DAS History

The Division of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) was formed in 2000 by merger of the previous Atmospheric Sciences Center (ASC) and the Energy and Environmental Engineering Center (EEEC). This merger has brought together in a single Division the considerable scientific strengths possessed by the previous two Centers, and has created new opportunities for significant collaboration among the combined faculty. A brief overview and current listing of DAS capabilities can be found at: DAS Fact Sheet.

DAS Mission

DRI's institutional mission statement is as follows:

"We excel in environmental research and the application of technologies to improve people's lives throughout Nevada and the world. We implement this mission by fostering scientific talent for the advancement and integration of terrestrial, hydrologic, atmospheric, and anthropologic sciences. We apply scientific understanding to the effective management of all natural resources while meeting Nevada's needs for economic diversification and science-based educational opportunities."

DAS supports the DRI mission by conducting research, development, and educational activities in a broad range of atmospheric science topic areas. By these means, DAS increases scientific knowledge, assists in solving environmental problems, contributes to economic development, and improves human health and welfare.

DAS Demographics

DAS consists of over 150 members - including research scientists, technologists, professional staff, graduate students, post doctoral researchers, and hourly employees.

The majority of DAS employees are located at DRI's Northern Nevada Science Center in Reno, NV. Four research faculty members are located at DRI's Southern Nevada Science Center in Las Vegas, and one is located at Storm Peak Laboratory, near Steamboat Springs, CO.

• Fifty employees hold doctoral degrees
• The division is home of the Western Regional Climate Center
• Research programs are supported by two state-of-the-art chemistry laboratories

DAS Research Funding

DAS receives research funding from a wide variety of federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as private industry, universities, and foundations. Typically, over 100 funding sources sponsor DAS research within a single year. Federal government agencies generally provide the majority of DAS funding; these include NSF, DOE, DOD, DOI, NOAA, NASA, and EPA.

• Fifty-two percent of funding comes from the federal government
• Significant research funding also comes from state and local governments, private organizations and foreign governments
• Research expenditures during fiscal year 2007 were $11.7 million

DAS Facilities and Capabilities

Field Study Design and Coordination

• Air quality program design
• Quality control/quality assurance
• Data compilation, validation, analysis and reporting

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring for Criteria and Toxic Pollutants

• Automated filter-based samplers for size-resolved aerosol and gas sampling
• Continuous aerosol mass, size distribution, light absorption, light scattering, light extinction and chemical analysis
• Continuous meteorological parameters (temp., pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed, direction, and flux)
• Personal exposure to pollutants

Pollutant Emissions Characterization

• Real-time and remote sensing of motor vehicle emissions
• Dilution chamber sampling of stationary source emissions
• Sampling of fugitive and area source emissions
• Development of emission factors and inventories for air quality modeling

Chemical Laboratory Analysis

• Inorganic analysis of aerosol mass, filter densitometry, ions, elemental and organic carbon, major and trace elements, and inorganic gases (sulfur dioxide, nitric acid, ammonia)
• Detailed organic analysis for volatile, semi-volatile, and particulate hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), nitro- and oxy- PAH, polar organic compounds, and carbonyls

Meteorological and Radiative Measurements

• Continuous meteorological parameters (temp., pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed, direction, and flux)
• Surface, column (balloon) and aircraft measurements of atmospheric motion and thermodynamic parameters
• 3-dimensional flows, cloud and precipitation fields by radar

Aerosol, Clouds and Precipitation Measurements

• Particle size distributions with in-situ microphysical probes, balloon and aircraft mounted videometers
• Large particles in 3 dimensions using radar
• Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)
• Cold and warm cloud droplet, rain and snow chemistry
• Cloud radiative properties from satellite retrieval and radar measurements
• Column water vapor concentration using radiometer

Numerical Modeling

• Regional scale atmospheric models for studies of airflow, cloud and precipitation formation, and pollutant transport in complex terrain
• Use of adaptive grid numerical models (i.e., OMEGA) for Sierra Nevada precipitation and air circulation simulations with grids that adapt explicitly to the scale and geometry of the terrain and atmospheric circulation
• Use of regional scale atmospheric numerical models (including MM5, COAMPS, and RAMS) for studies of air flow, cloud and precipitation formation, and pollutant transport in complex terrain
• Use of mesoscale cloud-resolving models for studies of cloud and precipitation development
• Development of models for pollutant transport, and explicit treatment of cloud formation and precipitation
• Development of microphysical parameterizations for mesoscale models
• Source apportionment and dispersion modeling for air quality issues
• Photochemical modeling for air quality and global atmospheric chemistry
• Light extinction modeling for air quality issues and cloud and aerosol radiative properties

Satellite Meteorology

• Use of satellite radiances to infer atmospheric structure, e.g., temperature, cloud properties, and particle size distribution
• Development of software to infer cirrus cloud size distributions from satellite radiances

Weather Modification

• Cloud seeding for snowfall enhancement
• Chemical analysis of snow

Climate Information Services

• Provide climate information to public and private clients
• Archive climate data for the western U.S.
• Utilize data to explore climate variability issues (e.g., El Niño) and natural resource management
• Wind energy resource mapping

Wildfire Applications

• Operational decision support tools
• Fire policy
• Climate and weather applications

Other Capabilities

• Tools for wildfire and smoke management
• Development of scientific instruments
• Engineering support (mechanical, electrical and computer)
• Advice on regulatory issues (NAAQS, SIPs, regional haze, emissions standards, etc.)
• Renewable energy, research
• Education/technical training
• Foreign language skills
• Computational resources