Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Innovative Research Program Projects, 2000

proposals submitted: 23
amount allocated: $125,000

Don Anderson (ETL) with Marty Hoerling (CDC)
AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND SNOW ACCUMULATION IN THE WEST
Testing the hypothesis that coal burning and atmospheric haze in the Interior West are correlated with snow accumulation during the preceding season.

Susan Avery, Mike Jensen, Ben Balsley and Rod Frehlich (CIRES)
IN SITU CALIBRATIONS OF LOWER-ATMOSPHERIC HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL WINDS AND CN₂ MEASURED BY WIND PROFILERS
Using a new powered parachute to calibrate profiler radar patterns and thus improve the accuracy and interpretation of 3D wind data.

Tom Chase, Ben Herman (U of AZ) and Roger Pielke, Sr. (CSU)
MID-TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE REGULATION AT HIGH LATITUDES
Testing the hypothesis that Arctic air masses maintain enough contact with sea surfaces in winter such that minimum annual SST's are able to control mid-tropospheric temperatures above a certain threshold.

Shelley Copley and Norm Pace (MCDB)
TOWARD A MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF A METABOLIC ENZYME, MALEYLACETOACETATE ISOMERASE
Conducting a phylogenetic analysis of a specific metabolic enzyme to address the distribution of this metabolic pathway among microorganisms.

Daniel King and James Butler (CMDL)
IN-SITU INVESTIGATION OF TOMATO PLANTS AS METHYL HALIDE SOURCES
Studying a homogeneous plant source as a proof of concept for future studies seeking to balance global methyl halide sources and sinks.

Brian Mapes (CDC)
QUANTITATIVE TEST OF A STATISTICAL-MECHANICS ANALOGY BETWEEN CONVECTIVE CLOUDS AND CHEMICAL KINETICS
Seeking to improve convective updraft area (sigma) in model parameterization of global cloud cover.

Sergey Sokratov and Richard Armstrong (NSIDC)
SIMPLIFYING THE REPRESENTATION OF SNOW PHYSICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MODELS
Applying sensitivity testing of various parameters to find the minimum suite of variables for predicting water content of snow cover.