1. MODIS Observed Surface and Atmosphere Characters over Tibetan Plateau Menglin Jin, PhD

2. Glaciers as a Harbinger of Global Change  Glacier National Park –110 glaciers have disappeared in the past 150 years –37 remaining glaciers expected to disappear within 25 years  Mt. Kilimanjaro –All glaciers likely to disappear within 20 years  160,000 glaciers worldwide being monitored by satellites (especially Landsat 7/ETM+ and Terra/ASTER) Gangotri Glacier, Himalaya Bhutan-Himalaya

3. Kiehl and Trenberth, 1997 CLOUD SNOW

4. Landsat 7 4/15/99 NASA Earth Science Spacecraft Terra12/18/99Aqua5/4/02 TRMM11/27/97

8. Skin Temperature

11. NCAR GCM T skin snow ~264-272K MODIS T skin ~>280K

12. CCSM3/CLM3 Snow Temperature NCAR Model Simulation

13. Tiebetan Plateau CCSM3/CLM3

14. TRMM rainfall

16. Aerosol Optical Thickness, July 2004

17. Interannual Variations Aerosol Optical Thickness, from MODIS

18. Cirrus, from MODIS

20. Cirrus Fraction, by MODIS

21. Water vapor

22. Cloud optical thickness, from MODIS

23. Cloud fraction

24. Cloud Top Pressure Cloud Top Temperature

25. Total Column Water Vapor, from MODIS

26. Diurnal Variation Aqua-Terra Cirrus Fraction, January 2005

27. Aqua-Terra Cirrus Refelectance, January 2005

28. Aqua-Terra total column water vapor, January 2005

29. Aqua-Terra total column water vapor, July 2004

30. Auqa-Terra Cloud Fraction, January 2005

31. Diurnal, seasonal, and inter-annual variations of rainfall, clouds, and water vapor over the Tibetan Plateau are examined using the most advanced satellite observations. Such understanding is critical for further modeling this regions. Land Information System for easier accessing and analyzing MODIS land observations is desired Summary