The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) is a laboratory in the Earth Sciences Division of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

affiliated with the Columbia University Earth Institute. The institute is located at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York City. It was named after

Robert H. Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully lau ...

, American engineer, professor, physicist and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

. Research at the GISS emphasizes a broad study of global change, the natural and anthropogenic changes in our environment that affect the habitability of our planet. These effects may occur on greatly differing time scales, from one-time forcings such as volcanic explosions, to seasonal/annual effects such as

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

, and on up to the millennia of ice ages. The institute's research combines analysis of comprehensive global datasets (derived from surface stations combined with satellite data for

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...

s) with global models of atmospheric, land surface, and oceanic processes. Study of past climate change on Earth and of other planetary atmospheres provides an additional tool in assessing general understanding of the atmosphere and its evolution. GISS was established in May 1961 by Robert Jastrow to do basic research in space sciences in support of Goddard programs. Formally the institute was the New York City office of the GSFC Theoretical Division but was known as the Goddard Space Flight Center Institute for Space Studies or in some publications as simply the Institute for Space Studies. But even before it opened, the institute had been referred to in the press as the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. It was separated from the Theoretical Division in July 1962. Its offices were originally located in

The Interchurch Center The Interchurch Center is a 19-story limestone-clad office building located at 475 Riverside Drive and West 120th Street in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. It is the headquarters for the international humanitarian ministry Churc ...

, and the institute moved into Columbia's Armstrong Hall (a renovated apartment building previously known as the Ostend apartments and subsequently the Oxford Residence Hotel) in April 1966. From 1981 to 2013, GISS was directed by James E. Hansen. In June 2014, Gavin A. Schmidt was named the institute's third director. On 25 April 2025, NASA announced that it was cancelling the lease on the Armstrong Hall as part of the Trump administration's review of federal leases.

History of scientific research

In the 1960s, GISS was a frequent center for high-level scientific workshops, including the "History of the Earth's Crust Symposium" in November 1966 which has been described as the meeting that gave birth to the idea of

plate tectonics Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

. At a GISS workshop in 1967, John Wheeler popularized the term "

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

" as a short-hand for 'gravitationally completely collapsed star', though the term was not coined there. Hong-Yee Chiu is credited with introducing the term "

quasar A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...

" while working at GISS in 1964. In September 1974, at a seminal meeting led by Patrick Thaddeus at GISS with John Mather (his then post-doc) and others discussions began on the possibility of building a satellite to measure both the spectrum and possible spatial fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background. This led directly to the COBE satellite project and a Nobel Prize for Mather. GISS personnel were involved as instrument and science team scientists in multiple historic

solar system missions,

Mariner 5 Mariner 5 (Mariner V or Mariner Venus 1967) was a spacecraft of the Mariner program that carried a complement of experiments to probe Venus' atmosphere by radio occultation, measure the hydrogen Lyman-alpha (hard ultraviolet) spectrum, and sam ...

to Venus,

Pioneer 10 ''Pioneer 10'' (originally designated Pioneer F) is a NASA space probe launched in 1972 that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. ''Pioneer 10'' became the first of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity needed ...

and 11 to Jupiter and Saturn, the

Voyager program The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two interstellar probes, ''Voyager 1'' and ''Voyager 2''. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment to explore the two gas giants Jupiter ...

, Pioneer Venus,

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

to Jupiter, the unsuccessful

Mars Observer The ''Mars Observer'' spacecraft, also known as the ''Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter'', was a Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic fie ...

and Climate Orbiter, and Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn.

Polarimetry Polarimetry is the measurement and interpretation of the polarization of transverse waves, most notably electromagnetic waves, such as radio or light waves. Typically polarimetry is done on electromagnetic waves that have traveled through or ha ...

has been a speciality of GISS since the Pioneer, Voyager, and Galileo missions, and has been adapted to Earth observing missions as well. Notably, Michael Mishchenko of GISS was project scientist for the Glory mission, which failed to reach orbit after launch in 2011. Glory would have employed the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) developed by GISS scientists had it reached orbit. More recently, Brian Cairns of GISS is one of the deputy project scientists of the PACE mission, which launched in February 2024 and has two polarimeters on board.

Climate change research

A key objective of Goddard Institute for Space Studies research is prediction of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

in the 21st century, which EPA and

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

also focus on. The research combines paleogeological record, analysis of comprehensive global datasets (derived mainly from spacecraft observations), with global models of atmospheric, land surface, and oceanic processes. Climate science predictions are based substantially on historical analysis of Earth's paleoclimate (climate through geological ages), and the sea-level/ temperature/ carbon dioxide record. Changes in carbon dioxide associated with continental drift, and the decrease in volcanism as India arrived at the Asian continent, allowed temperatures to drop & Antarctic ice-sheets to form. This resulted in a 75m drop in sea level, allowing our present-day coastlines & habitats to form and stabilize. Global change studies at GISS are coordinated with research at other groups within the Earth Sciences Division, including the Laboratory for Atmospheres, Laboratory for Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences, and Earth Observing System science office.

Awards

GISS director

James Hansen James Edward Hansen (born March 29, 1941) is an American climatologist. He is an adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the The Earth Institute, Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best ...

received the

Heinz Award The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Foundations, Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Eco ...

in 2001. In November 2004, climatologists Drew Shindell and

Gavin Schmidt Gavin A. Schmidt is a British climatologist, climate modeler and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, and co-founder of the climate science blog RealClimate. Work He was educated at The Corsham School, e ...

were named amongst

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

magazine's Top 50 Scientist award. One-time GISS post-doctoral scientist John C. Mather was years later awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

in 2006. Climate impacts researcher Cynthia Rosenzweig was awarded the

World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate No ...

in 2022.

Alumni

People who have worked at GISS and their periods of employment include: * W. David Arnett, (1966-1967), postdoc * Norman H. Baker (1962-1965) *

Alastair G. W. Cameron Alastair G. W. (Graham Walter) Cameron (21 June 1925 – 3 October 2005) was an American–Canadian astrophysicist and space scientist who was an eminent staff member of the Astronomy department of Harvard University. He was one of the founde ...

(1961-1966) * Mark Cane (1966-1970, 1975–1976), programmer, postdoc * Jérôme Chappellaz (1990-1991) * Hong-Yee Chiu (1961-1984) * Benjamin Cook (2008-) * Thomas M. Dame (1983-1984), postdoc * Anthony Del Genio (1979-2019) * Dilhan Eryurt (née Ezer) (1964-1966, 1969–1973), postdoc and staff scientist *

Rhodes Fairbridge Rhodes Whitmore Fairbridge (21 May 1914 – 8 November 2006) was an Australian geologist and expert on Climate change (general concept), climate change. His father was Kingsley Fairbridge. Born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, Fairbridge graduate ...

(1955-2006) * Inez Fung (1986-1993) * Michael Ghil (1975-1976) * Douglas Gough (1967-1969) * Milton Halem (1961-1977) *

(1967-2014) * Christine P. Hendon (1998-2000), intern * Robert Jastrow (1961-1981) *

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

(1995-2001), postdoc * Joel S. Levine (1967-1969), grad student * Kuo-Nan Liou (1970-1972), postdoc * Leon B. Lucy (1962), postdoc * Kate Marvel (2015-2022, 2024-) * John C. Mather (1974-1976), postdoc *

John McAfee John David McAfee ( ; 18 September 1945 – 23 June 2021) was a British and American computer programmer, businessman, and two-time presidential candidate who unsuccessfully sought the Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian Party nominat ...

(1968-1970), programmer * Michael I. Mishchenko (1992-2020) * Michael J. Prather (1985-1992) * William J. Quirk (1974-1978), postdoc * S. Ichtiaque Rasool (1961-1971) * Cynthia Rosenzweig (1985-) * William B. Rossow (1979-2007) *

(1996-) * Stephen Schneider (1971-1972), postdoc * Stephen Self (1977-1979) * Drew Shindell (1995-2014) * Richard Somerville (1971-1974) *

Richard Stothers Richard Stothers was an astronomer and planetary scientist with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which he joined in June 1961 as a graduate student. Within two years, he had received his Ph.D. from Harvard and became a permanent staff me ...

(1961-2011) * Patrick Thaddeus (1966-1986) * James W. Truran (1965-1967), postdoc * Sachiko Tsuruta (c. 1964), graduate student * Nadine Unger (2002-2010) * C. V. Vishveshwara (c. 1969), postdoc

In popular culture

* The institute is housed at the corner of West 112th St. and Broadway in New York City in Columbia University's Armstrong Hall. The building also houses

Tom's Restaurant Tom's Restaurant is a diner located at 2880 Broadway (on the corner of West 112th Street) in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is on the ground floor of Columbia University's Armstrong Hall, home to the ...

, which was the exterior for the restaurant in ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' and the subject of the

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

song ''

Tom's Diner "Tom's Diner" is a song by American singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega. Written in 1981 or 1982, it was first released as a track on the January 1984 issue of '' Fast Folk Musical Magazine''. Originally featured on her second studio album, '' S ...

.'' * WQED made a documentary in the 1960s "The Universe on a Scratch Pad" about the theoretical work being done at GISS.

References

External links

Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)
- Official Site
GISS Global Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)
- Global Surface Temperature Data {{Authority control 1961 establishments in New York City Goddard Space Flight Center Education in Manhattan Space technology research institutes Aerospace research institutes Aviation research institutes Columbia University research institutes Environmental research institutes Broadway (Manhattan)