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Our Mission
The
Institute of Atmospheric Science at Tech has a rich history of research going
back to 1959, when the emphasis was on weather modification and hail damage
research. Areas of scientific emphasis have broadened today to include aspects
of atmospheric studies varying from air quality to convection in the atmosphere
to ecosystem structure and the effects of climate on our earth’s ecosystems.
The
expanded mission of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences is to study the
physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect the composition and
dynamics of the earth’s atmosphere. Our research and educational programs focus
on regionally relevant issues of national concern and global importance.
Research conducted in IAS is linked to undergraduate, Master of Science (M.S.)
and Doctorate (Ph.D.) degree curricula that provide a fundamental understanding
of the atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. Together our research and
educational programs provide opportunities for students to conduct theoretical
and applied research and training related to earth-atmosphere systems and their
interactions.
The
vision of IAS is to create opportunities for students to become colleagues with
IAS faculty in the conduct of cutting edge science to determine how the
Continental Earth System functions, and in the transformation of this science
into products and services of value to society. IAS researchers convert
observations made across scales of time and space, from atmosphere to leaf, into
fluxes of heat, moisture, material and momentum. These fluxes are then
incorporated into numerical models that describe the behavior of natural systems
and that can predict their behavior in the future.
Practical
applications of our research
The new
knowledge developed as a result of basic research about the earth’s
biogeochemical system is transformed by IAS students and scientists into
practical applications. For example, information concerning the carbon cycle has
been incorporated into a system called C-Lock that can be used by farmers and
ranchers to predict how specific agricultural management practices are likely to
affect carbon storage in soil. The C-Lock system can then quantify the potential
carbon storage in a way that makes it possible for individual landowners to
generate income through participation in the emerging global carbon market.
In
another example, information gained through linked observations and models in
the Black Hills is being used to predict when and where lightning-caused fires
are likely to occur. In addition, IAS scientists and students make field
measurements during active fires using portable, solar-powered mesonet stations
specifically deployed in the area of the fire, which are integrated with
larger-scale observations and models generated and maintained by the National
Weather Service in order to help deploy fire-fighting resources for maximum
safety and effectiveness.
The IAS
strives to improve our understanding of the earth’s natural ecosystems using
observations made on a variety of platforms, such as a microwave radiometer,
aircraft, and atmospheric soundings. These observations focus on specific
phenomena such as lightning and severe storms and are linked to complex
numerical models used to predict short and long-term system behavior. Current
modeling studies focus on hailstorms, thunderstorm electrification (including
lightning), precipitation processes, their modification by cloud seeding, winter
orographic clouds, and marine boundary-layer clouds.
Mesoscale
research has focused on the study of factors governing the initiation and
organization of convective storms, mesoscale cloud systems, and topographic
effects on airflow and precipitation. Recent work has included analysis of
severe wind-producing convective storms and observational studies of bow echoes
and supercell storms carried out jointly with the National Weather Service,
Rapid City, to increase the understanding of these storms and to improve
forecasting.
An
ongoing project involves studies of lake-effect snow storms and interactions of
the wintertime Great Lakes with larger-scale weather systems. Another area of
continuing research is the study of the influences of surface conditions,
especially moisture availability, on mesoscale weather and climate. Related
numerical modeling studies include the coupling of atmospheric, surface, and
subsurface hydrologic processes in mesoscale models. Work is underway on remote
sensing of land surface properties and processes and the use of remotely sensed
data to initialize mesoscale models. New areas of work include the application
of high-resolution mesoscale models to incident meteorology (as in wildfires)
and local-scale ensemble forecasting. Global cloud and aerosol properties are
being retrieved from satellite data, and their influence upon the earth’s
radiation budget and climate change is under study. Access to the supercomputer
facilities of the National Center for Atmospheric Research at Boulder, Colorado,
has been of great value in running the larger cloud models.
The
Carbon Cycle Science research program in IAS provides an example of how IAS
scientists work together in interdisciplinary teams using a range of analytical
and observational tools with the aim of converting cutting edge science into
products that can be applied to real-world problems. The program is anchored by
two fully-instrumented flux towers, one located in a forested site in the Black
Hills and one located in a grassland site not far from Rapid City. Both towers
serve as platforms for real-time measurements of carbon fluxes that tell us how
fast the forest and grasslands are growing and whether or not the ecosystems are
gaining or losing carbon. In addition, each tower includes instrumentation to
measure the movement of water vapor, heat, and energy through the system. These
measurements are transmitted to central computers, where the observed data are
compared to model predictions of the transfers and transformations of nutrients,
energy, and moisture. The models can then be modified to improve their accuracy.
Facilities
IAS has
state of the art laboratory facilities to analyze key constituents of
terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. For example, the Biogeochemistry Core
Facility, made possible by a recent grant from the National Science Foundation
and housed in IAS, is an analytical and research laboratory facility shared by
IAS and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Additional
laboratory facilities in IAS focus on measurements of atmospheric constituents
that have the potential to affect the radiation and the oxidant balance of the
earth system.
Collaborations
In
order to leverage scientific and intellectual resources in the region, IAS
scientists collaborate with many partnering institutions such as the National
Center for Atmospheric Research and the EROS Data Center, and with several
Tribal Colleges, including Sinte Gleska and Oglala Lakota Colleges. Unique
facilities associated with these collaborations include a tethered balloon
system operated by IAS students and scientists for observing atmospheric
chemistry profiles, ground and aircraft-based LIDAR systems owned and operated
by OLC and a local business enterprise, respectively. In addition, IAS students
often serve as interns at the local National Weather Service Office, located
adjacent to campus and linked to IAS through a fiberoptic cable.
The future
As IAS
looks to the future, we are working to develop additional unique opportunities
associated with our region that leverage our historical strengths and developing
expertise. For example, the T-28, a specialized aircraft designed to penetrate
and investigate severe storms, operated for more than 30 years by IAS scientists
for the NSF, retired this year. Plans are underway to procure its successor, the
A10 Warthog, which will have enhanced capabilities. The IAS is also developing
plans linked to the establishment of a National Underground Science Laboratory
that may be located in a mine in the Black Hills. IAS plans call for the
creation of a world class vertical “cloud chamber” that will be used to
elucidate fundamental mysteries about the origin and development of atmospheric
hydrometeors and particles. Finally, IAS is establishing an advanced
Visualization Center in collaboration with the Advanced Computational Facilities
established in the Mechanical Engineering Department.
Most of
the Institute’s scientists teach in the University’s Department of Atmospheric
Sciences. The Department offers a minor in Atmospheric Sciences through the
Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Sciences (B.S.I.S.) program, an M.S.
degree, and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Atmospheric and Environmental
Science. The Institute employs both undergraduate and graduate students from
Atmospheric Sciences as Research Assistants.
Project List
Current
IAS projects that illustrate the varied opportunities for students interested in
interdisciplinary atmospheric research include:
· An
NSF and NOAA-funded project to develop more effective strategies to prevent soil
erosion and the resultant sedimentation of rivers.
· NSF
and NASA projects to link models of the fundamental physics of lightning to the
resultant impacts on local and regional atmospheric chemistry.
· An
NSF project to study the interactions of the Great Lakes with winter storms.
· A
NASA project to assess the role of post-Soviet land use change on regional
climate
· An
NSF funded project to determine the role of prairie wetlands on the climate of
the Northern Great Plains
· An
NSF project to develop a digital on-line archive of airborne in situ
observations obtained during 15 years of summer thunderstorm field projects
· A
defense contract on assessing the role of assimilating abridged atmospheric data
into incident meteorology scenarios
· A
Department of Defense project designed to develop and test methods to evaluate
the potential effectiveness of various fabrics with respect to their resistance
to chemical and biological agents.
· An
NSF project to link science and Native American culture through the exploration
of special places in the Black Hills. This project, intended to recruit Native
American students into careers in math, engineering, and science will choose
sites in the Black Hills that students can explore to learn scientific lessons
in the context of a Lakota cultural perspective.
· IAS
is participating in Phase II of the Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration
Partnership, formed to evaluate options for CO2 sequestration in four
Great Plains states. Our main emphasis in this partnership is terrestrial
sequestration.
· A
NOAA-funded project involving collaborations with Black Hills State University,
the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health, and the Western Research
Alliance to establish the Great Plains Center for Atmosphere and Human Health.
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