DOE to fund two projects by Department of Atmospheric Science researchers

Two of the 27 projects the U.S. Department of Energy has chosen to fund in atmospheric and ecological sciences will be conducted by Department of Atmospheric Science researchers. Associate Professor Christine Chiu and Senior Research Scientist Paul DeMott have been awarded DOE grants for separate projects.

The DOE announced Tuesday it will invest $15 million in the 27 projects in an effort to improve the power of Earth system models to predict weather and climate.

Chiu’s project, “Assessing Secondary Ice Production in Continental Clouds Based on AMF Synergistic Remote Sensing Observations,” will use polarimetric radar observations of mixed-phase clouds to characterize secondary ice production.

DeMott’s project, “Ice Nucleating Particles, Aerosols and Clouds over the Higher Latitude Southern Ocean,” will analyze filter samples from campaigns in the Southern Ocean region to investigate the role of sea spray formation and microbial activity in primary ice nucleation processes.

DeMott looks forward to the analysis made possible by the award.

“I was excited to receive this award, because we have a great data set in hand from DOE ARM funding, and this grant now assures that we will mine it to its full potential,” he said.

All funded projects were selected by competitive peer review.

“Improving Earth system modeling and prediction capabilities is a critical step in mitigating future risks to the Nation’s energy supplies,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in the DOE announcement. “By helping us to better understand our environment, these investments in science will help us maintain a strong energy infrastructure and reliable energy supplies while also ensuring that America remains at the forefront of energy sciences and technology.”

Photo at top: Christine Chiu and Paul DeMott pictured during field campaigns.