Active Research Projects
Air quality and climate change in Africa
With support from the National Science Foundation and the US State Department, we have started an air quality monitoring network in Kinshasa, DR Congo, a megacity with population over 11 million which suffers from poor air quality yet has no monitoring infrastructure. Other projects include air quality knowledge capacity building in Accra, Ghana (partner with Ghana EPA), sensor deployments in Nairobi, Kenya, Kampala, Uganda, and Lomé, Togo, and using models and remote sensing techniques in India, China, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Regional climate response to changes in regional aerosol emissions
We are key members of the Regional Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project, or RAMIP as well as the Heterogeneous Climate Forcing project or HETCLIF. Some topics we have worked on in the past include: 1) The impact of changes in emissions in specific regions on local and remote climate, 2) Aerosol impacts on clouds and precipitation and 3) The effect of absorbing aerosols on tropical monsoon systems.
News
Group members in Oslo, Norway for HETCLIF!
This week and next, Prof. Westervelt, Dr. Yanda Zhang, and PhD student Joe Amooli are in Oslo, Norway for the Heterogenous Climate Forcing (HETCLIF) project! Dr. Zhang is having an extended stay at the Center for Advanced Study in Oslo where he's working on regional aerosol emissions impacts on the Arctic. Both Dr.
Westervelt group African-based affiliation!
Prof. Westervelt was recently appointed as an affiliate professor at Université Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Benguerir, Morocco. His group is affiliated with the African Research Center on Air Quality and Climate, led by his colleague Professor Wahid Mellouki. UM6P is a flagship research university on the African continent. Our group will contribute work on air sensors and chemical transport modeling. Student positions may be available both through UM6P or Columbia. Please contact Prof. Westervelt for more info.
American Meteorological Society meeting in Baltimore!
Prof. Westervelt is in Baltimore for a few days for the annual AMS meeting. He will deliver two presentations: