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UCLA is a world-class center for scientific climate research. Various departments, research groups, and institutes are devoted to tackling climate related problems.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department Wolfgang Buermann: Land and Atmosphere Exchanges Dr. Buermann 's research focuses on controls of energy, water and carbon exchanges between the land surfaces and atmosphere and associated vegetation dynamics. His research is relevant to several environmental problems, including changes in near-surface climate, biodiversity patterns, and the carbon cycle. Curtis Deutsch: Ocean Biogeochemistry Dr. Deutsch is interested in the processes by which the ocean controls the concentration of climatically relevant greenhouse gases. His research is focused on understanding the sources and sinks of biologically available nitrogen. This ocean nutrient reservoir is a key determinant of the biological pump, which sequesters carbon dioxide and produces nitrous oxide, both strong greenhouse gases.
Michael Ghil: Theoretical Climate Dynamics (TCD) Group Dr. Ghil 's group studies climate dynamics from intraseasonal to millennial time scales using the methods of dynamical systems theory. These are applied to observations, numerical models, and experiments.
Alex Hall: Climate Sensitivity Research Lounge (CSRL) CSRL's research is focused on reducing uncertainties associated with global climate change. The group also develops regional earth system models and studies the climate from a regional perspective to lay the groundwork for an understanding of climate change at scales most relevant to people and ecosystems.
Professor Liou 's research involves atmospheric radiative transfer, the remote sensing of clouds and aerosols, and the interactions between climate, clouds, and aerosols. Theoretical, modeling, and satellite-based approaches are employed to advance our knowledge of these topics. Professor Liou also serves as Director of the Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering ( JIFRESSE).
CESR is a base for a broad, cooperative effort to develop, test, and apply comprehensive numerical modeling capabilities for the Earth's climate for periods extending over previous millennia, the present, and the coming centuries of anthropogenically induced changes. Development of the Regional Oceanic Modeling System ( ROMS) has also taken place primarily within CESR.
Roberto Mechoso: Climate
Modeling J. David Neelin: Climate Systems Interactions (CSI) Group The CSI group studies interactions between various climate system components through hierarchical climate modeling. A hierarchy of successively simpler models is built until the phenomenon of interest has been distilled down to its essential elements. Bjorn Stevens: Clouds and Climate Processes Dr. Steven 's group utilizes a variety of methodologies (theory, numerical modeling and simulation, field work, satellite remote sensing and data analysis) to develop a better understanding of atmospheric moist convection and its interaction with large scale circulations. Yongkang Xue: Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Regional Climate Change Dr. Xue 's group, also based in the Geography Department, focuses on land surface processes, atmosphere-land surface coupling, hydrometeorological prediction, monsoons, and biological responses to climate conditions. Regions of active research include West Africa, South America, the Continental U.S., and East Asia. Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Terri S. Hogue: Rainfall-Runoff and Land-Surface Modeling Dr. Hogue 's interests include investigation and application of optimization techniques to rainfall-runoff and land-surface modeling, and the integration of these methods into operational flood forecasting. Her research also involves analysis of land-atmosphere interactions in semi-arid climates, with special emphasis on modeling surface fluxes in these regions. Steven Margulis: Hydrology and Hydrometeorology Dr. Margulis 's research covers the broad areas of surface hydrology and hydrometeorology. His research group focuses on two primary goals: 1) to improve the ability to characterize important hydrologic states and fluxes through the combined application of remote sensing and modeling and 2) to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for their variability in time and space. Noah Molotch: Hydrologic Fluxes and Environmental Response Dr. Molotch conducts research on processes controlling hydrologic fluxes in semi-arid mountainous regions and linkages with climate variability, ecological function, and biogeochemical cycles. His projects utilize ground-based observations, remote sensing, and computational modeling to obtain comprehensive understanding of hydrologic forcings in complex terrain.
Dr. MacDonald 's group focuses on causes and impacts of climate change. Current projects are based in such locations as: the Arctic of Alaska, Canada, Eurasia, California, Hawaii, Utah and Mali. Marilyn N. Raphael: Physical Geography, Climatology, Global Climate Change, and Quantitative Methods Dr. Raphael 's research interests include: Santa Ana winds, global climate change and variability, climate modeling, atmospheric circulation dynamics, southern hemisphere atmospheric circulation and climate, and Antarctic sea ice variability. Laurence C. Smith: High-Latitude Climate Change Dr. Smith 's interests focus on the effects of climate change on high-latitude environments, specifically the hydrologic interactions between the land surface, atmosphere and oceans, and the response of those linkages to climate warming. Institute of the Environment (IOE) The IOE is an intellectual community whose members and constituents represent every area of specialty touching on the environment, encompassing a broad array of policy concerns and outreach avenues.
Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering (JIFRESSE) JIFRESSE is a scientific collaboration between UCLA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to improve understanding and to develop future projections about global climate change and its effect on regional climates and environments. The Institute serves as a center for multi-disciplinary research focused on the Southern California region, including studies of the atmosphere, coastal ocean and land surface, and the physical, chemical and biological interactions among them. More Climate Research and Applications at UCLA UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research ( OVCR) for Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainability offers links to a wide range of enironmental and scientific research institutions and programs including the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment and the Center for Climate Change Solutions. It also provides up-to-date reports, upcoming events and new initiatives covering California environmental and energy sustainability and solutions. UCLA Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment is the nation's first law school to dedicate advancement in law and policy exclusively towards climate change. The center tackles local, national and world-wide issues regarding climate change by promoting research and development of new policy tools and disciplines. The Center for Climate Change Solutions ( CCCS) is a branch of the IOE integrating science and law to promote and facilitate interaction between researchers and decision-makers to ultimately take action in climate change issues in state and local regions.
For comments regarding the UCLA Climate Science Portal, please contact: Sarah Kapnick |
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