Xiwu Zhan received the Ph. D. degree in soil, crops, and atmospheric sciences from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1995. He is currently with the Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory of USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD. His research interests include land surface soil moisture and vegetation remote sensing, modeling, and data assimilation for regional and global water, energy, and carbon cycle studies.