Johnathan Hair
Senior Research Scientist, Lidar Sciences Branch, Science Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center
About
Dr. Johnathan Hair is a senior research scientist in the Lidar Sciences Branch, Science Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center, focused on the development and application of advanced active remote sensing technologies and measurement systems for the study of Earth and planetary atmospheric composition and physics. Dr. Hair has extensive experience in preparing, deploying, and analyzing data from many national and international field campaigns as an instrument Co-I and PI using state-of-the-art instruments including the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) and the Ozone Differential Absorption Lidar (Ozone DIAL) airborne instruments. He has had lead role in the design, development, and deployment of the airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-1 and HSRL-2) instruments that began in 2000 and resulted in a reliable work-horse instrument. Dr. Hair has presented the results of his research at national and international conferences and meetings and in collaborative journal publications.
Select Publications
- Hair, J. W., C. A. Hostetler, A. L. Cook, D. B. Harper, R. A. Ferrare, T. L. Mack, W. Welch, L. R., Izquierdo, F. E. Hovis, 2008: Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar for Profiling Aerosol Optical Properties, Applied Optics, 47,doi: 10.1364/AO.47.006734
- Hair, J., Hostetler, C., Hu, Y., Behrenfeld, M., Butler, C., Harper, D., Hare, R., Berkoff, T., Cook, A., Collins, J. and Stockley, N., 2016. Combined atmospheric and ocean profiling from an airborne high spectral resolution lidar. In EPJ Web of Conferences (Vol. 119, p. 22001). EDP Sciences.
- Sorooshian, Armin, et al. “The NASA ACTIVATE Mission.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 106.8 (2025): E1517-E1538.
- Dmitrovic, S., Hair, J. W., Collister, B. L., Crosbie, E., Fenn, M. A., Ferrare, R. A., … & Sorooshian, A. (2024). High Spectral Resolution Lidar–generation 2 (HSRL-2) retrievals of ocean surface wind speed: methodology and evaluation. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17(11), 3515-3532.
- Burton, S. P., Hair, J. W., Hostetler, C. A., Fenn, M. A., Smith, J. A., & Ferrare, R. A. (2025). Aerosol extinction and backscatter Optimal Estimation retrieval for High Spectral Resolution Lidar. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 18(22), 6527-6543.
- Ryan, R. A., Vaughan, M. A., Rodier, S. D., Tackett, J. L., Reagan, J. A., Ferrare, R. A., … & Getzewich, B. J. (2024). Total column optical depths retrieved from CALIPSO lidar ocean surface backscatter. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17(22), 6517-6545.
- Crosbie, E., Hair, J., Nehrir, A., Ferrare, R., Hostetler, C., Shingler, T., … & Sorooshian, A. (2024). A method to retrieve mixed phase cloud vertical structure from airborne lidar. EGUsphere, 2024, 1-32.
- Ferrare, R., Hair, J., Hostetler, C., Shingler, T., Burton, S. P., Fenn, M., … & Chellappan, S. (2023). Airborne HSRL-2 measurements of elevated aerosol depolarization associated with non-spherical sea salt. Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 4, 1143944.
Awards
- NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (2025)
- Best Oral Presentation, International Laser Radar Conference, New York, NY (2015)
- NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (2013)
- NASA Lawrence and Reid Award Recipient, significant publication at NASA LaRC (2012)
- NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal (2007)
Professional Memberships
- American Geophysical Union
- Optical Society of America
Education/Professional Experience
- Ph.D. Physics, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO, 1998
- M.S. Physics, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO, 1993
- B.A. Physics, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA, 1991
- Senior Research Scientist, Lidar Science Branch, Science Directorate, NASA LaRC, 2000 – Present
- NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA LaRC, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 1999 – 2000