Andrew Kruczkiewicz
Senior Staff Associate
Background
Andrew graduated from Columbia University specializing in remote sensing and mapping of atmospheric and meteorological variables. He interned for NASA and IRI developing algorithms to monitor inundation and land cover in East Africa, with a focus on applications for the health and humanitarian sectors. Before Columbia, Andrew studied finance at Fairfield University and meteorology at Western Connecticut State University.
Research Interests
Kruczkiewicz is interested in the role of satellites and remote sensing technology and data for sector-specific applications, specifically the development and assessment of algorithms to detect and map spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation, temperature and other climatic and geophysical variables. This includes analyzing their impact on infrastructure, public health and agriculture, on different timescales, to increase the understanding of risk for decision making.
He is also interested in the intersection of the social and physical sciences, especially pertaining to the integration of remote sensing into early warning systems for extreme events such as floods, storm surge from tropical cyclones, wildfires and landslides to inform preparedness actions and risk assessment within the humanitarian sector. An overarching interest of Andrew’s is exploring how to best communicate uncertainty found within climate and weather impact-based projections and forecasts to decision makers in the humanitarian sector at sub-national, national and global scales.
Role at the IRI
Kruczkiewicz is part of the Environmental Monitoring Program and Disasters Team, aiding in the development and integration of environmental remote sensing products into early warning systems for human health, agriculture and disasters. He also aids the IRI Data Library in the development of map rooms and supports the ACToday Project managing relationships with the humanitarian community, including Red Cross. Andrew is the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre focal point at the IRI.
Andrew is Principal Investigator on NASA Grant #80NSSC18K0342, Towards a Global Flood & Flash Food Early Warning Early Action System Driven by NASA Earth Observations and Hydrologic Models and Co-PI on NASA Grant #80NSSC18K1693: COMPAS: Connecting Earth Observations to Decision Makers for Preparedness Action in the Rohingya Refugee Camps. Andrew is Co-lead for the UN Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Standard Operating Procedures for El Nino and La Nina Episodes and is on the advisory board for the African Risk Capacity River Flood Model.