Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

About Me:

Dr. Donald W. Hillger earned a BS in Physics (1973) from the University of Minnesota, and a Masters (1976) and PhD (1983) in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University. He continued as a Post Doctoral Fellow and later as a Research Associate at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University before joining the Regional And Mesoscale Meteorology (RAMM) Branch of NOAA/NESDIS as a research meteorologist in 1987. Hillger retired from NOAA in 2021 after 34 years, the last 7 of which as Chief of the Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch (RAMMB). He was also NESDIS/StAR’s Imagery Team Lead for VIIRS instrumentation on the JPSS series satellites, and later for GOES Imagery as well. Since retirement he continues to work at CIRA on an hourly basis, mainly as a consultant on various aspects of satellite imagery.

Dr. Hillger specialized in satellite meteorology from both geostationary and polar-orbiting platforms, as well as satellite instrument calibration/validation, satellite data/image quality, and planning for advanced and future instrumentation. Other emphasis included the science checkout of operational geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites (such as GOES and NPP/JPSS) after launch. He has published many scientific journal publications, technical reports, and has made presentations at numerous national and international scientific meetings. Publications include journal articles, conference papers and presentations, technical reports, and in-house publications. Most recent research emphasis involves VIIRS multi-spectral imagery and the associated development of satellite image products.