IRP Projects

Measuring light absorbing impurities, such as dust, aerosol black carbon, and dark-colored bioaerosols, is critical for understanding the changing surface energy budget of our planet. Unfortunately, current passive dust samplers are bulky, incapable of withstanding high winds, and provide no mechanism to securely store compartmentalized dust samples. To overcome these challenges, CIRES/NSIDC Fellow Mark Serreze and NSIDC Postdoc Alia Khan will design, build, and test an improved, highly aerodynamic passive dust/aerosol sampler prototype to better enable the study of aerosols and impurities in the cryosphere. The instrument will be durable to withstand high winds, not freeze/ice-over at low temperatures, and will feature a multi-chamber system that will rotate automatically to enable multiple sample collection without the need to empty the chamber after each sample collection. In addition to enabling higher-resolution (temporal) sampling than previously possible, this project has the potential to lead to future larger grants that will support more robust sampling of aeolian dust, bioaerosols, and anthropogenic derived aerosols such as black carbon in both the atmosphere, and frozen surfaces (snow and ice). 

The extremely reactive chlorine radical contributes to many important chemical processes in the troposphere, including loss of ozone in the Arctic boundary layer, production of ozone in polluted regions, oxidation of mercury, removal of methane and other organic compounds, and formation and aging of secondary organic aerosols. To date, there has been no demonstrated direct method for quantifying the concentrations of these radicals. CIRES research scientist Andrew Rollins and NOAA research physicist Joshua Schwarz propose a unique method for solving this problem. Instead of estimating chlorine (Cl) radical concentration using measurements of other species (which might underestimate or overestimate Cl), the research team plans to build a prototype instrument that uses two photons to sequentially excite Cl from the ground state and then detects blue-shifted fluorescence on a zero background.  Such an instrument would help scientists directly verify the existence of this species, quantify its highly variable concentrations, and constrain the possibility of yet-unidentified chemistry. This would enable significant advances in the study of tropospheric reactive halogen processes, and help reveal anthropogenic changes to this region of the atmosphere.  

Satellite data typically only provide information on the surface of the ocean, limiting the information available for study. CIRES Fellow Kristopher Karnauskas and CIRES research scientist Carrie Wall propose to improve this current measurement ability by merging subsurface water column sonar data and a high-resolution regional model experiment with satellite measurements to spur new insights into the physical drivers of ecological variability in coastal regions. The team's objective is to develop a new framework that characterizes the full three-dimensional structure of coastal marine ecosystems (e.g., the California Current System, CCS, of vital interest to the U.S. national economy), which may enable further investigations of the links between physical forcing and biological response. This work could lead to the creation of a conceptual model for biophysical interactions, as well as demonstrate a new way of applying satellite remote sensing of sea surface properties such as ocean color and oceanic fronts to describe the distribution of plankton in the CCS. This project will strive to improve upon the current state of coupled physical-ecosystem ocean models, while integrating knowledge of the links between marine biology, biogeochemistry, and physical oceanography. 

Intense solar activity can produce powerful geomagnetic storms that pose a significant risk to the electrical power grid infrastructure of North America. In extreme events, currents induced by these disturbances can cause blackouts and may even damage power grid infrastructure. CIRES Fellow Anne Sheehan (Geological Sciences), along with PhD candidate Daniel Feucht, and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center research scientist Christopher Balch, will seek to determine if datasets of near-surface geologic and geophysical properties can reliably predict the hazards associated with geomagnetically induced electric currents. The team will use models of observed magnetic and electric time series from EarthScope and localized datasets in their research. Determining a readily available geologic proxy for geoelectric hazards will improve past models, and permit more accurate nowcasting of geomagnetically induced currents across the United States.

Northwestern India, which is currently a desert region, was speckled with lakes ~6000 years ago according to paleo-evidence. CIRES’ Balaji Rajagopalan and his colleagues will use computer models to reconstruct the paleo history of these extinct lakes – and they hope to gain insight on the region’s future climate, along the way. The lake reconstruction model will simulate the growth, sustenance, and demise of these historical lakes by manipulating the amounts of precipitation, evaporation, and runoff occurring across northwestern India. The lakes existed during the Holocene, 6,000 years ago, when northwestern India was warmer and wetter than it is today. Climate models project the region will be warmer and wetter in the future so new findings pertaining to India’s Holocene climate could shed light on future monsoon and precipitation patterns. Modeling the evolution of regional lakes will allow investigators to actually quantify differences between India’s present climate and Holocene climate.

Researchers are already using small, unmanned aircraft to take single-point atmospheric measurements like wind speed, air temperature, and air pressure. By flying multiple unmanned aircraft in tight formation while they are simultaneously recording atmospheric data, investigators could distinguish temporal vs spatial variations and could directly measure important atmospheric parameters that depend on gradients. Until now, scientists have only been able to hypothesize about small-scale changes in atmospheric dynamics. With this new technology, they will be able to gather information on complex processes such as the generation of turbulence and pollution transport. Successful test flights in Utah and Peru have already uncovered unexpected fine-scale temperature variations that may be due to spatial gradients, and investigators will soon be conducting proof-of-concept formation flight testing over the Colorado Front Range.

Scientists concerned with the environmental challenges facing humanity often find that their facts and figures do not evoke changes in human behavior. Social science now suggests that to foster effective decision making and action, good communication must include cognition and affect (or intellect and emotions) working together. Since prehistoric times, the affective power of the arts has moved people - emotionally and physically - to act. In this study, scientists and artists are collaborating to create science-informed artworks for a room-sized animated globe display system called Science On a Sphere®. The team hopes these sustainability-focused narratives will inspire audience members to become more engaged in the stewardship and conservation of the main character of the stories: the Earth.

Natural gas production can potentially emit air toxics by three processes: (1) H2S contained in the natural gas, (2) vapors from hydraulic fracturing fluids, and (3) the natural gas itself that contains many hydrocarbons including aromatic compounds. In this project, we will study the potential of measuring these compounds by proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) in the Denver-Julesburg and Uintah basins.

Lung cancer caused by black carbon combustion sources and smoking is one of the leading health-care issues in the world. We intend to study in test rodents whether our inhalable chemotherapeutic/preventive myo-inositol powder aerosols can solve an important unmet medical need, the reduction or elimination of precancerous lung lesions known as dysplasia.

On Oct. 1, 2011, Enlil became the first operational numerical space weather prediction model to be used by the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Space Weather Prediction Center. The model is intended to provide one- to four-day advance warning of geomagnetic storms caused by quasirecurrent solar wind structures and Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs). At present, space weather forecasting uses a deterministic approach to numerical space weather prediction (NSWP)—a single forecast of CME arrival time at Earth obtained from a single set of observations of the solar corona. We plan to develop a pilot ensemble prediction system and demonstrate its potential to make improved forecasts of CME arrival time at Earth.

This project will combine ground-based and airborne lidar mapping in a novel approach to validate and increase the accuracy of snow-depth mapping in mountainous terrain, with benefits for water supply inventory and forecasting in the western U.S.

One problem with ozone is that it doesn’t take a lot to trigger complex atmospheric processes. Small concentrations can trip up satellites as they take readings on atmospheric chemistry, for instance. Other trace gases behave similarly and are equally difficult to quantify, especially when they get around water vapor. Experimental measurements have lacked the sensitivity to detect weak ozone and ozone-water signals. CIRES’ Veronica Vaida and CIRES/NOAA colleagues are developing a lab instrument with a super sniffer for ozone. This invention would also help investigate what happens to other oxidized trace gases that interact readily with water. 

It’s estimated that more than 300,000 women die each year from cervical cancer, a disease caused by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV), and especially devastating in developing countries. There is a vaccine for HPV, but right now that vaccine entails money, a little pain, and refrigeration — all factors that limit who can afford, tolerate or access this important health precaution. Much like the inhalable measles vaccine currently in human vaccination tests, CIRES’ Robert Sievers and CU colleague Steve Cape look to engineer a dry powder ‘wafer’ version of the HPV vaccine that users can absorb under the tongue. The innovation would help cut costs, increase longevity, and reduce the “ouch” factor of being vaccinated against HPV. 

Measurements of the Area Averaged Vertical Heat Flux with Acoustic Tomography

Soil Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds in Response to Pine Beetle Attacks 

How will Global Climate Changes Affect Ocean Productivity in the Tropics? 

Quantification of 19th/21st Century Ice-Volume Loss in the Karakoram and Himalaya

Do bacteria influence the weather? Exploring the role of bacteria in atmospheric ice formation 

Is Absence of Sea Ice a Causal Factor in Recent Antarctic Ice Shelf Break-ups?

Windrows in Global Models: How Much Do Langmuir Circulations Matter for Climate?

Investigating the Ubiquity of Small-Scale Turbulence in the Atmosphere with Implications for Atmospheric Modeling and Prediction 

New Doppler LIDAR using Double-edge Atomic Absorption Filter with 3-Frequency Transmitter to Study Gravity Wave Excitation, Propagation, and Dissipation from Ground to Upper Atmosphere 

Using Radio Transponder Tagged Clasts to Test Fluvial Sediment Dispersion Theory

The Fate of Old Carbon in Stream Ecosystems

Sunlight initiated chemistry by low energy vibrational overtone excitation of oxidized organics in the atmosphere: In a collaboration between experiment and theory, the investigators will investigate a new paradigm for sun light initiated chemical reactions occurring by low energy by excitation of vibrational overtones in the ground electronic state.

Is the Ground Drying up in South Platte? Despite the important role of groundwater in the basin there are virtually no efforts in understanding long-term behavior of the groundwater system within the context of climate variations.

Quantifying the impact of vegetation on snow metamorphism to gain insight into how forest canopy density impacts snowmelt rates. This is a unique application of an ASD-FR contact probe to determine snow stratigraphy.

Investigating extreme floods and droughts in a climate model where biota exhibit the potential for modulating global temperatures that are comparable to IPCC predictions for CO2 doubling.

 Extending the unique capabilities of their CIRES-developed platform to produce high-resolution profiles of winds, temperatures, humidity, turbulence and trace gases in the boundary layer.

Developing a fast response scanning condensation particle counter (SCPC) to measure ultrafine (4-70 nm) particles that are of great atmospheric and environmental importance.

Testing a novel method of extracting ocean swell correlations from existing seismic data that could be a proxy for historical climate variation.

Applying web-based relational database management system to present field data in a GIS format to enhance data synthesis and presentation between laboratories that will become a resource available to others.

Developing instrumentation to explore relatively unknown radiative properties of hydrates and complexes that could help resolve differences between radiation models and measurements.

Combining NOAA climate forecasts, a USGS watershed model, and the RIVERWARE decision support system to aid decision makers dealing with a real world polluted river.

Testing microbe fitness to pollutant environments with the hope of developing bioremediation strains.

Investigating aerosol coagulation and meteoric metal catalysis of organic materials that could have an impact on origin of life theories.

Testing the hypothesis that unexplained Nexrad Doppler echoes reveal terrain-induced gravity waves and may help in predicting destructive downslope winds.

Developing a web tool to provide user-friendly access to interdisciplinary data that includes a map locator, temporal and spatial displays, statistical assessment tools, and tutorial.

Testing the validity of surface and lower tropospheric circulation reanalyses simulated from previous surface synoptic data as a means of extending climate studies back to the early 1900's.

 Coupling a simple biospheric/hydrologic model with GCMs as a means for identifying negative feedbacks that are not yet included in current parameterizations.

Seeking to improve convective updraft area (sigma) in model parameterization of global cloud cover.

Conducting a phylogenetic analysis of a specific metabolic enzyme to address the distribution of this metabolic pathway among microorganisms.

Using a new powered parachute to calibrate profiler radar patterns and thus improve the accuracy and interpretation of 3D wind data.

Holger Voemel (CMDL) is seeking to extend O3 observations in the Galapagos and involve local youth in this science project

John Rundle (C4) Claudio Cioffi (Political Science) are exploring new approaches to modeling nonlinear dynamics of extreme events to derive fundamental results applicable to both geophysical and social systems

Shari Fox (NSIDC) is recording the climate history stored in the cultures of indigenous peoples before it is lost

Ben Balsley and Rod Frehlich are using kites platforms to obtain continuous FWAEF measurements as a proxy for climate change and an understanding of continual recharging of the planetary electric field

obert Sievers, Brenda Korte and a graduate student (Chemistry) are conducting fundamental studies to characterize current technology and improve their techniques

John Birks (Chemistry) and a graduate student are developing a new analytical technique for quantifying OH, H2, and DMS