Claire L. Parkinson
Credit: NASA/Steve Graham
Alma mater	Wellesley College Ohio State University
Scientific career
Fields	Earth climate Arctic sea ice
Institutions	Ohio State University National Center for Atmospheric Research Goddard Space Flight Center

Claire Lucille Parkinson (born March 12, 1948) is an AmericanEarth scientist andclimatologist atNASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center.

Parkinson has aB.A. in mathematics fromWellesley College, where she was elected to bothPhi Beta Kappa andSigma Xi, and aPh.D. in geography/climatology fromOhio State University.

Parkinson is a climatologist atNASA'sGoddard Space Flight Center, where she works with theEarth Observing System.^[1][2] Parkinson has developed acomputer model of sea ice, and she has donefield work in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Her research emphasis has been on polarsea ice and its connections to the rest of theclimate system and toclimate change, with a particular emphasis on satelliteremote sensing. This work has involved satellite data set generation and analysis, including the determination of decreases in Arctic sea ice coverage since the 1970s and examination of their regional and interannual variabilities and impacts, plus the quantification and analysis of the very different time series of sea ice changes in the Antarctic. Dr. Parkinson is the Project Scientist for theAqua satellite mission, which launched in May 2002 and continues to transmit data on many atmospheric, ocean, land, and ice variables.^[1][3][4] The Aqua data have been used in thousands of research publications by scientists worldwide and in numerous practical applications, including weather forecasting andforest fire detection.

Parkinson has done considerable outreach to children and the general public, serving as the sole science advisor to the photographic exhibit “Antarctica On Thin Ice” that opened at theUnited Nations Headquarters in New York City on December 17, 2007.^[1] She wrote books abouthistory of science, and is active in promotingwomen in science.^[5]

Parkinson has authored more than 100 scientific publications and author or editor of 15 books, among them she is the lead author of anatlas ofArctic sea ice from satellite data and a coauthor of two other sea ice atlases.^[6][7]

• Parkinson, Claire L.; Parkinson, C. L. (1985).Breakthroughs: A chronology of great achievements in science and mathematics, 1200 - 1930. Boston: Hall.ISBN 978-0-8161-8706-5.
• Parkinson, Claire L. (1997).Earth from above: using color-coded satellite images to examine the global environment. Sausalito, Calif: University Science Books.ISBN 978-0-935702-41-5.
• Parkinson, Claire; Greenstone, Reynold (October 2000).EOS Data Products Handbook. Vol. 2. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.ISBN 978-1494740429.
• Parkinson, Claire; Washington, Warren (May 16, 2005).Introduction To Three-dimensional Climate Modeling (2nd ed.). University Science Books.ISBN 978-1891389351.
• Parkinson, Claire; Ward, Alan; King, Michael (2006).Earth Science Reference Handbook. NASA.
• Parkinson, Claire; King, Michael; Partington, Kim; Williams, Robin (November 12, 2007).Our Changing Planet: The View from Space (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0521828703.
• Parkinson, Claire (April 16, 2010).Coming Climate Crisis?: Consider the Past, Beware the Big Fix. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.ISBN 978-0742568303.
• Parkinson, Claire; Millar, Pamela; Thaller, Michelle (2011).Women of Goddard : careers in science, technology, engineering & mathematics. Cambridge University Press.

• Parkinson, Claire L.; Washington, Warren M. (1979)."A large-scale numerical model of sea ice".Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans.84 (C1):311–337.doi:10.1029/JC084iC01p00311.ISSN 2156-2202.
• Parkinson, Claire L.; Cavalieri, Donald J.; Gloersen, Per; Zwally, H. Jay; Comiso, Josefino C. (1999)."Arctic sea ice extents, areas, and trends, 1978–1996".Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans.104 (C9):20837–20856.doi:10.1029/1999JC900082.ISSN 2156-2202.
• Vaughan, David G.; Marshall, Gareth J.; Connolley, William M.; Parkinson, Claire; Mulvaney, Robert; Hodgson, Dominic A.; King, John C.; Pudsey, Carol J.; Turner, John (2003-10-01)."Recent Rapid Regional Climate Warming on the Antarctic Peninsula".Climatic Change.60 (3):243–274.doi:10.1023/A:1026021217991.ISSN 1573-1480.
• Comiso, Josefino C.; Parkinson, Claire L.; Gersten, Robert; Stock, Larry (2008)."Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover".Geophysical Research Letters.35 (1).doi:10.1029/2007GL031972.ISSN 1944-8007.
• Cavalieri, D. J.; Parkinson, C. L. (2012-03-09). "Arctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2010".doi:10.5194/tcd-6-957-2012.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url= (help)

• 1969 Election toPhi Beta Kappa, Wellesley College
• 1970 Election toSigma Xi, Wellesley College
• 1970 Lewis Atterbury Stimson Award in Mathematics,Wellesley College
• 1976 Charles Clifford Huntington Award in Geography,Ohio State University
• 1979 Exceptional Performance Award,NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• 1982 NASA Group Achievement Award to the authors of Antarctic Sea Ice
• 1984 Peer Award for Best Paper, Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences, Goddard Space Flight Center
• 2000Fellow,American Meteorological Society
• 2001NASA Exceptional Service Medal
• 2003Aviation Week & Space Technology Laurels Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Space
• 2003NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
• 2004Richard P. Goldthwait Polar Medal^[8]
• 2006American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems Award
• 2008NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal^[9]
• 2009Election to the U.S.National Academy of Engineering^[10]
• 2010Election to theAmerican Philosophical Society^[11]
• 2010Fellow,American Association for the Advancement of Science^[12]
• 2011American Meteorological Society Remote Sensing Prize
• 2015William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center^[13]
• 2016Election to the U.S.National Academy of Sciences^[14]
• 2016Fellow,American Geophysical Union^[15]
• 2017NASA Silver Achievement Medal, FEMA response volunteers
• 2018Fellow,American Academy of Arts and Sciences^[16]
• 2020Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal^[17]
• 2020Maryland Women's Hall of Fame^[18]
• 2020Roger Revelle Medal

• Living people
• People from Long Island
• American earth scientists
• Wellesley College alumni
• Ohio State University alumni
• American women scientists
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• 1948 births
• 21st-century American women

• Source attribution
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
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