Atmospheric Radiation

The atmospheric radiation group investigates the optical properties of the atmosphere to understand the global radiation balance. Members of this group are actively involved with the Atmospheric Radiation Monitoring (ARM) project. For more information on research opportunities in this group, contact one of the faculty listed below.

Gerd Wendler The Wendler group has investigated the net radiation in the Antarctic pack ice and is developing a climatology of contrails in Alaska, which is thought to have an impact on the radiative balance of the atmosphere. e-mail: gerd 'at' gi.alaska.edu

Bill Simpson The Simpson group is investigating radiation transfer in snow to predict photochemical transformation rates within the snow pack. These snow photochemical processes have significant impacts on the composition of ice cores as well as affecting the chemistry of the atmosphere above the snow. e-mail: ffwrs 'at' uaf.edu

Kenneth Sassen Research activities include cloud remote sensing with lidar and radar, atmospheric optics, and the study of cloud physics and related instrumentation. Beginning in the early 1980s, his Mobile Polarization Lidar facility was widely applied to field measurement programs in the areas of aerosol scattering, winter storm weather modification, and cirrus cloud research. Currently, he is involved in the FIRE, ARM, SASS, and EOS research projects. e-mail: ksassen 'at' gi.alaska.edu