Atmospheric Radar Research Seminar
The goal of the seminar is for students to share their recent research results
with others and to get to know other students and faculty in the similar research area.
The presentation is 20 min and 10 min for questions and discussions.
The seminar starts at 1:00 in NWC 1350. For more detailed information about the ARRC Seminar Series, please see the ARRC Seminar Series Guidance and Policy Document. Also, an archive of past abstracts are available from the NWC Seminar Series website.
The presentation is 20 min and 10 min for questions and discussions.
The seminar starts at 1:00 in NWC 1350. For more detailed information about the ARRC Seminar Series, please see the ARRC Seminar Series Guidance and Policy Document. Also, an archive of past abstracts are available from the NWC Seminar Series website.
The specific information on this seminar is obtained on
ARRC Seminar Plans
and NWC Seminar Series.
Contact:
| Rockee Yan Zhang (rockee@ou.edu) for general |
| Benjamin Root (ben.root@ou.edu) for this website |
Next Seminar
| Dr. Thomas Kunz | |
| Title | Aeroecology: Probing and Modeling the Aerosphere |
| Abstract |
Every so often in the history of science and technology, empirical discoveries, theory, and technological developments converge, making it possible to recognize a new discipline. Past examples include astrobiology, biomechanics, marine biology, sociobiology, and more recently, macroecology, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology—disciplines that are now well established in the lexicon of modern science and technology. Aeroecology is one such discipline that embraces and integrates the domains of atmospheric science, earth science, geography, ecology, computer science, computational biology, and engineering. The unifying concept that underlies this new discipline is its focus on the planetary boundary layer, or aerosphere, and the myriad of airborne organisms that, in large part, depend upon this environment for their existence.
Organisms that use the aerosphere are influenced by an increasing number of anthropogenic conditions and structures such as lighted towns and cities, air pollution, skyscrapers, aircraft, radio and television towers, and more recently the proliferation of communication towers and wind turbines that dot the Earth’s landscape. In addition, human-altered landscapes increasing are characterized by deforestation, intensive agriculture, urbanization, and assorted industrial activities that are rapidly and irreversibly transforming the quantity and quality of available terrestrial and aquatic habitats that airborne organisms rely upon for navigational cues, sources of food, water, nesting and roosting habitats--factors that can in turn influence the structure and function of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the assemblages of organisms therein. Climate change and its expected increase in global temperatures, altered circulation of air masses, and effects on local and regional weather patterns are expected to have profound impacts on the foraging and migratory behavior of insects, birds and bats.
Ecologists who study animals that use the aerosphere face three important challenges: 1) to discover best methods for detecting the presence, taxonomic identity, diversity, and activity of organisms that use this aerial environment, 2) to identify ways to integrate relevant environmental variables at different temporal and spatial scales, and 3) to determine how best to understand and interpret behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary responses of organisms in the context of complex meteorological conditions and patterns within both natural and anthropogenically-altered environments. Appropriate integration of diverse tools and concepts for probing into the lives of organisms aloft can help inform important ecological and evolutionary concepts and management decisions associated with the spread of invasive species, emergence of infectious diseases, altered biodiversity, and sustainability of terrestrial, aquatic, and aerospheric environments.
PDF |
Planned Seminars
Updated: February 4, 2010| February 11 | Dr. Thomas H. Kunz |
|---|---|
| More to be announced |