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Federica Polverari

Technologist

About

Bio

Federica Polverari received the M.Sc. degree in Electronic Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Technologies-Radar and Remote sensing from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in 2013 and 2017, respectively. From 2017 to 2019 she was a postdoctoral researcher in radar scatterometry, at the Institut de Ciències del Mar, Barcelona, Spain. In 2019 she was awarded a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellowship at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA. In 2023 Dr. Polverari joined the Microwave Instrument Science Group at NASA JPL/Caltech. Her research interests include microwave remote sensing of ocean surface winds and snow over sea ice. Dr. Polverari is currently a member of the NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) Science Team. 

Education

  • Ph.D., Information and Communication Technologies - Radar and Remote Sensing, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, IT
  • M. Sc., Electronic Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, IT
  • B. Sc., Electronic Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, IT 

Research Interests

  • Microwave remote sensing of ocean surface winds
  • Passive microwave remote sensing of snow over sea ice
  • Remote sensing data analysis, calibration and validation

Experience

Professional Experience

  • 2023 - present: Technologist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA
  • 2022 - 2023: Assistant Project Scientist, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA/JIFRESSE), Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • 2019 - 2022: NASA Postdoctoral Research Fellow, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA
  • 2017-2019: Postdoctoral Researcher, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
  • 2014-2016: Visiting graduate student, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA.
  • 2013: Intern, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA.
  • 2012-2013: Intern, Serco S.p.A., Frascati, Rome, Italy.

Achievements

Awards & Recognitions

  • NASA Award | NASA Group Achievement Award, Sub-mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) (2024)
  • JPL Award | Postdoctoral Research Day Best Poster Award (2021)
  • NASA Award | NASA Postdoctoral Program Award (2019)
  • Professional Society and External Organization Awards | Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy | Doctoral Research Fellowship (2013)

Publications

  1. F. Polverari, A. Wineteer, E. Rodriguez, D. Perkovic-Martin, P. Siqueira, J. T. Farrar, J. M. Adam, J. Edson, “A Ka-band wind Geophysical Model Function using Doppler scatterometer measurements from the Air-Sea Interaction Tower experiment,” Remote Sensing, 2022, 14(9), 2067 doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092067
  2. F. Polverari, M. Portabella, W. Lin, J. W. Sapp, A. Stoffelen, Z. Jenelak, P. S. Chang,"On High and Extreme Wind Calibration Using ASCAT," in IEEE Trans. On Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol. 60, pp. 1-10, 2022, Art no. 4202210, doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2021.3079898.
  3. A. Stoffelen, A. Mouche, F. Polverari, G. van Zadelhoff, J. Sapp, M. Portabella, P. Chang, W. Lin and Z. Jelenak, “C-band High and Extreme-Force Speeds (CHEFS)”, EUMETSAT Project Final Report, March 2020.
  4. F. Polverari, M. Portabella, J. Garcia-Pereda, X. Calbet, and P. Rípodas, “Intercomparison of ASCAT sea surface winds and NWC/GEO-HRW Atmospheric Motion Vectors”, EUMETSAT Nowcasting Satellite Application Facilities (NWC SAF) Project Final Report, Sept. 2017.
  5. F. Polverari, F. S. Marzano, L. Pulvirenti, N. Pierdicca, S. M. Hristova-Veleva, F. J. Turk, “Modeling ocean wave surface to simulate spaceborne scatterometer observations in presence of rain," Proc of International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), pp.1203-1206, doi: 10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7325988, Milan, Italy, Jul. 26 – 31, 2015.
  6. S. Mori, F. Polverari, L. Mereu, L. Pulvirenti, M. Montopoli, N. Pierdicca, F. S. Marzano, “Atmospheric precipitation impact on synthetic aperture radar imagery: Numerical model at X and KA bands," Proc of International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), pp.1582-1585, doi: 10.1109/IGARSS.2015.7326085, Milan, Italy, Jul. 26 – 31, 2015.
  7. F. Polverari, S. Mori, L. Pulvirenti, N. Pierdicca, F.S. Marzano, “Precipitation Signature on Side-looking Aperture Radar Imaging: Sensitivity Analysis to Surface Effects at C, X and Ku band”, Proc of European Microwave Week-EuRAD, doi: 10.1109/EuRAD.2014.69912412014, Rome, Italy, Oct. 5 - 10, 2014.
  8. S. Mori, F. Polverari, L. Pulvirenti, M. Montopoli, N. Pierdicca, F.S. Marzano, “Modeling atmospheric precipitation impact on synthetic aperture radar imagery at X and Ka bands”, Proc. of the SPIE Remote Sensing, doi: 10.1117/12.2067376, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 22 -25, 2014.
  9. F. Polverari, S. Mori, L. Pulvirenti, N. Pierdicca, F.S. Marzano, “Modeling the Polarimetric Response to Atmospheric Precipitation on Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery over Ocean”, Proc. of the XX RiNEm, Padova, Italy, Sept. 15 -18, 2014.
  10. S. Mori, F. Polverari, L. Pulvirenti, M. Montopoli, N. Pierdicca, F. S. Marzano, “High resolution spatial analysis of a hurricane structure by means of X-band and Ka-band satellite synthetic aperture radar”, Proc. of the ERAD -8th European Conference on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology, Garmisch-Paterkirchen, Germany, Sept. 1 -5, 2014.
  11. F. Polverari, M. Talone, R. Crapolicchio, G. Levy, F.S. Marzano, “Characterization of ocean wind vector retrievals using ERS-2 high-resolution long-term dataset and buoy measurements”, Proc of ESA Living Planet Symposium 2013, Edinburg (UK), Sept. 9 – 13, 2013