Climate & Extreme Weather
Given the current level of understanding of phenomena like hurricanes, extratropical cyclones, and severe thunderstorms which result from complex interactions between many scales of motion in the atmosphere it is difficult to skillfully predict if these weather phenomena will become something extraordinary; a similar statement may be made for events such as an extended heat wave or seasonal flooding. Adding a sense of urgency to this already complicated problem are projections of more frequent, and perhaps more intense extreme events in future climates.The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences is responding to this problem through its focus on Climate and Extreme Weather (CLEW), which seeks to: understand and predict the physical and statistical behavior of extreme weather and climate events
Read more
Atmosphere-Surface Interaction
Many fundamental issues in climatic, environmental, geological, and ecological studies require an in-depth knowledge of the rates and forms of exchange of chemical species, mass, and energy between the atmosphere and the earth's surface.Such exchanges are relevant over a large range of spatial and temporal scales, e.g., from the rapid turnover times, hours to days, of volatile organic carbon emissions within a forest canopy to incremental changes in global concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases and their feedbacks to climate over tens of millions of years.
Knowledge of the mechanisms governing atmosphere-surface interactions is essential to our understanding of both modern and geologic record and will permit us to speculate about how perturbations to the earth system are potentially mitigated or amplified by feedbacks within that system.
Read more
Geodynamics & Active Tectonics
The Geodynamics and Active Tectonics group at Purdue focuses on the dynamics of the processes that shape our planet, from the motion of tectonic plates, the development of mountain ranges and oil-bearing sedimentary basins, to the triggering of earthquakes. To do so, we use a combination of modern observational techniques (e.g., cosmogenic isotopes, space geodesy, basins analysis) and develop theoretical models that integrate these observations in consistent physical frameworks.Read more
Planetary Research
The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences has initiated a new program in Planetary Sciences.NASA's continuing exploration of the planetary system has created many opportunities for the investigation of the geology of new worlds, from tiny cometary nuclei to giant planets in other solar systems. Seeking to extend humankind's knowledge and understanding of the nature of our neighbors in space, by extension, we are also discovering the early history of our own planet.
EAS Faculty 2010 Publication Abstracts
