Clouds & Aerosols

Clouds and aerosols are the non-gaseous constituents of the atmosphere. Aerosols enter the atmosphere through both natural and anthropogenically driven processes, and they can have a strong impact on the planet's energy budget through absorption and scattering of incoming solar radiation. Aerosols act as critical nuclei for cloud droplet formation, making their physical and chemical properties a major focus on ongoing research, especially with respect to Climate Change. Research topics in the department include those impacts on climate and climate change, changes in cloud and aerosol formation due to climate change, the physical and chemical processes of aerosols, and the numerical modeling of radiative transfer and cloud microphysics.

Faculty

Kenneth Bowman

David Bullock Harris Professor of Geosciences

Atmospheric dynamics, stratospheric ozone, climate dynamics, satellite meteorology

Professor

Director, Center for Atmospheric Chemistry and the Environment

Chemical composition and phase of atmospheric aerosols, ice nucleation, cloud formation, climate and air pollution, laboratory and field measurements, lidar observations, instrument development

Professor

Aerosols, cloud microphysics, aerosol-cloud interactions, climate model development, and climate modeling

xiaohong.liu@tamu.edu

(979) 845-5566

Eller O&M 1110B

Anita Rapp

Associate Professor

Satellite remote sensing of clouds and precipitation, cloud radiative effects, global water and energy budget

University Distinguished Professor and David Bullock Harris Chair in Geosciences

Associate Dean for Research

Atmospheric radiative transfer, remote sensing, numerical modeling of the optical properties of nonspherical particles and its applications

University Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences

Harold J. Haynes Chair in Geosciences

Kinetics and mechanisms of gas-phase and heterogeneous reactions, lab studies of properties of atmospheric aerosols, atmospheric measurements of trace gas species and aerosols, assessment of aerosol-cloud interaction, lightning chemistry

renyi-zhang@tamu.edu

(979) 845-7656

renyi-zhang@tamu.edu

ATMO Research

Atmospheric Sciences Research Boundary Layer & Surface Interactions Atmospheric Chemistry Climate Dynamics & Change Clouds & Aerosols Atmospheric Dynamics Synoptic & Mesoscale Meteorology Radiative Transfer & Remote Sensing