A look at Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences

Open Access Government places the spotlight on Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences from the perspective of the U.S. National Science Foundation

The Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS), part of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), seeks to further intellectual frontiers in Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences. To achieve this, AGS invests in technology development, education and research so that discoveries can be made. Nurturing a diverse and vibrant scientific workforce and helping to achieve a sustainable and prosperous future are also key to AGS’s work.

Atmospheric and Geospace: Sciences overview

AGS encompasses fascinating research concerning the “physical, chemical, and biological processes that impact the composition and physical phenomena” and behaviour of “matter between the sun and the surface of the Earth”. These areas of research incorporate a remarkable array of crucial processes that impact society and humans, like tropospheric weather events, air quality, climate plus space weather events.

AGS-funded researchers pursue a wide range of work between them, such as the molecular precursors of cloud condensation nuclei, solar coronal mass ejections and transmission of energy between the Sun and the Earth and even paleoclimate studies of the Earth’s past as well as the speedy development of a tornado. Considering the vast scope of AGS’s work, it’s also worth pointing out that they set out to inspire and encourage “a diverse new generation of scientific leaders by promoting interest in the atmospheric and Geospace sciences”, for example, as well as “enhancing educational opportunities and experiences, and supporting early-career faculty”.(1)

Examples of NSF-funded research

Now, we’ll look at some examples of NSF-funded research in the field. In May, we are told that sea ice cover in the Southern Hemisphere is extremely variable, in the view of a University of Maine-led study. “This novel record significantly extends our view into sea ice dynamics over millennia, and hints at links between Southern and Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent and the role of ocean circulation,” explains Paul Cutler, a Program Director in NSF’s Office of Polar Programs. “It also provides valuable context for current trends in sea ice extent under a changing climate.”(2)

In other news, it was reported that lightning bolts break apart nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere, in NSF-funded research. The scientists discovered that hydroxyl radical is important in the atmosphere since it “initiates chemical reactions and breaks down molecules such as the greenhouse gas methane”, we are told. From an instrument on a plane flown above Colorado and Oklahoma, data were collected. Chemical changes thunderstorms and lightning make in the atmosphere were analysed. A re-analysis of the thunderstorm and lightning dataset was performed by the team. “We were able to link the huge signals seen by our instrument flying through the thunderstorm clouds, to lightning measurements made from the ground,” Brune explains.

“These results are uncertain, however, partly because we do not know how these measurements apply to the rest of the globe,” he adds. “We only flew over Colorado and Oklahoma – most thunderstorms are in the tropics. The whole structure of High Plains storms is different than those in the tropics. Clearly, we need more aircraft measurements to reduce this uncertainty.”