The Climate and Atmospheric Science section pursues a program of basic and applied research, monitoring, services, and outreach to address key atmospheric issues of importance to Illinois, the Midwest, and the nation.
One of our key service programs is the Illinois State Climatologist. The Midwest Regional Climate Center may now be found at https://mrcc.purdue.edu.
Recent areas of research include climate variability and change in Illinois with an emphasis on extreme heat and drought/flooding, how land usage results in regional/global climate variations, the impacts of weather and climate events in urban areas, nocturnal airflow and dispersion in agricultural fields, lake-effect snow storms, storm-scale (mesoscale) meteorology, remote sensing of the atmosphere with radars, and near-surface (boundary layer) weather. Mobile Doppler and Raman lidars are available for collaborative use in investigating wind and turbulence fields, as well as atmospheric aerosol/dust/insect fields.
The Water Survey's Climate and Atmospheric Science section is led by David Kristovich.
Research Areas
David Kristovich launches a weather balloon and instrument package from the top of the ferry S.S. Badger as it crosses Lake Michigan. Such observations improve forecast models of Great Lakes weather.
