Gretchen Keppel-Aleks | |
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Awards | Kavli Fellow, NASA Group Achievement Award, NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, American Association of University Women Dissertation Fellowship |
Academic background | |
Education | Ph.D California Institute of Technology, Environmental Science and Engineering (2011) M.S California Institute of Technology, Environmental Science and Engineering (2006) S.B Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering (2004)Contents |
Thesis | "Constraints on the global carbon budget from variations in total column carbon dioxide" |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Michigan |
Website | http://clasp-research.engin.umich.edu/faculty/keppel-aleks/ |
Gretchen Keppel-Aleks is an American scientist and assistant professor at the University of Michigan in the College of Engineering's department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering. She primarily focuses on Earth's climate and the effects of greenhouse gasses on Earth's atmosphere. Keppel-Aleks has been named a Kavli Fellow by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. [1]
Keppel-Aleks began her academic career working as a research assistant during both her undergraduate and graduate and studies (at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later California Institute of Technology). Currently,Keppel-Aleks works as a research assistant at the University of Michigan. She works in the department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering (2013–Present). [2]
Under the supervision of Paul O. Wennberg,Keppel-Aleks completed her dissertation (Ph.D.) in 2012. Her thesis,titled "Constraints on the global carbon budget from variations in total column carbon dioxide",examines the importance of evaluating patterns of CO2 when predicting models of global climate change. [3]
Keppel-Aleks fields of interests are:the carbon cycle and climate interactions,the remote sensing of atmospheric gasses and vegetation properties,Earth System modeling,and atmospheric tracer transport. [4]
Keppel-Aleks has made many notable research contributions,especially surrounding greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. She led several research projects,such as a project titled "Developing a Mechanistic Understanding of Variability in the Atmospheric CO2 Growth Rate Owing to Interannual Climate Oscillations",in which scientists explored how Earth systems react to a changing climate. [5] She has also participates in NASA's OCO-2 research team,in which she and 20 other scientists work to investigate how human populations interact with,and contribute to the presence of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere. [6]
Keppel-Aleks has won many awards during her scientific career. In 2019,she won AGU's Global Environmental Change Early Career Award for her contributions in global environmental change. [7] She has also received a research highlight from the Department of Energy for her leading research on the use of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) in determining the future of global climate change with regards to rising levels of CO2. [8] She has also been awarded several fellowships,such as the NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship, [9] as well as the American Association of University Women dissertation fellowship. [10] Additionally,Keppel-Aleks has been awarded the Kavli Fellowship. As a Kavli fellow,Keppel-Aleks presented on the importance of terrestrial and aquatic cycle monitoring in the monitoring of CO2. [1]
Currently,Keppel-Aleks is being funded for 11 individual projects,one of which,titled "Developing a Mechanistic Understanding of Variability in the Atmospheric CO2 Growth Rate Owing to Interannual Climate Oscillations ",is a project worth over $1 million funded through NASA and the University of Michigan. [11] Other grants and fellowships awarded to Keppel-Aleks include NASA's Earth and Space Science Fellowship [12] and in the past,Keppel-Aleks received research grants such as one from Keck Institute for Space Studies,in which Keppel-Aleks examined patterns of photosynthesis and solar-induced fluorescence emitted from photosynthetic organisms. [13]
The scientific community has been investigating the causes of climate change for decades. After thousands of studies,it came to a consensus,where it is "unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere,ocean and land since pre-industrial times." This consensus is supported by around 200 scientific organizations worldwide,The dominant role in this climate change has been played by the direct emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Indirect CO2 emissions from land use change,and the emissions of methane,nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases play major supporting roles.
Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events,whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time,typically decades or more. Climate change may refer to any time in Earth's history,but the term is now commonly used to describe contemporary climate change,often popularly referred to as global warming. Since the Industrial Revolution,the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities.
Radiative forcing is a concept used in climate science to quantify the change in energy balance in Earth's atmosphere. Various factors contribute to this change in energy balance,such as concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols,and changes in surface albedo and solar irradiance. In more technical terms,it is defined as "the change in the net,downward minus upward,radiative flux due to a change in an external driver of climate change." These external drivers are distinguished from feedbacks and variability that are internal to the climate system,and that further influence the direction and magnitude of imbalance. Radiative forcing on Earth is meaningfully evaluated at the tropopause and at the top of the stratosphere. It is quantified in units of watts per square meter,and often summarized as an average over the total surface area of the globe.
MOPITT is an ongoing astronomical instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite that measures global tropospheric carbon monoxide levels. It is part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS),and combined with the other payload remote sensors on the Terra satellite,the spacecraft monitors the Earth's environment and climate changes. Following its construction in Canada,MOPITT was launched into Earth's orbit in 1999 and utilizes gas correlation spectroscopy to measure the presence of different gases in the troposphere. The fundamental operations occur in its optical system composed of two optical tables holding the bulk of the apparatus. Results from the MOPITT enable scientists to better understand carbon monoxide's effects on a global scale,and various studies have been conducted based on MOPITT's measurements.
Trace gases are gases that are present in small amounts within an environment such as a planet's atmosphere. Trace gases in Earth's atmosphere are gases other than nitrogen (78.1%),oxygen (20.9%),and argon (0.934%) which,in combination,make up 99.934% of its atmosphere.
The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars. It is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%),molecular nitrogen (2.85%),and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor,oxygen,carbon monoxide,hydrogen,and noble gases. The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner and colder than Earth's having a max density 20g/m3 with a temperature generally below zero down to -60 Celsius. The average surface pressure is about 610 pascals (0.088 psi) which is less than 1% of the Earth's value.
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is a NASA satellite mission intended to provide global space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The original spacecraft was lost in a launch failure on 24 February 2009,when the payload fairing of the Taurus rocket which was carrying it failed to separate during ascent. The added mass of the fairing prevented the satellite from reaching orbit. It subsequently re-entered the atmosphere and crashed into the Indian Ocean near Antarctica. The replacement satellite,Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2,was launched 2 July 2014 aboard a Delta II rocket. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3,a stand-alone payload built from the spare OCO-2 flight instrument,was installed on the International Space Station's KibōExposed Facility in May 2019.
The climate of Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries,in part because it is the only terrestrial planet whose surface can be easily directly observed in detail from the Earth with help from a telescope.
In Earth's atmosphere,carbon dioxide is a trace gas that plays an integral part in the greenhouse effect,carbon cycle,photosynthesis and oceanic carbon cycle. It is one of several greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of Earth. The current global average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is 421 ppm as of May 2022 (0.04%). This is an increase of 50% since the start of the Industrial Revolution,up from 280 ppm during the 10,000 years prior to the mid-18th century. The increase is due to human activity.
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) is a global network of instruments that measure the amount of carbon dioxide,methane,carbon monoxide,nitrous oxide and other trace gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The TCCON began in 2004 with the installation of the first instrument in Park Falls,Wisconsin,USA,and has since grown to 23 operational instruments worldwide,with 7 former sites.
The atmospheric carbon cycle accounts for the exchange of gaseous carbon compounds,primarily carbon dioxide,between Earth's atmosphere,the oceans,and the terrestrial biosphere. It is one of the faster components of the planet's overall carbon cycle,supporting the exchange of more than 200 billion tons of carbon in and out of the atmosphere throughout the course of each year. Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 remain stable over longer timescales only when there exists a balance between these two flows. Methane,Carbon monoxide (CO),and other human-made compounds are present in smaller concentrations and are also part of the atmospheric carbon cycle.
Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide are used to help answer questions about Earth's carbon cycle. There are a variety of active and planned instruments for measuring carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere from space. The first satellite mission designed to measure CO2 was the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG) on board the ADEOS I satellite in 1996. This mission lasted less than a year. Since then,additional space-based measurements have begun,including those from two high-precision satellites. Different instrument designs may reflect different primary missions.
Aradhna Tripati is an American geoscientist,climate scientist,and advocate for diversity. She is a professor at the University of California,Los Angeles (UCLA) where she is part of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability,the Department of Earth,Planetary,and Space Sciences,the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences,and the California Nanosystems Institute. She is also the director of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science. Her research includes advancing new chemical tracers for the study of environmental processes and studying the history of climate change and Earth systems. She is recognized for her research on climate change and clumped isotope geochemistry. She studies the evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and the impacts on temperature,the water cycle,glaciers and ice sheets,and ocean acidity.
Heather Dawn Graven is a lecturer in Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London. She creates mathematical models to predict how climate change will impact the carbon cycle.
Lisa Welp is a biogeochemist who utilizes stable isotopes to understand how water and carbon dioxide are exchanged between the land and atmosphere. She is a professor at Purdue University in the department of Earth,Atmosphere,and Planetary Sciences.
Claudia Benitez-Nelson is a Latinx American oceanographer whose research focuses on marine geochemistry and biogeochemistry. A Carolina Distinguished Professor,she serves as the Senior Associate Dean for College Initiatives and Interdisciplinary Programs at the University of South Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Eric Steig is a Canadian-American scientist specializing in polar climate,glaciology,isotope geochemistry,and ice core science.
Nadine Unger is a Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Exeter. She has studied the role of human activities and forests on the Earth's climate.
Anna Michalak is an American geophysicist who is Director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science and a professor at Stanford University. Her research considers the cycling and emission of greenhouse gases. She is the lead author of the carbon cycle science plan,a comprehensive analysis of Earth's carbon stocks and flows. She was awarded the 2021 American Geophysical Union Joanne Simpson Medal.