Seminar: Aerosols: Smoke and Mirrors of the Climate System

Event Date: September 16, 2017

Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2017

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: Hampton University, 123 Phenix Hall

Please join the Hampton University Atmospheric and Planetary Science Seminar Series in welcoming:

Speaker: Dr. Harshvardhan

Title: Aerosols: Smoke and Mirrors of the Climate System

Dr. Harshvardhan is a professor of Atmospheric Science at Purdue University in Indiana. He earned his Ph.D. from the State University of NY (SUNY), Stony Brook. Dr. Harshvardhan was a Henry G. Houghton Award winner in 1993 and an American Meteorological Society Fellow in 1999. His research interests include: Radiative Transfer, Clouds and Aerosol, Remote Sensing, and Climate.

Abstract: 

Aerosols are sometimes referred to as the most confounding cog in the climate system when it comes to prognosticating the future of the Earth’s climate. Their interaction with clouds makes the problem truly wicked. Here we look at a very small sub-set of the issue – that of the effect of absorbing aerosol above cloud, a persistent feature over the southeastern Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. It is also judicious to admit that we really do not know the global pre-industrial aerosol field and so cannot honestly pin down an appropriate value for the anthropogenic, i.e. current minus pre-industrial, aerosol radiative forcing.

FOR Remote Audience

Thanks to a partnership with the National Institute of Aerospace, the Atmospheric and Planetary Science Seminar will also be available live online at: https://livestream.com/viewnow/HU-CARE

Thank you to our sponsor, STC, Inc. for their support.