Elaine Prins, a meteorologist with contagious enthusiasm, is NOAA’s new Employee of the Month. Recognized globally as a scientific leader in the field of fire detection, Elaine was nominated by her team members for exemplary service over the past two years. She is on NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) team at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Elaine also raises orchids and, with her husband, Ken Bywaters, teaches youth classes at her church, where encouraging voluntarism is high on her list. She speaks frequently to budding meteorologists.

“Elaine is a great team player,” said Greg Withee, assistant administrator for satellite and information services. “She builds bridges not only within NESDIS, but also across agencies such as NOAA, NASA, and the Department of Defense, and countries like Brazil, Canada, Japan, and several in Europe.”

As Acting Team Leader of the Advanced Satellite Products Team in Madison for two years, Elaine developed the first automated technique for detecting fires using geostationary satellite data. Her technique for detecting fires has proven to be a valuable tool in the detection and monitoring of fire outbreaks in the Western Hemisphere. Without any manual guidance, her technique corrects for atmospheric conditions such as smoke or semi-transparent clouds. It also indicates the locations of fires and their approximate size.

Due in part to the highly successful research program she led, NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), traditionally used for monitoring weather, has been described as now monitoring for weather and fires. Elaine recently presented her work at the Regional Fire Workshop hosted by the National Space Development Agency of Japan in Tokyo, Japan.

With organizational and leadership skills, she recently organized a group of scientists from the Advanced Satellite Products Team and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies to fulfill an urgent request for simulations of the proposed GOES Advanced Baseline Imager. After two weeks of research, including multi-sensor data analysis and modeling, a robust presentation of characteristics for volcanic eruptions, fires and clouds was delivered.