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About

Pak Wai Chan is a leading atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on water vapor dynamics and aerosol remote sensing, particularly over East Asia. His work has been instrumental in advancing multi-sensor approaches to monitor atmospheric composition, with a special emphasis on improving satellite-based retrievals of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and precipitable water vapor (PWV). One of his most influential contributions is the development and validation of the Yonsei Aerosol Retrieval (YAER) algorithm for geostationary satellites like Himawari-8, which has garnered over 100 citations and is now being extended to next-generation platforms such as GK-2A/AMI and FY-4A/AGRI. Chan’s early work on water vapor, including a multi-sensor study over Hong Kong (111 citations), demonstrated how combining radiosonde, MODIS, and AERONET data can improve weather forecasting in monsoon-affected regions. He also pioneered a critical reflectance method with background optical depth correction to enhance AOD retrieval accuracy over complex urban environments like Hong Kong. With over 320 total citations across his most-cited papers, Chan’s research directly supports climate monitoring, air quality management, and operational weather prediction in one of the world’s most densely populated and meteorologically challenging regions.