Sustainability and the Atmosphere at Michigan Tech

Overview

This theme deals with the sustainability of the atmosphere as a resource, and with the role of the atmosphere as a key determinant of the weather, climate and pollution transport processes through which human activities affect the sustainability of other resources. Main foci are in three areas: understanding the magnitude and mechanisms of human impacts on the global atmosphere; biospheric changes and feedbacks in response to changing atmospheric composition; and developing effective and efficient policy instruments to manage atmospheric impacts.

Major Initiatives

Faculty and students across campus collaborate on research and education on topics of atmospheric sustainability through the non-departmental doctoral program in Atmospheric Sciences, through colloquia organized by the Remote Sensing Institute and in the departmental degree programs listed at the bottom of the page. Major emphases include the following; more detailed information is available by following the web links. Particulates, clouds and climate: Multiple groups are studying the fundamental physics and chemistry governing cloud formation, in order to reduce the currently large uncertainties in the effects of particles on climate. These studies focus on the physics and chemistry of ice cloud nucleation and the role of turbulence. Hemispheric impacts of air pollution: The development of economies and pollution control regulations in Asia, North America and Europe are significantly altering atmospheric composition at the hemispheric scale. Projects to characterize the resulting impacts include high-altitude measurements in the Central Atlantic and the Arctic and transport modeling studies. Biosphere-Atmosphere interactions: Interactions between changing atmospheric composition and forest ecosystems are studied at the Michigan Tech Aspen-FACE site, a DOE User Facility and the only FACE site where open forest plots are exposed to enhanced CO2 and O3. Studies conducted there and elsewhere investigate carbon sequestration by forests, forest responses to O3 stress, and the sometimes dramatic interactions between these two gases. The effects of atmospheric N deposition and climatic variability on ecosystem productivity, C exchange and nutrient cycling are examined by the Michigan Gradient Study, a long-term NSF funded study utilizing sugar maple-dominated northern hardwood forests located across the state. Additional emphases: Transport and impacts of persistent bioaccumulative pollutants, including air-water exchange with Lake Superior; the development of effective economic incentives for air pollution and global climate change mitigation; air pollutant issues in developing nations; satellite remote sensing of atmospheric composition; and more.

Opportunities

Motivated by the recent addition of the non-departmental Atmospheric Sciences doctorate and this strategic hiring initiative, there are many opportunities for the addition of new faculty. Applications are invited from those interested in building on the topics listed above or in pursuing complementary activities such as the following: regional to global chemical transport modeling; climate and weather modeling on scales from the atmospheric boundary layer to the global scale; remote sensing of tropospheric trace gases and particles; biosphere-atmosphere interactions at the regional to global scale; and physical chemistry relevant to air pollutant impacts.

Contact

Dr. Richard Honrath
Director, Atmospheric Sciences doctoral program.
906-487-3202; reh@mtu.edu
Departments and institutes active in atmospheric work include Atmospheric Sciences, the Remote Sensing Institute, Chemistry, Civil & Environ. Engg., Electrical and Comp. Engg., Forest Resources and Environ. Sci., Geological Eng. and Sciences, Physics and Social Sciences.