
NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | February 24, 2015 |
Latest Amendment Date: | November 29, 2016 |
Award Number: | 1447533 |
Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
Program Manager: |
Holly Barnard
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
Start Date: | March 1, 2015 |
End Date: | April 30, 2019 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $525,611.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $545,474.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2016 = $104,683.00 FY 2017 = $0.00 |
History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1500 ILLINOIS ST GOLDEN CO US 80401-1887 (303)273-3000 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
Golden CO US 80401-1887 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): |
EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES, Hydrologic Sciences |
Primary Program Source: |
01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
CAREER: Advancing the science and education of land surface-atmosphere interactions: Interweaving multiscale experimental and modeling approaches for
Land Surface Models and experiential learning
A critical challenge for Land Surface Models (LSMs) is to simulate processes at the surface and the subsurface and their feedbacks to the atmosphere. Even given the same climate forcings, LSMs predict different surface fluxes and soil moisture conditions. This is due to differences in the formulations of individual processes, parameterizations of those formulations, numerical solution methods and representation of spatial heterogeneity. All of these differences contribute to LSM prediction errors and uncertainty. Increasing confidence in climate predictions requires revisiting fundamental process understanding and using that understanding to improve representations of land-atmosphere feedbacks. This research seeks to address this challenge by answering questions on multiphase fluid transport mechanisms in surface soils and mass/energy exchange at the soil-atmosphere interface. New knowledge and modeling approaches will result in improved predictions for water supply and food security as well as environmental issues across the nation. Linked to the research plan is an educational framework for engaging minority middle school students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Focusing on the integrating theme of water and climate, the investigator will help students make the link between STEM they learn in the classroom and environmental water resource problems in their own backyards, motivating and preparing students to pursue college studies and ultimately careers in STEM fields. The integrated activities will help to build a scientifically literate and informed citizenry, while also answering critical water and climate questions. This project will contribute substantially to the goals of the NSF in the production of interdisciplinary knowledge and the education of middle-school students, young scientists and engineers.
The overarching goal of this research is to advance our understanding and modeling of mass and energy exchange at the land-atmosphere interface over a wide range of scales, and ultimately improve LSMs that are utilized in global climate prediction. The proposed research will systematically explore how the shallow subsurface and the atmosphere, specifically the layer very close to the soil surface, interact, providing new insights into mass and thermal flux process interactions that will be integrated into LSMs. A focus on scaling based on process understanding at multiple scales will allow for process-rich parameterizations for multiple land-atmosphere interaction and subsurface processes that contribute to LSMs. This vision includes unique highly controlled mechanistic studies in the laboratory, leveraging of existing laboratory and field data, modeling of critical mass and energy dynamics, and the characterization of important interactions from the laboratory to the watershed scales that drive feedbacks to climate systems. Project results will yield unique, high-fidelity data that will greatly aid in improving our understanding and modeling of the processes affected by heterogeneity at various scales and the development of methods to mechanistically represent the proposed processes at the watershed scale. A suite of climate intermediate, and fine scale computational models will be used to guide observations and interpret data; process studies will provide new algorithms and process parameterizations and evaluate model performance. Computational models in conjunction with experimental data will enable the investigator to understand governing flow and transport mechanisms under different atmospheric forcing at different scales. This research is expected to improve the representation of mass and energy exchange processes across multiple scales at the soil-land-atmosphere interface.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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