ABOUT ME
As far back as I can remember, I would stare at the skies, watching the clouds go by. During the night, I enjoyed sitting on my parents' balcony and gazing at the bright stars, flickering far away from us.
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I can't really say that I knew back then what I wanted to study (actually, I definitely can't!), but this urge to better understand why the clouds don't just fall on my head and what exactly it is that I see during these starry nights, was always there.
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This need to gather more information about our planet and its atmosphere was answered when I started my B.Sc studies at the Department of Geophysical, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Tel-Aviv University.
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This department was my second home for the following 8.5 years as I continued my studies for a Ph.D. During my studies, I focused on the dynamics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere, at the coldest part of it (the mesopause), where charged particles created mainly through intense solar radiation (which form what is known as the ionosphere) influence the strength of our radio reception while we are driving, and the accuracy of GPS navigation in our cell phones. In order to study this region of the atmosphere, which is way above the flight altitude of commercial jets, I used remote-sensing techniques (radio receivers and spectrometers), which I operated and maintained.
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After completing my Ph.D., I moved with my lovely wife Nesia to the small town of State College, Pennsylvania, where I was employed as an assistant research professor (previously, a Post-doctoral fellow) at the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania-State University. After studying the highest reaches of the atmosphere, I "precipitated" onto lower altitudes but could not get rid of my affection for low temperatures. This was reflected in my research projects, for which I used remote-sensing instrument data and models to study clouds, mostly above polar regions; clouds that are largely very different from those clouds that have intrigued me ever since my childhood. Those and other clouds still intrigue me in my new position at PNNL.
