NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: Jennifer Collings

At 11 a.m. on Thursday, a crowd formed around a young cherry tree in front of Building 1250. The day was sunny with a clear sky and a cool breeze. "This weather reminds me of Chieko," said Lelia Vann, director of the Science Directorate, as she began the ceremony to dedicate the tree to Chieko Kittaka who passed away in March.

Kittaka's close friend and colleague, David Winker, chose the tree to honor her when he noticed that the cherry trees on the Peninsula were in bloom the week she died. Cherry trees blossom for just a few weeks every spring, and the blooming of this tree each year would bring back fond memories of Kittaka.

The tree dedicated to Chieko Kittaka is a Japanese Yoshino cherry tree. One was given by the mayor of Tokyo to the city of Washington, D.C., to plant around the Tidal Pool in 1912. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

Click image to enlarge

During the ceremony, her friends and colleagues reminisced about her life and her work in the Science Directorate. She was described as always having a bright smile on her face and a presence that gave others a breath of fresh air. "Chieko was a highly respected scientist and wonderful friend to her many colleagues, and she brightened the days of everyone she met with her bright smile and cheerful spirit," said Om Bahethi, president of Science Systems and Applications Inc. (SSAI).

Kittaka's joyful presence stemmed from her passion for science, which motivated her to spend long days at work, where she led the development of the Real-time Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS) aerosol forecasting and assimilation capabilities. She also participated in a variety of airborne missions, such as NOAA's Texas Air Quality Study, NASA's INTEX-B, TC4 and ARCTAS. Throughout these missions her work contributed significantly to flight planning, as well as to innovative data analyses.

"Our hearts are heavy with sadness at the loss of an exceptional scientist, a dear friend, and a spirited teammate. Chieko became an instant friend to all she met with her contagious smile and enthusiasm. She made significant scientific contributions for NASA, NOAA and EPA projects that will continue to advance our knowledge in the areas of air quality and climate change for years to come," said Pat Lucker, Chieko's supervisor with SSAI.

Kittaka's most recent work was for the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) project in which she performed analyses of global aerosol distribution and properties, developed techniques for cloud-screening Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) aerosol data and developed a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-constrained CALIOP aerosol retrieval. A few of her last projects were providing graphics for a Web feature on CALIOP observations of smoke from the fires in Australia, studying the trajectories of recent volcanic plumes and writing a paper comparing MODIS and CALIOP aerosol optical depth retrievals.

"Every morning she looked at every morsel of data to see how the Earth had changed the night before," said Brad Pierce, a close friend and mentor of Kittaka's. "Langley gave that gift to her, and she embraced it. She was our Mother Earth."


 
NASA Langley Research Center
Managing Editor: Jim Hodges
Executive Editor and Responsible NASA Official: H. Keith Henry
Editor and Curator: Denise Lineberry