Research Topics by Theme
NCAS-M partner universities lead research in key thematic areas. Expand each theme to see institutions and representative projects.
🌫️ Air Quality and Aerosols
- Howard University (HU): Air quality modeling and data assimilation for ozone and PM2.5; Raman lidar profiling; Saharan dust and biomass burning aerosol studies.
- University at Albany (SUNY-ASRC): Atmospheric chemistry, aerosol microphysics, global aerosol forecasting.
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC-JCET): Satellite validation, atmospheric composition research.
- University of Maryland, College Park (UMD-ESSIC): Atmospheric composition and dynamics; carbon cycle and air quality.
🌀 Tropical Meteorology and Climate
- Howard University (HU): Field and numerical studies of tropical cyclogenesis in the eastern Atlantic.
- University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez (UPRM): Mesoscale meteorology; Puerto Rico Climate Office long-term climate data.
- San José State University (SJSU): Weather–climate interface, regional climate science.
📡 Remote Sensing and Observations
- Howard University (HU): High-resolution lidar profiling of water vapor, wind, and aerosols.
- SUNY Albany (ASRC): Advanced sensor development, environmental remote sensing.
- UMBC (JCET): Joint NASA–UMBC sensor development and validation.
🌍 Climate Variability and Change
- UMD (ESSIC): Global and regional climate modeling, water and carbon cycles.
- SJSU: Climate science curriculum and research emphasis.
- UPRM: Puerto Rico Climate Office – historical climate database and data visualization.
💻 Modeling and High-Performance Computing
- SUNY Albany (ASRC): High-performance computing, dispersion modeling, and data visualization.
- UMD (ESSIC): Coupled Earth system models, data assimilation, downscaling.
- UTEP: Interdisciplinary modeling in environmental science and computational physics.
🗣️ Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
- Howard University (HU): Focuses on how diverse communities understand and act on weather information, including risk perception, communication, forecast confidence messaging, and stakeholder evaluation.
🎓 Education and Workforce Development
- Jackson State University (JSU): B.S. in Meteorology, only program of its kind in Mississippi; focus on African American atmospheric scientist training.
- UPRM: Undergraduate meteorology curricular sequence with strong internship components.
- All NCAS-M partners: Support diversity in STEM through mentoring, outreach, and NOAA mission-aligned training.
