Simon Carn (GMES/EPSSI), is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $79,390 research and development grant from NASA. The project is entitled “Exploiting High-Cadence Observations of Volcanic Eruptions from DSCOVR/EPIC.”
This is the first year of a potential three-year project totaling $267,948.
The sixth Globa
l Environmental Outlook has been released while environmental ministers from around the world are in Nairobi to participate in the world’s highest-level environmental forum.
The report warns that human health is in dire straits without urgent actions to protect the environment. Sarah Green (Chem) is a scientific reviewer.
The most comprehensive and rigorous assessment on the state of the environment completed by the UN in the last five years was published yesterday (March 13), warning that damage to the planet is so dire that people’s health will be increasingly threatened unless urgent action is taken.
Read the full story on mtu.edu/news.
Simon Carn (GMES) was quoted in the story “From NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: ‘2018’s Biggest Volcanic Eruption of Sulfur Dioxide,'” in sciencesprings. The story was also covered in Long Room, What’s Up with That? and Science Daily.
Atmospheric science experts Lynn Mazzoleni (Chem) and Claudio Mazzoleni (Physics), traveled more than 8,000 miles from Houghton to the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NIT) in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. Invited by Ravi Varma, associate professor of physics at NIT, and sponsored by the Global Initiative for Academic Networks (GIAN), their three-week trip was punctuated by local cultural experiences, sandwiched between giving several academic lectures.
They participated in a six-day GIAN-sponsored workshop, “Atmospheric Aerosol: Optical Properties, Composition, and Effects on Climate,” for students and junior faculty from NIT and elsewhere. The GIAN program is funded by the Indian government to foster high-quality international experiences and to elevate India’s reputation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). One way to achieve the mission is by inviting internationally renowned scientists like the Mazzolenis to share their expertise in atmospheric aerosols.
Read the full story on mtu.edu/news.
We are happy to announce grad students Chad Brisbois (Physics) and Neel Uday Desai (Atmospheric Sciences) are among the winners for the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Award. Congratulations!
Finishing Fellowships provide support to PhD candidates who are close to completing their degrees. These fellowships are available through the generosity of alumni and friends of the University. They are intended to recognize outstanding PhD candidates who are in need of financial support to finish their degrees and are also contributing to the attainment of goals outlined in The Michigan Tech Plan.
Mark Kulie (GMES/EPSSI) is the principal investigator on a project that received a $8,448 research and development grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The project is “Deployment and Maintenance of a Proposed Snowfall Measurement Network to Study GFM Footprint-level Snowfall Variability.”
This is a nine-month project.
In reviewing the year’s highlights, NASA mentioned a study led by Simon Carn (GMES) that shared out the world’s first truly global inventory of volcanic sulfur dioxide emissions.
Using data from the Dutch-Finnish Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Earth Observing System Aura satellite launched in 2004, Carn and his team compiled emissions data from 2005 to 2015 to produce annual estimates for each of 91 presently emitting volcanoes worldwide.
The dataset will help refine climate and atmospheric chemistry models and provide more insight into human and environmental health risks. Read more and watch a video on NASA’s 2017 highlights and learn about volcano breath in the Michigan Tech news story about Carn’s research.
The survey results, just released, are based on research expenditures by NSF-designated disciplines, some of which include academic departments, centers and institutes at Michigan Tech. NSF also uses different names for some of its disciplines.
Mechanical Engineering rose to No. 18 in the nation in research expenditures. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering rose to No. 41 and Atmospheric Sciences came in at No. 46. Electrical Engineering was ranked No. 56 in research expenditures nationally.
Michigan Tech’s research expenditures in Atmospheric Sciences and in Ocean Science, ranked No. 55 in the nation, the highest of any university in Michigan.
Read the full story on the Michigan Tech News website.
Simon Carn (GMES/EPSSI), is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $71,762 research and development grant from the University of Maryland.
The project is titled “Advancing NASA OMI SO2 Product: Enabling New Science Analyses, Applications, and Long-Term, Multi-Satellite Monitoring.”
This is the first year of a three-year project potentially totaling $219,881.
Carbon dioxide measured by a NASA satellite pinpoints sources of the gas from human and volcanic activities, which may help monitor greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.
Late last month, a stratovolcano in Bali named Mount Agung began to smoke. Little earthquakes trembled beneath the mountain. Officials have since evacuated thousands of people to prevent what happened when Agung erupted in 1963, killing more than 1,000 people.
Before volcanoes erupt, there are often warning signs. Tiny earthquakes rarely felt by humans but sensed by seismographs emanate from the volcano. Plumes of water vapor rise from the crater. When the volcano begins to emit gases like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, eruption may be imminent.
But getting close to the top of a volcano is dangerous work. Using remote sensing to detect rising carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions without endangering people or equipment would greatly increase human understanding of volcanoes. Remote sensing emissions could prevent humanitarian disasters—and false alarms. Read the full story on the Michigan Tech news website.
by Kelley Christensen