In a paper published in Nature Climate Change this week, Sander Veraverbeke from the Vrije University in the Netherlands found that lightning ignitions were responsible for a record number of fires in the Northwest Territories and Alaska during 2014 and 2015. A unique feature of these fire extremes was their close proximity to northern treeline. Sander was also able to demonstrate that lightning ignitions were linked to summer temperatures over the past decade, and that lightning explained a considerable amount of the year-to-year variability in burned area and fire emissions in these regions. Although it has been well recognized that warmer temperatures increase the amount of burning and also likely increase the severity of fires, the link between climate and lightning was a novel element of Sander’s study. The study also describes the potential for a positive feedback loop in which climate warming allows lightning to move farther north, sparking fires in arctic tundra. An increase in arctic fire, in turn, may allow trees to migrate northward faster, which will further enhance atmospheric heating and lightning ignition in a positive feedback loop. This amplification loop is important because arctic tundra covers vast reservoirs of permafrost carbon that may become vulnerable once fires consume moss layers on the surface that act to insulate frozen carbon from climate warming. Coverage on the study included news reports in Scientific American and National Geographic. Sander is a former UCI project scientist, and co-authors on the study include UCI Ph.D. student Elizabeth Wiggins and former Ph.D. student Brendan Rogers.
Liz Wiggins wins a best student poster award at the 2017 Alaska Fire Science Consortium Workshop
Elizabeth Wiggins received a best student poster award for her work on “Environmental Controls on Wildfire Emission Factors in Alaska during 2015.” Liz was able to show that emission factors for carbon monoxide and methane from boreal forest fires may be higher than previous estimates because of significant emissions during night time periods with smoldering combustion. In her analysis, Wiggins combined continuous time series measurements of CO2, CO, and CH4 from a tall tower in Alaska with an atmospheric model. The use of the atmospheric model allowed her to estimate the back trajectory and origin of trace gas signals measured at the tower. Congratulations to Liz!
Morgan Gorris wins a best student paper award for her work on valley fever at the American Meteorological Society annual meeting
Morgan Gorris was awarded a best student presentation award by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) for her talk on “The Spatiotemporal relationship between climate and valley fever in the Southwestern United States.” Morgan presented her work at the 97th AMS meeting in Seattle in January. In her analysis, Morgan was able to document for the first time how climate and other environmental factors regulate valley fever incidence across different counties in California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Her work shows that the primary valley fever hotspot has shifted from the Central Valley of California to Arizona. Congratulations to Morgan!
Three postdoctoral scholar positions available in the Randerson lab in 2017
I am looking to hire 3 postdoctoral scholars over the next 2-3 months. One position is in using remote sensing data from NASA satellites to study wildfire behavior in the western U.S. Another is to develop an improved prognostic fire model with the Accelerated Climate Model for Energy (ACME) earth system model. A third is in studying land-atmosphere moisture feedbacks in the tropics using the Community Earth System Model or ACME. This third position will be co-advised by Professor Michael Pritchard, an expert in atmospheric processes.
A description of the remote sensing position is described below, and I will add the other two announcements shortly. To apply, please send a CV and a cover letter to jranders@uci.edu.
POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR POSITION AVAILABLE IN SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING ANALYSIS OF ECOSYSTEM HYDROLOGY AND WILDFIRE LINKAGES AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
There is an immediate opening for a Postdoctoral Scholar in the area of ecosystem and soil moisture regulation of wildfire dynamics in western North America. The position involves analysis of remote sensing imagery from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) instrument and other satellite imagery to understand how ecosystem moisture status influences ignition, fire spread, and other aspects of fire behavior. The postdoc will work with a team of scholars in the Randerson Lab in the Department of Earth System Science at UC Irvine to understand how climate change is modifying fire dynamics, other ecosystem processes, and the global carbon cycle.
Qualifications:
Candidates must have a PhD or equivalent degree in Remote Sensing, Earth System Science, Ecology, Hydrology, Civil Engineering, Geography, Geology, or another related field by the appointment start date. Well-qualified candidates will have a strong publication record and experience using earth observation imagery. Required skills include the ability to write scripts, conduct spatial analysis, and program in a language such as Python, R, IDL, Matlab, C, or Fortran. Applicants also should be confident in manipulating large data sets using personally-developed scripts. Knowledge of ecosystem ecology, hydrology, and fire processes, as well as principles of remote sensing, is also essential for successfully leading this research effort.
The initial appointment is for 12 months, with renewal based on performance for a second year. This is a full-time appointment. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and based on the UC Irvine salary scale. Generous benefits are included (https://www.garnett-powers.com/postdoc/)
To Apply:
Visit: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF03691. Interested individuals should include a current CV along with a 1-page cover letter describing their research experience and the names and contact information of three references. Or please send an email to jranders@uci.edu. Letters of references may be requested for finalists. It is optional to include a statement addressing past and/or potential contributions to diversity through research, teaching, and/or service. This position will remain open until filled.
Postdoctoral Scholar in Tropical Climate Modeling at UC Irvine
Department of Earth System Science
University of California, Irvine, CA
http://sites.uci.edu/pritchard
https://sites.uci.edu/randersonlab
We are looking for a postdoctoral research associate interested in using earth system simulations to understand how regional atmospheric circulation and convection over tropical continents are modified by forest responses to rising atmospheric CO2 and other global change drivers.
The term of appointment is for one year, and renewable for a second year, subject to satisfactory progress. Start dates are flexible but we are eager to hire soon.
A strong foundation in atmospheric science is required, with expertise in convection, equatorial and orographic dynamics, boundary layer meteorology, aerosols, or other climate processes. Well-qualified candidates will have familiarity or interest in the regional circulations that deliver moisture to Amazon forests, interactions between the Amazon and the Andes, or other aspects of tropical dynamics. Computational fluency in atmospheric simulation technology such as the Community Earth System Model or the Weather Research and Forecasting models is a necessary skill for this position.
The postdoctoral scholar will be expected to work closely with Profs. Michael Pritchard and James Randerson within the Department of Earth System Science. The Earth System Science Department is a highly interdisciplinary environment with faculty expertise in many components of the Earth System, including atmospheric physics, land surface processes, climate dynamics, terrestrial and marine biogeochemical cycles, ice sheets, and human systems.
Please submit electronically as a single PDF: (1) a brief cover letter, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) and the names of three references. Applications can be sent directly to Mike Pritchard at mspritch@uci.edu or jranders@uci.edu.
Thanks,
Mike Pritchard & Jim Randerson.
Congratulations to Yujie He on her paper in Science using radiocarbon measurements to constrain rates of soil carbon uptake by earth system models
Dr. Yujie He’s paper “Radiocarbon constraints imply reduced carbon uptake by soils during the 21st century” was published in Science Magazine this week. Yujie conducted this analysis while she was a postdoctoral scholar at UC Irvine in the Department of Earth System Science. In her analysis, Yujie developed a reduced complexity model of soil dynamics for each earth system model that contributed simulations to the carbon-climate feedback experiment in the 5th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). She then used the reduced complexity models to simulate radiocarbon levels in the soils. Comparing the models with observations from 157 measurement sites, Yujie found that the models underestimated the mean age of soil carbon, on average, by about a factor of 6. When she adjusted the reduced complexity models to bring them into agreement with the radiocarbon observations, the rate of soil carbon uptake decreased by about 40%. This suggests that soil carbon accumulation rates may be lower than previous estimates, and that as a consequence more fossil fuel carbon may accumulate in the atmosphere during the 21st century than previously thought. The paper was covered by the Washington Post and The Guardian.
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