EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE DIVISION
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT
Phone Number: 631-344-3359
FAX Number: 631-344-2060
The Earth Systems Science Division (ESSD) supports
DOE activities through basic and applied research in ecology, biogeochemistry,
plant physiology, atmospheric science, marine science, and climate. ESSD is
especially strong in development of innovative instruments and data acquisition
and management systems for environmental research to support the means of
evaluating and resolving environmental problems associated with energy
production and use.
ESSD develops specialized plant exposure systems such
as the Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) facility that is the basis for
DOE's flagship FACE Program. The understanding gained by large-scale field
experiments using BNL-designed FACE is critical both to evaluating responses of
plants and ecosystems to changes in atmospheric chemistry and to quantifying
the role of ecosystems in regulating global carbon dioxide concentrations in a
warmer, CO2-enriched world. Mechanisms regulating physiological
responses of plants to CO2 enrichment are studied in controlled,
programmable growth chambers and in FACE experiments, providing a mechanistic,
physiological basis for the improvement of models of vegetation response to
global change.
ESSD develops and deploys geophysical instruments for
a variety of projects related to climate including research on the impacts of
clouds and aerosols on the climate system in support of DOE's Atmospheric
Radiation Measurement Program (ARM), NASA's Sensor Intercomparison and Merger
for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS), NASA’S Global
Water and Energy Cycle (GWEC) Program, and DOE's Water Cycle Pilot Study. The
ARM program seeks to understand the role of clouds in the climate system, while
SIMBIOS concentrates its efforts on biological oceanography, an emerging area
of research. GWEC uses Earth Observing System (EOS) satellite data to determine
changes in the rate of water and energy exchanges or transformation in the
climate system, and consequences for weather and hydrologic processes. The DOE Water Cycle Pilot Study is a program
to explore the feasibility of understanding potential changes in the function
of the earth's hydrologic cycle through focused measurement and modeling
research.
- Program Summaries
- Publications
- Staff Research
Interests
- Free Air Carbon Dioxide
Enrichment (FACE)
- Geophysical Instruments and Measurements
Group
- Meteorology Services - Weather
- Urban Atmospheric Observatory
(UAO) - New Program
[Rev. 11/2/05]