Biography

I specialize in air quality, focusing on aerosols, particulate matter and chemical composition, and trace (polluted and greenhouse) gases utilizing satellite remote sensing, big data, and artificial intelligence (machine and deep learning), and assessing the impacts of air pollution and extreme weather on the environment, health, and climate. Up to now, I have authored over 90 SCI papers as (co-)first or corresponding authors in leading journals like Nature Communications and The Lancet Planetary Health, including 7 ESI Hot (Top < 0.1%) papers and 17 ESI Highly Cited (Top < 1%) papers indicated by the Web of Science, and 7 papers have been cited more than 200 times, including one first-author paper over 600 times. My total citations are more than 8000 times with an H-index of 45. Our studies have been reported in numerous media outlets, including CBS News, Yahoo News, US News, The Hill, and more. I was the sole recipient of the AGU James R. Holton Award (2022), Remote Sensing Young Investigator Award (2023), and ranked in the top 0.1% highly cited authors (Atmospheric Sciences) over the past decade (OpenAlex), and on the Stanford University List of the World’s Top 2% Scientists since 2021. I have served as an Editor of Earth System Science Data, and an Associate Editor of Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. My research has garnered attention from various media outlets, such as CBS News, Yahoo News, US News, The Hill, and others. I have generated high-resolution and high-quality datasets of air pollutants for the Global World (GHAP), China (CHAP), and the United States (USHAP), which have been widely used and contributed to over 350 applied publications.

 

Work Experience

• 2024/02–Present: Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

• 2022/02–2024/01: Postdoctoral (Faculty Research) Associate, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

• 2021/02–2022/01: Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Iowa Technology Institute, University of Iowa, USA

• 2017/11-2018/09: Research Assistant, Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, China

• 2017/03-2017/09: Research Assistant, Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

 

Education

• 2019/10-2021/01: Joint Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

• 2018/10-2021/01: Ph.D. in Global Environmental Change (Geography), College of Global Change and Earth System Science, State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Beijing Normal University, China

• 2014/09-2017/06: M.Sc. in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, College of Geodesy and Geomatics, Shandong University of Science and Technology, China

• 2010/09-2014/06: B.Sc. in Remote Sensing Science and Technology, College of Geodesy and Geomatics, Shandong University of Science and Technology, China

 

Research Interests

• Atmospheric aerosols, particulate matter (PM) and chemical composition

• Atmospheric trace (polluted and greenhouse) gases (e.g., O₃, NO₂, CH₄, CO, and CO₂)

• Air pollutant modelling and health exposure assessment

• Impacts of air pollution and extreme weather on environmental health

• Cloud and cloud shadow detection for satellite remote sensing imagery

• (Explainable) Artificial intelligence (machine, deep, and transfer learning)

• Big data (e.g., satellite, ground, reanalysis, and model data)

 

Awards and Honors

• 2023: Young Investigator Award, Remote Sensing (Awarded to one young scientist worldwide annually)

• 2022: James R. Holton Award, American Geophysical Union (AGU) (Awarded to one young scientist worldwide annually)

• 2022: Best Paper Award, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland

• 2021: Zhou Tingru Geography Youth Award, Zhou Tingru Scholarship Secretariat

• 2020: Gao Tingyao Environmental Protection Outstanding Youth Award, Gaotingyao Environmental Protection Technology Development Foundation

• 2019: Li Xiaowen Remote Sensing Science Youth Award, Li Xiaowen Foundation Council

• 2020: National Scholarship (Ph.D.), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China

• 2019: National Scholarship (Ph.D.), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China

• 2016: National Scholarship (M.Sc.), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China

• 2015: National Scholarship (M.Sc.), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China

• 2021: Outstanding Graduates (Ph.D.), Beijing City

• 2017: Outstanding Graduates (M.Sc.), Shandong Province

• 2014: Outstanding Graduates (B.Sc.), Shandong Province

• 2023: Shandong Province Science and Technology Progress Award (First Prize, 6/15), Shandong Province

• 2016: Outstanding Scientific & Technological Innovation Achievement Award (Second Prize, 1/1), Shandong Province

• 2021: Special Prize for Graduate Academic Innovation, Beijing Normal University

• 2018: Special Scholarship for Doctoral Freshmen, Beijing Normal University

 

Authorship Recognitions

• Top 0.1% highly cited authors (Atmospheric Sciences) over the past decade, OpenAI's Semantic Scholar Percentiles (OpenAlex)

• 2024: World’s Top 2% Scientists (Earth & Environmental Sciences), Stanford University Analysis & Mendeley

• 2023: World’s Top 2% Scientists (Earth & Environmental Sciences), Stanford University Analysis & Mendeley

• 2022: World’s Top 2% Scientists (Earth & Environmental Sciences), Stanford University Analysis & Mendeley

• 2021: World’s Top 2% Scientists (Earth & Environmental Sciences), Stanford University Analysis & Mendeley

• 2021: Top 100 Most Cited Chinese Papers Published in International Journals, Institute of Scientific and Technology Information of China: Remote Sensing of Environment (Wei et al., 2021)

• ESI Hot (Top < 0.1%) Paper (7)

• Remote Sensing of Environment (Wei et al., 2022, 2021, 2019)

• Environmental Science & Technology (Wei et al., 2019)

• Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Wei et al., 2023, 2020)

• Atmospheric Environment (Wei et al., 2019)

• ESI Highly Cited (Top < 1%) Paper (20)

• Environmental Science & Technology (Wei et al., 2023, 2022, 2019)

• Remote Sensing of Environment (Wei et al., 2022, 2021, 2019)

• Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Wei et al., 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019)

• Environment International (Wei et al., 2021)

• Atmospheric Environment (Wei et al., 2019, 2018)

• Circulation (Xu et al., 2023)

• BMC Medicine (Cai et al., 2023)

• Science of The Total Environment (Cai et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2021)

• Journal of Cleaner Production (Xu et al., 2021; Xue et al., 2021)

• Remote Sensing (He et al., 2018)

• Journal Most Cited Articles (3)

• Remote Sensing of Environment (since 2019) (Wei et al., 2021, 2019)

• Remote Sensing of Environment (since 2018) (Wei et al., 2019)

• Atmospheric Environment (since 2018) (Wei et al., 2019)

• Journal rankings (3)

• 1^st Most Cited Paper, Remote Sensing of Environment (Wei et al., 2021)

• 1^st Most Cited Paper, Atmospheric Environment (Wei et al., 2019)

• 1^st Most Cited Author, Atmospheric Environment (Wei et al., 2019)

• Journal Cover, Highlight, High Impact, or Editor’s Choice Articles (5)

• Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres (Wei et al., 2018)

• Environmental Science & Technology (Tian et al., 2024)

• Remote Sensing (Tian et al., 2023)

• Hypertension (Xu et al., 2021)

• Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Liu et al., 2020)

 

Research Grants

• NASA Earth Sciences' Applied Science Program [80NSSC21K1980], 2021–Present, Co-Investigator

• NASA Earth Sciences' Applied Science Program [80NSSC21K0428], 2021–Present, Co-Investigator

• Interdisciplinary Research Fund for the First-Year Doctoral Candidates [BNUXKJC1808], Beijing Normal University, 2018–2019, Principal Investigator

• Graduate Innovation Fund [SDKDYC170103], Shandong University of Science and Technology, 2016–2017, Principal Investigator

• Graduate Innovation Fund [YC150103], Shandong University of Science and Technology, 2015–2016, Principal Investigator

• Graduate Innovation Fund [YC140307], Shandong University of Science and Technology, 2014–2015, Principal Investigator

• Youth Education Scientific Planning Project [14BSH010], Shandong Province, 2014–2015, Principal Investigator

• Youth Education Scientific Planning Project [13DJS030], Shandong Province, 2013–2014, Principal Investigator

• National Key R&D Program of China [2017YFC1501702], Participant

• National Natural Science Foundation of China [42030606, 91544217, 41171270], Participant

 

Editor and Editorial Services

• Editor, Earth System Science Data (IF = 11.2), 2022–Present

• Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (IF = 3.8), 2023–Present

• Associate Editor, Remote Sensing (IF = 4.2), 2022–Present

• Topical Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (IF = 7.5), 2024–Present

• Youth Editor, The Innovation (IF = 33.2), 2023–Present

• Editorial Board Member: International Journal of Digital Earth (2022–Present), Big Earth Data (2021–2023)

• Youth Editorial Board Member: Remote Sensing Technology and Application (Chinese) (2021–Present), Journal of Atmospheric and Environmental Optics (Chinese) (2022–Present), Journal of Environmental Hygiene (Chinese) (2022–Present)

• Guest Editor: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (2021–Present), Sustainability (2021–Present), Frontiers in Earth Science (2021–2022), Frontiers in Environmental Science (2021–2022), Frontiers in Public Health (2022), Atmosphere (2022), and National Remote Sensing Bulletin (Chinese) (2021–2022)

 

Professional Membership and Service

• Executive Secretary, Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (COAA), 2023-Present

• Co-Chair, Working Group-8 (WG-8): Air Quality & Health, Atmospheric Environmental Remote Sensing Society (AERSS), 2023-Present

• Co-Chair, Early Career and Postgraduate Committee, Atmospheric Environmental Remote Sensing Society (AERSS), 2022-2023

• Chair, ESSIC Best First-Author Paper Award Committee, University of Maryland, 2023

• Primary Convener (Chair), American Geophysical Union (AGU) Session, 2024

• Co-Convener (Co-Chair), Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) Session, 2022 (Top Conveners)

• Member, American Geophysical Union (AGU) GeoHealth Working Group, 2024-Present

• Member, Evaluation Committee for the Remote Sensing Best PhD Thesis Award, 2024

• Member, Evaluation Committee for the Remote Sensing Travel Award, 2024

• Members, American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Meteorological Society (AMS), Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS), Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (COAA), and Atmospheric Environmental Remote Sensing Society (AERSS)

 

Teaching Experience

• Teaching Assistant (Grader), AOSC625: Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Properties by Satellite, University of Maryland, 2024-Present

• Teaching Assistant (Grader), AOSC424: Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Maryland, 2024-Present

 

Proposal, Book, & Journal Reviewers (220+ verified peer reviews)

• Research Proposal review: NASA ROSES Panelist & Reviewer

• Book Proposal review: Elsevier

• Remote Sensing Journals

Remote Sensing of Environment; IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing; ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing; International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation; GIScience & Remote Sensing; Remote Sensing; IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing; IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters; International Journal of Remote Sensing; International Journal of Digital Earth; Journal of Applied Remote Sensing; Remote Sensing Letters; Journal of Remote Sensing; National Remote Sensing Bulletin (Chinese); Remote Sensing Technology and Application (Chinese)

• Atmospheric Science Journals

Geophysical Research Letters; Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres; Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics; npj Climate and Atmospheric Science; Agricultural and Forest Meteorology; Atmospheric Measurement Techniques; Atmospheric Environment; Atmospheric Research; Atmospheric Pollution Research; Aerosol and Air Quality Research; Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics; Urban Climate; Climate; Atmosphere; Tellus B: Chemical & Physical Meteorology; Aerosol Science and Engineering; Advances in Space Research

• Environmental Science Journals

Environmental Science & Technology; Environment International; Environmental Pollution; Science of the Total Environment; Environmental Research Letters; Ecological Indicators; Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering; Environmental Science and Pollution Research; Fronties in Environmental Science; Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene; Environment, Development and Sustainability; Journal of Environmental Science and Management; International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

• Other Journals

The Innovation; The Lancet Regional Health - Americas; Environmental Health Perspectives; Earth System Science Data; Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; Big Earth Data; Energy Economics; Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer; Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series C; Sensors; Sustainability; Complexity; Radio Science; et al.