Member
Dr. Maki KIKUCHI
Researcher
Earth Observation Research Center
Satellite Mission Decorate I
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Biography

Dr. Maki Kikuchi is a Researcher in Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Maki joined JAXA in 2011 after receiving M.S. in Geophysics from Tohoku University in Japan. Since then, her main role has been on the science management in Japan for the joint European-Japanese Earth observation mission, Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE). In the EarthCARE Research Group, she has been working on the development of JAXA geophysical algorithms for data products related to clouds, aerosol, precipitation and radiation.

Maki was also working for the development management of JAXA Himawari Monitor products. Himawari is the Japanese geostationary satellite operated by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and she has been leading the scientific management of the JAXA Himawari Aerosol and Cloud products.

Her recent research is focused on developing algorithms to retrieve cloud/precipitation phase and ice crystal shapes from satellite-borne radar and lidar measurements, to understand their behaviors in cloud-precipitation processes. Having research experience in this field, she received her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Tokyo in 2018. Since 2019, she is a Visiting Academic at the Centre for Water, Climate and Land (CWCL) in the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Education/Degress

2009 B. Sc., Faculty of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
2011 M. Sc., Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
2018 Ph.D., Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Professional Experience

2020 Researcher, Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA
2019 Visiting Academic, Centre for Water, Climate and Land, The University of Newcastle
2019 Researcher, Associate to Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA (Overseas Training Program)
2015 Researcher, Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA
2012 Engineer, Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA
2011 Assistant Administrator, Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA
2011 Assistant Administrator, Human Resources Department, JAXA

Expertise

Atmospheric Physics
Satellite Remote Sensing

Research Interests

Cloud/Precipitation Algorithm Development
Algorithm development of hydrometeor types, classifying cloud and precipitation phase and ice crystal shapes from satellite-borne radar and lidar.
Cloud/Precipitation Data Analysis
Synergistic analysis of global cloud and precipitation characteristics and processes using cloud radar, lidar, optical imager and microwave radiometer.
Aerosol Algorithm Development
Algorithm development of hourly estimates of aerosol properties using high temporal frequency observation by the Japanese geostationary satellite, Himawari.

Professional Societies/Editor

American Geophysical Union, Member
Japan Geophysical Union, Member
Japan Meteorological Society, Member
MDPI Atmosphere, Topic Editor (2020 - Present)

URL

Publons
Research Gate
Google Scholar
Personal Webpage

Publications

Refereed Journal Papers

  • Kikuchi, M., Oki, R., Kubota, T., Yoshida, M., Hagihara, Y., Takahashi, C., Ohno, Y., Nishizawa, T., Nakajima, T. Y., Suzuki, K., Satoh, M., Okamoto, H., Tomita, E. (2019). Overview of Earth, Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) - Integrative Observation of Cloud and Aerosol and Their Radiative Effects on the Climate System -, Journal of The Remote Sensing Society of Japan, 39(3). http://doi.org/10.11440/rssj.39.181 [in Japanese]
  • Kikuchi, M., and K. Suzuki (2019). Characterizing Vertical particle Structure of Precipitating Cloud System From Multiplatform Measurements of A-Train Constellation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46. http://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081244
  • Kikuchi, M., Murakami, H., Suzuki, K., Nagao, T. M., and Higurashi, A. (2018). Improved Hourly Estimates of Aerosol Optical Thickness using Spatiotemporal Variability Derived from Himawari-8 Geostationary Satellite, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 56. http://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2018.2800060
  • Kikuchi, M., Okamoto, H., Sato, K., Suzuki, K., Cesana, G., Hagihara, Y., Takahashi, N., Hayasaka, T., and Oki, R. (2017) Development of algorithm for discriminating hydrometeor particle types with a synergistic Use of CloudSat and CALIPSO, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 122. http://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027113
  • Hirakata, M., Okamoto, H., Hagihara, Y., Hayasaka, T., and Oki, R. (2014). Evaluation of cloud phase derived from CALIPSO by comparison with MODIS and ECMWF, J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 31. https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-13-00245.1
  • Dai, T., Cheng, T., Goto, D., Schutgens, N. A. J., Kikuchi, M., Yoshida, M., Shi, G., Nakajima, T. 2019). Inverting the East Asian Dust Emission Fluxes Using the Ensemble Kalman Smoother and Himawari-8 AODs: A Case Study with WRF-Chem v3.5.1, Atmosphere, 10, 543, doi:10.3390/atmos10090543
  • Letu, H., Nagao, T. M., Nakajima, T. Y., Riedi, J., Ishimoto, H.,Baran, A. J., Shang, H., Sekiguchi, M., Kikuchi, M. (2019). Ice Cloud Properties From Himawari-8/AHI Next-Generation Geostationary Satellite: Capability of the AHI to Monitor the DC Cloud Generation Process, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens, 57, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2018.2882803
  • Dai, T., Cheng, Y., Suzuki, K., Goto, D., Kikuchi, M., Schutgens, N. A. J., Yoshida, M., Zhang, P., Husi, L., Shi, G., Nakajima, T. (2019). Hourly aerosol assimilation of Himawari‐8 AOT using the four‐dimensional local ensemble transform Kalman filter, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 11, doi: 10.1029/2018MS001475
  • Goto, D., Kikuchi, M., Suzuki, K., Hayasaki, M., Yoshida, M., Nagao, T. M., Choi, M., Kim, J., Sugimoto, N., Shimizu, A., Oikawa, E., Nakajima, T. (2019). Aerosol model evaluation using two geostationary satellites over East Asia in May 2016, Atmospheric Research, 217. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2018.10.016
  • Yoshida, M., Kikuchi, M., Nagao, T. M., Murakami, H., and Higurashi, A. (2018). Common retrieval of aerosol properties for imaging satellite sensors, J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 96B. doi:10.2151/jmsj.2018-039
  • Yumimoto, K., Tanaka, T. Y., Yoshida, M., Kikuchi, M., Nagao, T. M., Murakami, H., and Maki, T. (2018). Assimilation and Forecasting Experiment for Heavy Siberian Wildfire Smoke in May 2016 with Himawari-8 Aerosol Optical Thickness, J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 96B. doi:10.2151/jmsj.2018-035
  • Irie, H., Horio, T., Damiani, A., Nakajima, T. Y., Takenaka, H., Kikuchi, M., Khatri, P., Yumimoto, K. (2017). Importance of Himawari-8 Aerosol Products for Energy Management System, Earozoru Kenkyu, 32. doi:10.11203/jar.32.95 [in Japanese]
  • Yumimoto, K., Nagao, T. M., Kikuchi, M., Sekiyama, T. T., Murakami, H., Tanaka, T. Y., Ogi, A., Irie, H., Khatri, P., Okumura, H., Arai, K., Morino, I., Uchino, O., and Maki, T. (2016). Aerosol data assimilation using data from Himawari-8, a next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43. doi:10.1002/2016GL069298
  • Sekiyama, T. T., Yumimoto, K., Tanaka, T. Y., Nagao, T., Kikuchi, M., and H. Murakami (2016). Data Assimilation of Himawari-8 Aerosol Observations: Asian Dust Forecast in June 2015, SOLA, 12. doi:10.2151/sola.2016-020
  • Illingworth, A. J., Barker, H. W., Beljaars, A., Ceccaldi, M., Chepfer, H., Clerbaux, N., Cole, J., Delanoe, J., Domenech, C., Donovan, D. P., Fukuda, A., Hirakata, M., Hogan, R. J., Huenerbein, A., Kollias, P., Kubota, T., Nakajima, T., Nakajima, T. Y., Nishizawa, T., Ohno, Y., Okamoto, H., Oki, R., Sato, K., Satoh, M., Shephard, M. W., Velazquez-Blazquez, A., Wandinger, U., Wehr, T., and Zadelhoff, G. Van. (2015). The EarthCARE Satellite: The Next Step Forward in Global Measurements of Clouds, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Radiation. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00227.1

Refereed Conference Proceedings

  • Kikuchi, M., Okamoto, H., Sato, K., and Hagihara, Y., Testing hydrometeor particle type discrimination derived from CloudSat and CALIPSO (2016). Proceedings of International Radiation Symposium 2016, Arkland, New Zealand, AIP Conf. Proc., 1810, 070005. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4975526
  • Hirakata, M., Okamoto, H., Hagihara, Y., and Hayasaka, T. (2010). Global and Seasonal Characteristics of the Cloud Phase and Ice Orientation Observed by CALIPSO, Proc. 25th International Laser Radar Conference, 1324-1327, ISBN 978-1-61782-614-6.
  • Kachi,M., Murakami, H., Kikuchi, M., Yoshida, M., Nagao, T., Ono, N., Kurihara, Y., and Nakajima, T. (2019). JAXA Himawari Monitor and its Synergies with Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM), IGARSS 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 4745-4748. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2019.8900417

Non-Refereed Papers, Book Chapters and Reports

  • Kikuchi, M. (2017). Earth, Cloud, Aerosols, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE), Tenki, The Meteorological Society of Japan, 64(5), 379-381. https://www.metsoc.jp/tenki/pdf/2017/2017_05_0059.pdf [in Japanese]
  • Hirakata, M. (2013). Development of EarthCARE High Level Algorithms, Earth Observation Research Center Annual Report 2013 No. 17, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA-SP-14- 003, 46-47. [in Japanese]
  • Hirakata, M. (2012). Development of EarthCARE High Level Algorithms, Earth Observation Research Center Annual Report 2012 No. 16, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA-SP-13- 004, 42-43, 2013. [in Japanese]
  • Hirakata, M. (2011). Development of EarthCARE High Level Algorithms, Earth Observation Research Center Annual Report 2011 No. 15, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA-SP-12- 004, 48-49, 2012. [in Japanese]
  • Sekiyama, T. T., Yoshida, M., Kikuchi, M., and Yumimoto, K. (2018). Geostationary Meteorological Satellite Himawari 8 and 9 and Their Applications: Chapter 7 Aerosol Product, Meteorological Research Note, The Meteorological Society of Japan, 238, 85-97. [in Japanese]
  • Honda, T., Nakajima, T. Y., Murakami, H., Kikuchi, M., Kimura, T., Moriyama, M., Nasahara, K., Hayasaka, T. (2017). Investigation of Global Trends on Future Vision of Earth Observation: Chapter 2 Global Optical Imaging, Meteorological Research Note, The Meteorological Society of Japan, 234, 11-18. [in Japanese]
  • Sugimoto, N., Nishizawa, T., Mizutani, K., Ishii, S., Okamoto, H., Hayashi, M., Sato, K., Kikuchi, M., and Kimura, T. (2017). Investigation of Global Trends on Future Vision of Earth Observation: Chapter 6 Lidar, Meteorological Research Note, The Meteorological Society of Japan, 234, 33-38. [in Japanese]
  • Oki, R., Kubota, T., and Hirakata, M. (2014). Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Observation Satellite "EarthCARE", Low Temperature Science, Institute of Low Temperature Science Hokkaido University, 72, 225-230. [in Japanese]
  • Tanaka, T., Sekiyama, T. T., Maki, T., Yumimoto, K., Ogi, A., Kikuchi, M., and Murakami, H. (2014). Report on the Fifth International Cooperative for Aerosol Prediction (ICAP)Working Group Meeting on “Recent Progress in Aerosol Observability for Global Modeling”, Tenki, The Meteorological Society of Japan, 61(9), 785-791. [in Japanese]
  • Japanese publication/presentation shown here was translated into English by Maki Kikuchi.
  • Hirakata is Maki Kikuchi's maiden name.