Research

Longterm Vision

Figure illustrates how the Earth-atmosphere system is regulated by physical processes with various spacial scales.

The global climate is primarily regulated by complex radiative interactions with clouds and aerosols on various spatial scales in the atmosphere. Saito’s central goal is to address the role of clouds and aerosols in atmospheric radiative and microphysical processes by fully exploiting observational capabilities with an emphasis on remote sensing techniques. Airborne remote sensing observations can characterize cloud and aerosol properties on a local scale, while satellite remote sensing observations can estimate global distributions of cloud and aerosol properties. The common essence in both remote sensing observation types is how to interpret radiometric signals and derive cloud and aerosol properties based on physical principles. His overall research interests are focused on two study areas:

1. Developing sophisticated airborne/spaceborne remote sensing methods for better cloud and aerosol properties characterizations.

2. Deepening the understanding of the roles of clouds and aerosols in the radiation field from physical and microphysical perspectives from both theoretical and observational perspectives.

Remote sensing techniques are indispensable for measuring cloud and aerosol properties from any observational platform. Saito aspires to conduct observation-driven atmospheric science research by exploring airborne and spaceborne observations.