Dr. Carl Mears
Senior Scientist, Remote Sensing Systems
444 Tenth Street, Suite 200
Santa Rosa, CA, 95401
voice: (707) 545-2904x21
fax: (707) 545-2906
mears@remss.com

Dr. Mears has a B.S. in Physics from the University of Washington (1985), and a PhD. in Physics from University of California, Berkeley (1991), where his thesis research involved the development of quantum-noise-limited superconducting microwave heterodyne receivers. He joined Remote Sensing Systems in 1998. Since then, he has validated SSM/I and TMI winds versus in situ measurements, developed and validated a rain-flagging algorithm for the QuikScat Scatterometer. Over the past several years he has constructed and maintained a climate-quality data record of atmospheric temperatures from MSU and AMSU, and studied human-induced change in atmospheric water vapor and oceanic wind speed using measurements from passive microwave imagers. Dr. Mears was a convening lead author for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Sythesis and Assessment product 1.1 (the first CCSP report to reach final form), and a contributing author to the IGPP 4th assessment report. He is a member two international working groups, the Global Climate Oberving System Working Group on Atmospheric Reference Observations, and the WCRP Stratospheric Trends Working Group, which is part of the Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) project.

Mears, C. A. and F. J. Wentz, (2009a) Construction of the Remote Sensing Systems V3.2 Atmospheric Temperature Records From the MSU and AMSU Microwave Sounders, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, published online, DOI: 10.1175/2008JTECHA1176.1.

Mears, C. A. and F. J. Wentz, (2009b) Construction of the RSS V3.2 Lower Tropospheric Dataset From the MSU and AMSU Microwave Sounders, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, early online release.

Mears, C. A., B. D. Santer, F. J. Wentz, K. E. Taylor and M. F. Wehner, (2007) Relationship Between Temperature and Precipitable Water Changes Over Tropical Oceans, Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L24709, doi:10.1029/2007GL031936.

Mears, C. A. and F. J. Wentz, (2005) The Effect of Drifting Measurement Time on Satellite-Derived Lower Tropospheric Temperature, Science, 309, 1548-1551.

Mears, C. A., M. C. Schabel and F. J. Wentz, (2003) A Reanalysis of the MSU Channel 2 Tropospheric Temperature Record, Journal of Climate, 16(22), 3650-3664.

Mears, C. A., D. K. Smith and F. J. Wentz, (2001) Comparison of Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Buoy-Measured Wind Speeds From 1987 - 1997, Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(C6), 11719-11729.

Randel, W. J., K. P. Shine, J. Austin, J. Barnett, C. Claud, N. P. Gillett, P. Keckhut, U. Langematz, R. Lin, C. Long, C. A. Mears, A. Miller, J. Nash, D. J. Seidel, D. W. J. Thompson, F. Wu and S. Yoden, An update of observed stratospheric temperature trends, submitted to J. Geophy. Res.

Santer, B. D., C. A. Mears, F. J. Wentz, K. E. Taylor, P. J. Gleckler, T. M. L. Wigley, T. P. Barnett, J. S. Boyle, W. Bruggemann, N. P. Gillett, S. Klein, D. W. Pierce, P. A. Stott and M. F. Wehner, (2007) Identification of Human-Induced Changes in Atmospheric Moisture Content, PNAS, 104, 15248-15253.

Wentz, F. J., L. Ricciardulli, K. A. Hilburn and C. A. Mears, (2007) How Much More Rain Will Global Warming Bring?, Science, 317, 233-235.

Santer, B. D., T. M. L. Wigley, C. A. Mears, F. J. Wentz, S. A. Klein, D. J. Seidel, K. E. Taylor, P. W. Thorne, M. F. Wehner, P. J. Gleckler, J. S. Boyle, W. D. Collins, K. W. Dixon, C. Doutriaux, M. Free, Q. Fu, J. E. Hansen, G. S. Jones, R. Ruedy, T. R. Karl, J. R. Lanzante, G. A. Meehl, V. Ramaswamy, G. Russell and G. A. Schmidt, (2005) Amplification of Surface Temperature Trends and Variability in the Tropical Atmosphere, Science, 309(5740), 1511-1556.

Thorne, P. W., D. E. Parker, J. R. Christy and C. A. Mears, (2005) Uncertainties in Climate Trends: Lessons From Upper-Air Temperature Records, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 86(10), 1437-1442.

Gentemann, C. L., F. J. Wentz, C. A. Mears and D. K. Smith, (2004) In Situ Validation of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Sea Surface Temperatures, Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, C04021, doi:10.1029/2003JC002092.

Seidel, D. J., J. K. Angell, J. R. Christy, M. Free, S. A. Klein, J. R. Lanzante, C. A. Mears, D. E. Parker, M. C. Schabel, R. W. Spencer, A. Sterin, P. Thorne and F. J. Wentz, (2004) Uncertainty in Signals of Large-Scale Climate Variations in Radiosonde and Satellite Upper-Air Temperature Datasets, Journal of Climate, 17(11), 2225-2240.

Christy, J. R., R. W. Spencer, B. D. Santer, T. M. L. Wigley, G. A. Meehl, M. F. Wehner, C. A. Mears, M. C. Schabel, F. J. Wentz and C. Ammann, (2003) Reliability of Satellite Data Sets, Science, 301(5636), 1046-1049.

Santer, B. D., T. M. L. Wigley, G. A. Meehl, M. F. Wehner, C. A. Mears, M. C. Schabel, F. J. Wentz, C. Ammann, J. Arblaster, T. W. Bettge, W. M. Washington, K. E. Taylor, J. S. Boyle, W. Bruggemann and C. Doutriaux, (2003) Influence of Satellite Data Uncertainties on the Detection of Externally-Forced Climate Change, Science, 300(5623), 1280-1284.

Mears, C. A., C. E. Forest, R. W. Spencer, R. S. Vose and R. W. Reynolds, (2006), What is our understanding of the contribution made by observational or methodological uncertainties to the previously reported vertical differences in temperature trends, in Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences, vol. Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.1, Chapter 4, edited by T. R. Karl, S. J. Hassol, C. D. Miller and W. L. Murray, U.S. Climate Change Science Program, Washington, DC.

Mears, C. A., D. K. Smith and F. J. Wentz, (1999), Development of a Rain Flag for QuikScat, vol. 121999, Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, CA 95401.

Mears, C. A., D. K. Smith and F. J. Wentz, (2000), QuikScat Brightness Temperatures and Their Impact on Rain Flagging, vol. 031300, p. 6, Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, CA.

Wentz, F. J., M. C. Schabel, C. A. Mears and D. J. Seidel, (2002), Lower Tropospheric Air Temperature Derived from a blended Analysis of MSU, SSM/T1, SSM/I, Ncep/NCAR Reanalysis, and Reynolds SST, vol. 082702, p. 25, Remote Sensing Systems.