Research Focus Areas
Atmosphere-Surface Interactions (ASI)
Many fundamental issues in climatic, environmental, geological, and ecological studies require an in-depth knowledge of the rates and forms of exchange of mass, and energy between the atmosphere and the earth's surface. Such exchanges are relevant over a large range of spatial and temporal scales, e.g., from the rapid turnover times on the order of hours to days of isoprene and other volatile organic carbon emission within the forest canopy of experimental plots to incremental changes in the global concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases and their feedback to climate over 10s of millions of years. Knowledge of the mechanisms governing atmosphere-surface interactions is essential to our understanding of both modern and geologic records and will permit us to speculate about how perturbations to the earth system are potentially mitigated or amplified by feedbacks within that system.
Climate & Extreme Weather (CLEW)
Given the current level of understanding of phenomena like hurricanes, extratropical cyclones, and severe thunderstorms-which result from complex interactions between many scales of motion in the atmosphere-it is difficult to skillfully predict if these weather phenomena will become something extraordinary ; a similar statement may be made for events such as an extended heat wave or seasonal flooding. Adding a sense of urgency to this already complicated problem are projections of more frequent, and perhaps more intense extreme events in future climates. The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences is responding to this problem through its focus on Climate and Extreme Weather (CLEW), which seeks to: Understand and predict the physical and statistical behavior of extreme weather and climate events.
Geodynamics & Active Tectonics (GAT)
The Geodynamics and Active Tectonics group at Purdue focuses on the dynamics of the processes that shape our planet, from the motion of tectonic plates, the development of mountain ranges and oil-bearing sedimentary basins, to the triggering of earthquakes. To do so, we use a combination of modern observational techniques (e.g., cosmogenic isotopes, space geodesy, basins analysis) and develop theoretical models that integrate these observations in consistent physical frameworks.
