Research News & Features

Following are links to some homepages for projects and groups on which GISS researchers are involved.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Astrobiology, Exoplanets and ROCKE-3D

Astrobiology, Exoplanets and ROCKE-3D

The GISS Astrobiology and Exoplanets group is an interdisciplinary team of scientists interested in understanding our solar system through time — from the early configuration of the planets nearly 4 billion years ago to their modern state. Our focus, using the ROCKE-3D model, is on characterizing the habitability of rocky planets, extending that understanding to the climates of extrasolar planets, but also includes understanding environments as diverse as Venus, Titan and Archean Earth.
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ACCMIP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP)

ACCMIP was organized to better evaluate the role of atmospheric chemistry, both gases and aerosols, in driving climate change. In particular, the intercomparison was designed to facilitate analyses of the driving forces of climate change in simulations being performed in the Climate Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) in support of the IPCC AR5. ACCMIP consisted of a set of experiments designed to provide insight into the CMIP5 simulations of historical and future climate change, along with additional simulations to better understand the role of particular processes and to constrain uncertainties.
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Climate Impacts

Climate Impacts

The Climate Impacts group at NASA GISS seeks to improve understanding of how climate affects human society through assessment of the effect of current climate variability and of potential climate change impacts caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols. Impacts research includes development of a framework to analyze complex interactions among biophysical and socio-economic processes.
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Climate Modeling

Climate Modeling

The climate modeling program at GISS is primarily aimed at the development of 3D general circulation models (GCMs) and coupled atmosphere-ocean models for simulating Earth's climate system, although some research may include the use of regional climate models, 2D energy balance models, and 1D radiative-convective models. Primary emphasis is placed on investigation of climate sensitivity, including the climate system's response to forcings such as solar variability, anthropogenic and natural emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols, etc.
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Ent

Ent Terrestrial Biosphere Model (Ent TBM)

The Ent model is a demographic dynamic global vegetation model developed specifically for coupling with Earth system models. Ent provides the GISS model with satellite-observed vegetation canopy structure, land surface albedo, and surface fluxes of water and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, with canopy structure also used as boundary conditions for dust dynamics and vegetation emissions for atmospheric chemistry. Ent is also slated to serve as a lidar observation simulator of vertical canopy structure and to provide prognostic vegetation growth and decadal to century-scale alterations in vegetation cover and soil carbon and nitrogen.
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GACP

Global Aerosol Climatology Project (GACP)

GACP was established in 1998 to extract an improved multi-decadal aerosol record from existing satellite measurements. The main objective was to develop advanced global aerosol climatologies for the full period of satellite data, supplement them by improved modeling results, and make these aerosol datasets broadly available and suitable for use in studies of the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on climate.
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GISTEMP

Goddard Institute Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)

Surface air temperature change is a primary measure of global climate change. The GISTEMP project started in the late 1970s to provide an estimate of the changing global surface air temperature which could be compared with the estimates obtained from climate models simulating the effect of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, volcanic aerosols, and solar irradiance. The continuing analysis updates global temperature change from the late 1800s to the present.
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ISCCP

International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (SCCP)

ISCCP was established as part of the World Climate Research Programme to collect and analyze satellite radiance measurements to infer the global distribution of clouds, their properties, and their diurnal, seasonal, and interannual variations. The resulting datasets and analysis products are used to improve understanding and modeling of the role of clouds in climate, with the primary focus being the elucidation of the effects of clouds on the radiation balance.
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PACE

Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE)

PACE's data will help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide. In addition, it will reveal how aerosols might fuel phytoplankton growth in the surface ocean. Novel uses of PACE data will benefit our economy and society. For example, it will help identify the extent and duration of harmful algal blooms. PACE will extend and expand NASA's long-term observations of our living planet. By doing so, it will take Earth's pulse in new ways for decades to come.
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RSP

Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) Airborne Science

GISS operates the two most accurate polarimeters in the world on a range of aircraft, at altitudes from 200 m to 20 km. These instruments, called Research Scanning Polarimeters (RSP), retrieve aerosol and cloud properties. Aerosol data obtained include the size distribution and complex refractive index of particles, their optical depth, and an estimate of layer height. Cloud retrievals include particle size, cloud optical thickness and cloud top height, as well as droplet size distribution at cloud top for water clouds and aspect ratio and level of distortion of crystals in ice clouds.
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SWING 2

Stable Water Isotope Intercomparison Group, Phase 2 (SWING2)

The Stable Water Isotope iNtercomparison Group (SWING) 2 project is the second phase of an international intercomparison of current state-of-the-art water isotope general circulation models and related observational isotope data. It brings together scientists with a common wide range of interest in both modelling and measuring stable water isotopes (H218O, HDO) and their application to Earth System problems.
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