Research Specialties.....
Micrometeorology & Microclimate ....
Micrometeorology is the study of the meteorology near the ground, generally defined within the first few meters above the earth's surface in which plants and animals live. In this thin layer, exchanges of heat energy, mass, and momentum occur between the earth's surface and the atmosphere and determine the near surface temperature, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Trace gas exchanges (for example, CO2, N2O) also develop in this layer and serve as sources or sinks of trace gas concentration variations in the atmosphere. Because the micrometeorological environment is directly influenced by the earth's surface, which is the source of heat and moisture to the atmosphere, the near-surface environment changes dramatically in a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Understanding the physical processes and mechanisms controlling such changes is the ultimate challenge for research in micrometeorology.
Microclimate deals with the long-term averages of micrometeorological variables as well as their seasonal and annual changes. The rate of these changes with time and elevation make the microclimate so different from the climate just a few meters above (where atmospheric mixing processes are much more active so that the climate is more moderate and stable than the climate near the surface).
| Participating Faculty... |
| Ken G. Hubbard |
| John D Lenters |
| Xiaomao Lin |
| Andy E. Suyker |
| Elizabeth A. Walter-Shea |
| Albert Weiss |
| Shashi B. Verma |
| Jinsheng You |
