UGA scientists are engaged in research on the effects of urban land cover on precipitation and flooding, such as occurred in Atlanta in September 2009. Faculty in the UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program are engaged in a broad array of basic and applied research focused on weather, climate, and hydrological processes research. Such topics include how climate change impacts polar snow/ice and sea level, how human activity (urbanization, pollution) and extreme events (drought, hurricanes) influence the hydrologic cycle, hazards of extreme weather events such as windstorms and turbulence, vegetation-atmosphere exchanges, and how weather and climate affect asthma occurrence and malaria transmission. Common threads that connect UGA scientists are engaged in research on the effects of urban land cover on precipitation and flooding, such as occurred in Atlanta in September 2009. their research include remote sensing (Knox, Leclerc, Mote and Shepherd), urban climatology (Shepherd and Mote), cryospheric processes (Mote and Grundstein), human health and applied climatology (Grundstein and Shepherd), climate modeling (Grundstein, Knox, Mote and Shepherd), climate vulnerability (Shepherd, Mote), climate education (Shepherd, Grundstein, Mote, Knox), agricultural meteorology-climate services (Stooksbury) and weather and climate hazards (Knox, Mote and Shepherd). Two of the broad unifying themes of the group are the application of remote sensing in studying atmospheric processes and their impacts, and the role of land cover change and climate change on hydroclimatic processes. The Atmospheric Science faculty regularly collaborate with other natural sciences in the Odom School of Ecology, Warnell School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Geology and several other academic units at UGA. UGA Atmospheric Sciences Research Activities Research Topic UGA Investigator Ice sheet melt / mass balance and sea level; Terrestrial snow cover and water cycle/resource linkages Thomas Mote, Andrew Grundstein Climate- hydrologic system interaction and modeling Andrew Grundstein, Todd Rasmussen, Thomas Mote, Marshall Shepherd, John Knox, Pam Knox Urban land cover and aerosol effects on hydroclimate processes Marshall Shepherd, Thomas Mote Downscaling of GCM output to assess the impact on southern forests Thomas Mote, Marshall Shepherd Assessment of social and climate vulnerability in the Southeast Marshall Shepherd Extreme heat and climate change John Knox, Andrew Grundstein, Marshall Shepherd Linkage weather hazards (e.g. hurricanes, tornadoes, floods) and extreme climate events (e.g., drought) Marshall Shepherd, Thomas Mote, Andrew Grundstein Aviation hazards and turbulence John Knox Shifts in phenology of vegetation and migratory birds in Appalachian Mountains in response to climate change Robert Cooper, Michael Conroy, Jeffery Hepinstall-Cymerman, Marshall Shepherd Weather/climate impacts on heat-related mortality and asthma Andrew Grundstein Creation of the Diversity Climate Network Marshall Shepherd, Thomas Mote Vegetation atmospheric exchanges Monique Leclerc Lagrangian and LES modeling of turbulent/gaseous exchange Monique Leclerc Climate services; seasonal climate outlooks and agriculture David Stooksbury, Pam Knox
