| Established | March 23, 1959 [1] |
|---|---|
Parent institution | Nevada System of Higher Education |
| President | Kumud Acharya [2] |
Academic staff | 500 [3] |
| Address | 2215 Raggio Parkway , , , 89512 , United States |
| Website | dri |
Desert Research Institute (DRI) is the nonprofit research campus of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) and sister property of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), the organization that oversees all publicly supported higher education in the U.S. state of Nevada. At DRI, approximately 500 research faculty and support staff engage in more than $50 million in environmental research each year. [3] DRI's environmental research programs are divided into three core divisions (Atmospheric Sciences, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, and Hydrologic Sciences) and two interdisciplinary centers (Center for Arid Lands Environmental Management and the Center for Watersheds and Environmental Sustainability). Established in 1988 and sponsored by AT&T, the institute's Nevada Medal awards "outstanding achievement in science and engineering".
DRI weather modification research produced the Nevada State Cloud Seeding Program in the 1960s. This initiative, funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, seeks to augment snowfall in mountainous regions of Nevada to increase snowpack and water supply. DRI researchers use ground stations and aircraft to release microscopic silver iodide particles into winter clouds, stimulating the formation of ice crystals that develop to snow. [4]
Research indicates that cloud seeding leads to precipitation rate increases of 0.1–1.5 millimeters per hour.[ citation needed ]
For over a decade the Atmospheric and Dispersion Modeling Program team has been performing work focused on observations and modeling of atmospheric dispersion processes over complex terrain and coastal areas. [5] In particular, the team is applying, developing, and evaluating mesoscale meteorological models as well as regulatory and advanced atmospheric dispersion models such as ISC3ST, AERMOD, WYNDVALLEY, ASPEN, and CALPUFF. They have developed a Lagrangian Random Particle Dispersion Model that has been applied to complex coastal and inland environments.
Several recent projects led to developing real-time mesoscale forecasting system using the MM5 model coupled with a Lagrangian random particle dispersion model and implementation of data assimilation schemes.
A two-page bill signed into law by the Nevada Governor Grant Sawyer on March 23, 1959, authorized establishment of the Desert Research Institute at the University of Nevada, Reno. [1] [6]
UNR hired Dr. Wendell Mordy as the Founding Director (1960–1969) of the University's Desert Research Institute, which initially was an office at the top of the historic Morrill Hall building on UNR's campus. Early on Mordy also initiated the development of the UNR's Fleishmann Atmospherium Planetarium. [lower-alpha 1]
Microplastics were found for the first time in Lake Tahoe in 2019 by the Desert Research Institute. They plan on studying the pollution to determine if it is from local sources or if particles from discarded plastic products have been transported long distances through the atmosphere by wind, rain and falling snow. [7]
Aerobiology is a branch of biology that studies the passive transport of organic particles, such as bacteria, fungal spores, very small insects, pollen grains and viruses. Aerobiologists have traditionally been involved in the measurement and reporting of airborne pollen and fungal spores as a service to those with allergies. However, aerobiology is a varied field, relating to environmental science, plant science, meteorology, phenology, and climate change.
The University of Nevada, Reno is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, 1874, in Elko, Nevada.
Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud. Its effectiveness is debated; some studies have suggested that it is "difficult to show clearly that cloud seeding has a very large effect." The usual objective is to increase precipitation, either for its own sake or to prevent precipitation from occurring in days afterward.
The Nevada System of Higher Education is a state government unit in Nevada that oversees its public system of colleges and universities. It was formed in 1968 to oversee all state-supported higher education in the state. Two doctoral-granting research universities, one state college, four community colleges and one research institute comprise the land grant system. About 105,000 students attend the degree-granting campuses.
Cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs), also known as cloud seeds, are small particles typically 0.2 µm, or one hundredth the size of a cloud droplet. CCNs are a unique subset of aerosols in the atmosphere on which water vapour condenses. This can affect the radiative properties of clouds and the overall atmosphere. Water requires a non-gaseous surface to make the transition from a vapour to a liquid; this process is called condensation.
This is a list of meteorology topics. The terms relate to meteorology, the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications but it operates semi-autonomously.
The Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) is an air quality and climate laboratory in the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) which is an operating unit within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs). In October 2005, the Surface Radiation Research Branch of the ARL was merged with five other NOAA labs to form the Earth System Research Laboratory.
Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that include algorithms to solve the mathematical equations that govern the pollutant dispersion. The dispersion models are used to estimate the downwind ambient concentration of air pollutants or toxins emitted from sources such as industrial plants, vehicular traffic or accidental chemical releases. They can also be used to predict future concentrations under specific scenarios. Therefore, they are the dominant type of model used in air quality policy making. They are most useful for pollutants that are dispersed over large distances and that may react in the atmosphere. For pollutants that have a very high spatio-temporal variability and for epidemiological studies statistical land-use regression models are also used.
The National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) is located at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It is a national support and resource center for planning, real-time assessment, emergency response, and detailed studies of incidents involving a wide variety of hazards, including nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, and natural emissions.
CALPUFF is an advanced, integrated Lagrangian puff modeling system for the simulation of atmospheric pollution dispersion distributed by the Atmospheric Studies Group at TRC Solutions.
In environmental science, air pollution dispersion is the distribution of air pollution into the atmosphere. Air pollution is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, or other harmful materials into Earth's atmosphere, causing disease, death to humans, damage to other living organisms such as food crops, and the natural or built environment. Air pollution may come from anthropogenic or natural sources. Dispersion refers to what happens to the pollution during and after its introduction; understanding this may help in identifying and controlling it.
A chemical transport model (CTM) is a type of computer numerical model which typically simulates atmospheric chemistry and may give air pollution forecasting.
James Vladimir Taranik was an American scientist and educator who worked in the area of earth-observation satellite remote sensing. He was Chief of NASA's Non-Renewable Resources Branch and Program Scientist of the Space Shuttle's first scientific flights with cargo that included experiments related to geology, atmospheric chemistry, meteorology, marine biology, and plant physiology in the earth and life sciences. He also held various positions in the Nevada System of Higher Education, including the Desert Research Institute and the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering.
The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT) is a computer model that is used to compute air parcel trajectories to determine how far and in what direction a parcel of air, and subsequently air pollutants, will travel. HYSPLIT is also capable of calculating air pollutant dispersion, chemical transformation, and deposition. The HYSPLIT model was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Air Resources Laboratory and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centere in 1998. The model derives its name from the usage of both Lagrangian and Eulerian approaches.
Margaret Anne LeMone is an atmospheric scientist who uses both atmospheric observations and computer models to study the formation and development of clouds, the development of precipitation, and the structure of storms.
Alison Murray is an American microbial ecologist and Antarctic researcher, best known for studying the diversity, ecology and biogeography of Antarctic marine plankton dynamics of the plankton over the annual cycle; and her work demonstrating the existence of microbial life within an ice-sealed Antarctic lake. She studies how microorganisms persist and function in extremely cold and harsh environments, including those that lack oxygen and biological sources of energy.
Elizabeth Austin is CEO and Founder of WeatherExtreme Ltd., a research and consulting firm.
Wendell A. Mordy was an American atmospheric physicist. He was the founding director of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
