Research
Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Climate Dynamics
The central focus of AOES research in atmospheric science and physical oceanography is climate dynamics. Resarch activity emphasizes modeling and diagnosis of large-scale behavior of the climate system on seasonal to decadal timescales. Questions which AOES scientists are attempting to shed light on include:
- Can anthropogenic climate change be distinguished from natural variability?
- How will El Nino change as climate warms?
- Can the climate be predicted a season or a decade in advance?
- Can ocean changes in the vicinity of Antarctic lead to climate change in Europe?
Recent work has been done with pioneering ultra-high resolution global models with Project Athena. Other active research areas include hurricane modeling and natural hazards, ocean circulation dynamics, and the global water cycle. Physical oceanography is an important part of climate research in AOES. Individual faculty home pages include more detailed descriptions of each faculty member's research. Much of AOES climate dynamics research is done in collaboration with COLA; research descriptions for which can be seen at COLA Research.
AOES's expertise in Earth and Environmental Science has focal areas in climate change, stratigraphy, geologic mapping, coastal and estuarine geology, sedimentology, mineralogy, oceanography, geomorphology, paleomagnetism, geochronology, structural geology, tectonics, crystal chemistry, clay mineral technologies, and geologic evolution.
Last modified 5 Nov 2009.