🚀 go-pugleaf

GRADUATE STUDENT OPENING IN SOIL/VEGETATION-ATMOSPHERE INTERACTION IN A
DECIDUOUS FOREST (AMERIFLUX)

in the

Climate and Meteorology Program, Dept. of Geography,
Indiana University, Bloomington, USA

We are seeking applicants for Graduate Studies/Research Assistantships
on a project to examine vegetation-atmosphere exchange of CO2, water
vapor and energy. This project is anticipated to run for a minimum of
three years. Qualified applicants will have a background in atmospheric
sciences or a related field, and strong analytical skills. The graduate
program in the Department of Geography at Indiana University offers
degrees at both the Master's and the Ph.D. level. We are looking for
someone, who has an interest in pursuing graduate studies in the
atmospheric sciences, with a focus on land surface-atmosphere
interaction, boundary layer metorology, experimental work, and/or
numerical modeling. The successful candidate will join a dynamic group
of graduate students and faculty, to work at AmeriFlux tower sites in
Indiana and northern Michigan.

Mass and Energy Exchange in a Northern Hardwood Forest
The aim of this multi-year project is to better understand the nature of
soil-vegetation-atmosphere exchanges of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases. Long-term measurements, analysis, and modeling of
energy and mass exchanges below and above the canopy of a deciduous
forest will be conducted at the University of Michigan Biological
Station (UMBS) at the northern tip of Michigan's lower peninsula as part
of the AmeriFlux network. This project involves direct measurements of
concentrations and fluxes of carbon dioxide and water/latent heat,
sensible heat and momentum. This project will be conducted in
conjunction with comprehensive studies of this forest ecosystem by
forest ecology and plant physiology research groups from the University
of Michigan and Ohio State University, and will closely co-operate with
another AmeriFlux Site at Indiana University.

Measurement and modeling CO2 exchange will provide estimates of the
magnitude (and variability) of the region as a carbon sink, and the
nature of the biological and physical controls underlying the exchange
processes. Atmospheric fluxes will be measured by eddy correlation on a
45 m meteorological tower. Data from this study will be used to assess
the linkages between ecosystems and carbon cycles for deciduous forests
within the region. This work will enhance empirical and theoretical
understanding of soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions for deciduous
forests in a region of natural heterogeneity. Possible research foci
include: (i) modeling turbulent transfer from the soil, through a
multi-layer forest canopy to the atmosphere; (ii) measuring and modeling
the energy-, water- and CO2-balance and its spatial and temporal
variations over the forest and throughout the canopy; and (iii)
aggregation modeling of exchange processes from point measurements to
regional values.

Interested students please request admission application material from:

Department of Geography, Indiana University, 120 Student Building,
Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA, phone: (812) 855 6303, fax: (812) 855 1661

Additional information about the Project, the Climate and Meteorology
Program at Indiana University, Bloomington, UMBS or AmeriFlux can be
found on the following web-sites:

http://www.indiana.edu/~climate
http://www.umich.edu/~umbs
http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/NIGEC

or send an e-mail to:
Dr. Hans Peter Schmid, Assistant Professor,  hschmid@indiana.edu