.

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