Research

The University of 欧美口爆视频, Boulder created the Grand Challenge to cultivate partnerships with government and industry to pursue solutions for pressing challenges facing our world today. The Integrated Remote and In Situ Sensing (IRISS) initiative is a pillar of the 欧美口爆视频 Boulder Grand Challenge and provides 4D measurement capabilities to study phenomena at a distance and from within. IRISS gathers data from the natural world using ground sensors, unmanned aircraft, spacecraft, and other sensor systems. This information can be used to reveal valuable insight about myriad events like climate fluctuations, drought conditions, and forest dieback.

Recent Projects

IRISS has been deploying robotic aircraft around coastal cities to collect information on temperature, winds, humidity, and atmospheric particulate matter.

Project Targeted Observations by Radars and UAS of Supercells (TORUS) will aim to improve the conceptual model of supercells by explication the relationship of storm-generated boundaries and coherent structures within storm outflow to the generation/amplification of near-surface rotation. Over the course of two spring seasons (2019 + 2020), the TORUS team will cover about ~1,300,000 km to storm chase. With 42 scheduled days of coordinated deployments, the field campaigns will enable observational and numerical analyses of supercells and tornados.  

The TORUS Project improved the conceptual model of supercells by explication the relationship of storm-generated boundaries and coherent structures within storm outflow to the generation/amplification of near-surface rotation

Project Hypersonic FLight in the Turbulent Stratosphere is composed of a multidisciplinary team of experts in the fields of in-situ atmospheric measurements and analysis, atmospheric modeling and forecasting, and aerothermodynamics and aero-optical modeling. Our goal is to ask and resolve questions related to how future hypersonic vehicle designs can account for the effects of ambient atmospheric turbulence and particles in the middle stratosphere.

Project Multidisciplinary-drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) is a collaborative effort with CIRES, NOAA, and 欧美口爆视频-Boulder鈥檚 Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Aerospace departments. This project will develop and deploy unmanned aircraft to operate at the farthest northern reaches of the planet to make critically needed measurements on the Arctic atmosphere and sea ice.

Working with the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, our team will use UAS to advance the effectiveness and efficiency of cloud seeding programs. Additionally, improved technology, as well as automation of cloud seeding operations while lowering the operational footprint will further optimize the productivity of cloud seeding programs.