Michael Ramsey’s work was recognized by the American Geophysical Society

The editorial board of the American Geophysical Society (AGU) journal Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists has selected a paper led by Michael Ramsey, professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geology and Environmental Science, to feature across its social media platforms, a distinction earned by fewer than 2% of AGU papers. 

A collaboration among universities, industry and research institutions, the paper considers a future without data from NASA’s planned thermal infrared sensor, SBG-TIR, which was being developed to measure spatial patterns and temporal baselines of surface temperature and emissivity — a method of identifying the composition of objects such as minerals or other materials.

Multispectral thermal infrared sensors use multiple spectra of light to provide data used to address a range of scientific questions related to everything from monitoring wildfires to mapping the locations of critical minerals on Earth, the moon and Mars.

SBG-TIR had been in the works for years and was planned to launch in 2028 before development stopped and the project was reformulated without a budget or timeframe. 

“SBG-TIR was going to be looking at geological science,” his own area of research, Ramsey said, but its cancellation will also affect researchers studying ecology, agriculture, water and urban heat islands among others. “It had a lot of applications.”