Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate students in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University have many opportunities to work on research projects with faculty and graduate students or undertake their own research in collaboration with a professor. Research is an important component of an undergraduate education and is strongly encouraged for those considering graduate school.
Honors:
Honors students complete research projects of their own, and the results of these projects are often presented at professional scientific meetings.
Read More
Current Opportunities for Undergraduate Research:
- Climate modeling of the past, present, and future - predicting and finding solutions to global warming
contact: Professor Matt Huber - Studies of Long Range Transport of atmospheric bromine using satellite remote sensing data. We need help from
a student to conduct a study of the relationship between trajectory models and satellite maps of BrO in the
atmosphere in the Articl
contact: Professor Paul Shepson website: http://www.chem.purdue.edu/shepson/ - Analysis of Indiana high impact climatology in collaboration with national weather service.
contact: Professor Dev Niyogi website: http://landsurface.org or http://iclimate.org - Forest encroachment:
We need undergraduates to help study how forest encroachment into grasslands impacts how fast microbes degrade soil organic matter and convert it to atmospheric CO2. This is laboratory work (and possibly field work) and will be done in collaboration with a graduate student. Expect to work about 10 hours per week.
contact: Professor Tim Filley website: http://www.eas.purdue.edu/biogeochem - Celery Bog Nature Area Website:
Several years ago a group of EAS students created a web site for a local nature area, focusing on the geology and hydrogeology of the area. The site is still used by a wide range of people, and the West Lafayette Parks and Recreation Dept would like the site to be updated. One or more students could work on this volunteer project to update and improve the website.
contact: Professor Jon Harbor website: http://www.eas.purdue.edu/geomorph/celerybog/ - Visualization of Earth History (and even other planets)
In conjunction with Purdue's computer science students, we have produced a powerful "TimeScale Creator", a free JAVA package (www.tscreator.org) under the auspices of the Subcommission on Stratigraphic Information (stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (www.stratigraphy.org). This package and its large datasets enables on-screen exploration and creation of charts of any portion of the geologic time scale from an extensive suite of global and regional events in Earth History.
The databases and visualization package are envisioned as a convenient reference tool, chartproduction assistant, and a window into the geologic history of our planet. It is being used by geologists, teachers and major petroleum companies.
In the past two years, Purdue students have made datapacks for major impact craters, dinosaurs, Middle East geology, NorthSea-Arctic-Russia-Alaska oil basins, evolution of marine life, New Zealand fossils and time-slices, human civilization episodes, Gulf of Mexico petroleum geology, Mars/Moon history and other fascinating topics. We are striving to eventually include details for all regional geologic histories, evolution of life, and Earth's changing environments.
Student assistants are paid from donations by major petroleum companies, British/Australian/New Zealand geologic surveys, and the non-profit "Geologic TimeScale Foundation". We can provide you with personal office space and computer. Individual or student teams have presented their datasets at international meetings, and have received first-place awards in recent years at Purdue's undergraduate research fair. We may even sponsor travel to other countries to work with their geologic surveys.
Contact Professor Ogg to get a "tour" of this international project and how you can play an active role.
contact: Professor Jim Ogg
Current undergraduate research
Adam Simkowski|
Tornado Super OutbreakThe focus of the junior year research was the Tornado Super Outbreak of April 3-4 1974. Professor Mike Baldwin and Adam retrieved the event’s model data from NCEP and ran it through the Purdue WRF model. The purpose of the research was to determine all the different dynamical forcing responsible for the large tornadogenesis that occurred. With access to past research (by Agee, Church, and Morris) completed at Purdue in late 1974 and numerous other data sets with records of the event, he was able to reconstruct and properly analyze the events of April 3-4, 1974. Using the WRF run as the main tool, he evaluated the WRF run comparing it to data recorded that day and found the WRF model preformed quite well and learned about many different dynamical and instability forcing factors in the process. Mesoscale Convective Systems and DerechosThe focus of his research senior year was to understand Mesoscale Convective Systems and Derechos with specific emphasis on a Derecho that came through the Chicago area August 4th, 2008. Professor Baldwin and Adam retrieved the model data from NCEP and ran two different models run through the Purdue WRF. The reason for running two WRF models lies in the difficulty of the dynamics of an MCS. Not all models and model runs pick up on MCS activity, so understanding other atmospheric forcing for an MCS as a forecaster is imperative. Since the event occurred in 2008 rather than 1974, much more data was available for analysis, including radar and satellite imagery, accurate upper level measurements, and a YouTube video of the storm taken at Wrigley Field. Overall, both model runs did pick up the Derecho. The earlier run ran at 0Z the day the event occurred performed much better than the 12Z run by keeping the storm over Chicago instead of Lake Michigan. “Altogether my research taught me valuable knowledge about Mesoscale Convective Systems and how to forecast them even when the models are not. “ |
Weather Analysis Using GEMPAK
August VeronProducing an accurate weather forecast is no easy task. Although there is a wealth of weather data currently available to forecasters from various forecast model runs, this data isn't necessarily presented in a way that is easy to analyze. Also, sometimes a forecaster might want to add variables to a plot and see how they relate. We are currently using GEMPAK product generation software to create multiple plots from the NAM 212 and GFS 211 model runs to add to the Purdue weather discussion web page. New maps we have constructed using GEMPAK include wind, temperature, and height plotted at various pressure levels among others. One of the more interesting maps we have created is for the 700 mb level and it includes 1000-500 mb thickness, relative vorticity, and vorticity advection by the thermal wind. When these new plots are added to the web page they will be a great tool not only for our atmospheric science students, but also for any forecaster.
(Prof. Mike Baldwin, Research Advisor)
Exploring the Past: Canadian Geology Viewed with the TimeScale Creator
Jon BueningHow does one easily explore Earth's history? Traditionally, geologists prepared large charts about different geological areas of the Earth, but such massive compilation are bulky and impractical. In today's high tech world, one wishes to have this information at one's fingertips as on-screen user-tailored displays. Purdue's TimeScale Creator project (www.tscreator.org) has been developed in the last three years to condense such charts and other vast arrays of Earth history information into a polished, user-friendly display system. I designed a database system for TimeScale Creator to provide on-screen access to the geologic history of Canada and the Arctic (with the assistance of the Geologic Survey of Canada based in Calgary). This Arctic region is of particular importance because of its undeveloped oil and gas reserves. With my system, a user can select a set of specific regions and a time interval of interest to produce a display with graphic rock types, age-calibration information, and important geological events. All events were recalibrated to the 2008 geological time scale. Therefore, the regional geology history can be automatically compared to an extensive global-event database; or one can compate this local Canadian geology to another region of Earth that has been digitized into the project. In addition, a user can click on any Canadian rock unit to get additional details in pop-up window and URL links directly into the Canadian Geological Survey database for that particular rock unit.
(Prof. Jim Ogg, Resarch Advisor)
An Assessment of Solar Cycle Quiet Period (23-24)
Kandace GleasonThe international solar physics community has been surprised by the extended Quiet Period (QP) between 11-year Sunspot Cycles 23 and 24. NASA, NCAR, and NOAA models failed to correctly predict the onset of Cycle 24, initially forecasting a much stronger cycle. These models, based largely on solar dynamo theory, have not accounted for the lethargic appearance of the solar magnetic polar jet. The objective of this research has been to define, quantify and explain the extended QP between Cycles 23 and 24. "Quiet" is a relative term when it comes to identifying a solar minimum. The shift of 11-year cycles can be defined by the 50%/50% distribution of sunspot magnetic polarity reversal. This study has defined a QP, and compiled statistics on: a) the QP rank of 23-24, b) the rank of Length for Cycle 23, c) Solar Cycle Length vs. QP and d) Cycle Intensity vs. Duration of QP. These results show that the recent "deep" minimum (Oct. '05 - Nov. '09) is not unprecendented in the modern sunspot record. Cycle 23 ranks 2nd in length; QP 23-24 ranks 8th in length; and Cycle Intensity and QP Duration are inversely correlated (r=0.534).
(Prof. Ernie Agee, Research Advisor)
Glacial Erosion in Model Fold-and-Thrust Belts
Zach UmperovitchL.jpg)
I am currently working on a project where we create scaled topography in an analog modeling apparatus ("sandbox") to better understand how glaciers play a role in determining the location and intensity of deformation in developing thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belts. The specific region being modeled is the St. Elias orogen in Alaska where the Pacific Plate obliquely subducts under the North American Plate, accretes material on the overriding plate and forms a doubly-vergent wedge. We are currently performing several experiments relating to this in preparation to present at the upcoming AGU Conference.
(Prof. Saad S.B. Haq, Research Advisor)
Exploring the Possible Existence of "Embedded" Supercell Thunderstorms
Dustin PittmanAccording to the National Weather Service (NWS), a supercell thunderstorm is defined as a thunderstorm consisting of one quasi-steady rotating updraft that may exist for several hours. Supercells are dangerous thunderstorms that are almost always associated with some type of severe weather, such as damaging winds, hail, or tornadoes. The focus of this research is what NWS forecasters often refer to as "embedded" supercell thunderstorms, or, supercells that purportedly exist within a much larger area of rainfall. This is questioned theoretically because, by definition, a supercell thunderstorm must be able to sustain itself by virtue of its own unique dynamics. Thus, this research attempts to find observational evidence of supercell thunderstorms that are embedded in a large-scale precipitation system yet still maintain their own unique characteristics.
Potential cases were identified using the Mesoscale Discussions produced daily by the NWS Storm Prediction Center. A keyword search of "embedded supercell thunderstorm" in all Mesoscale Discussions during the period 2007-2008 yielded 32 cases. NEXRAD Doppler weather radar data for each case were then processed using the Warning Decision Support System-Integrated Information software package. Analysis of general characteristics such as longevity, and extent and existence of precipitation breaks, was first performed. From there, a more detailed analysis of individual storm cells was performed to determine storm intensity, degree of updraft rotation, height, and direction of movement, and therefore to determine if the cell had the necessary criteria to be deemed a supercell thunderstorm.
(Prof. Jeff Trapp, Research Advisor)