Earth System Modeling, Comparative Planetary Climatologies and Remote Sensing

THE DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS (APAM) AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (CU) PROPOSES TO RENEW COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NNX15AJ05A WITH THE NASA GODDARD INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES. THE SCOPE OF WORK SPANS THREE BROAD THEMES. EARTH SYSTEM MODELING WILL INVOLVE THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ATMOSPHERIC OCEANIC LAND SURFACE AND CRYOSPHERIC MODEL COMPONENTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND PAST NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGES IN CLIMATE AND AS A CENTRAL PART OF THE US CONTRIBUTION TO INTERNATIONALLYCOORDINATED EFFORTS TO MAKE PROJECTIONS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE CLIMATES. RESEARCH IN COMPARATIVE PLANETARY CLIMATOLOGIES WILL EXTEND THE EARTH SYSTEM MODELING EFFORT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH OTHER PLANETS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM HAVE BEEN HABITABLE AND HOW WE MIGHT DETECT HABITABLE PLANETS AT GREATER DISTANCES. REMOTE SENSING RESEARCH WILL INCLUDE FUNDAMENTAL WORK IN RADIATIVE TRANSFER AND SIGNIFICANT INVOLVEMENT IN MAJOR FIELD CAMPAIGNS TO BETTER MEASURE AEROSOLS CLOUDS AND OCEAN SURFACE PROPERTIES. THE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT IS THE ADMINISTRATIVE MECHANISM THROUGH WHICH THE UNIQUE EXPERTISE OF NASA AND APAM CAN BE LEVERAGED TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARTH SYSTEM OTHER PLANETS AND CUTTING EDGE MEASUREMENTS BUILDING UPON THE RICH SCIENTIFIC HISTORY OF BOTH INSTITUTIONS.