Pengwang Zhai

Pengwang Zhai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He also serves as Director and Chair of Admissions for the Atmospheric Physics Graduate Program. His research focuses on light scattering, radiative transfer in atmosphere-ocean systems, and remote sensing of aerosols and hydrosols. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Texas A&M University (2006), and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Physics from Jilin University, China (2001 and 1998).

Dr. Zhai's professional journey includes postdoctoral work at Texas A&M University, a NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship at NASA Langley Research Center, and senior research roles at Science Systems & Applications, Inc. His current work emphasizes developing algorithms for satellite remote sensing of aerosols and ocean color using multi-angle, multi-polarized data from missions like PACE. He is a key contributor to radiative transfer theory and machine learning applications in environmental monitoring.

His research trends reflect advancements in atmospheric correction for coastal and hyperspectral observations, neural network-driven forward models, and joint retrievals of aerosol and ocean properties. These efforts address challenges in environmental data accuracy and scalability, particularly for PACE mission instruments.

No scientific awards are explicitly listed in the provided materials. His research group focuses on advancing radiative transfer theory and satellite data analysis, with active participation in the PACE mission community and open-source collaboration efforts.

Dr. Zhai's advising and grants include leadership in graduate education and contributions to NASA-funded projects. His research group at UMBC develops cutting-edge tools for environmental remote sensing, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches between physics, computer science, and environmental science.