NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: Jennifer Collings

Kuan-Man Xu, Takmeng Wong, Bruce Wielicki, Lindsay Parker and Zachary Eitzen, winners of the 2008 H.J.E. Reid Award, will donate their $2,500 prize to counterparts in Sichuan, China, who are earthquake victims.

The Reid Award, given annually to the authors of the most outstanding publication at NASA Langley, was earned for their paper: "Statistical Analyses of Satellite Cloud Object Data from CERES. Part I: Methodology and Preliminary Results of the 1998 El Nino/2000 La Nina."

Takmeng Wong (left) and Zachary Eitzen look over their award-winning paper. They were recognized for their outstanding work at the Honor Awards Ceremony. Photo Credit: NASA

Click on the image for a larger view
"The victims in China need this money more than we do. There is still so much destruction and chaos there, and we hope that this money will help them get back on their feet," said Wong, an atmospheric research scientist at NASA Langley.

The authors learned that the earthquake in Sichuan does not discriminate among its victims. Fellow researchers at the Meteorological Bureau of Sichuan Province (MBSP) suffered grave losses; nine meteorologists and their direct family members were killed, and fourteen others were injured.

The MBSP observation buildings, resident housing and other facilities in 12 different stations were either destroyed or extensively damaged by the earthquake. The observation station in Beichuan was also completely destroyed, killing a meteorologist who was conducting surface observations.

"I pay attention to what is going on in China, and when I listened to the earthquake reports on the radio, it was so difficult to hear about their suffering," said Xu, the lead author of the paper.

Donating to Chinese funds is nothing new for Xu. He said he and his family also give to China Red Cross through his wife's employer.

The winnings from their NASA paper will be donated through The Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (COAA) Southern California Chapter, which is leading the relief effort for the meteorologists. All donations will go directly to the MBSP.


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