PROJECTS IN EES 359

1. AEM - Analog Earth Model – a model, designed and built at the Wesleyan University workshop, of the earth inside a water cooled box (=the universe). Visible light illuminates the ‘black sphere earth’, which radiates IRR that is then carried off by the water-cooled walls of the cell. The box can be filled with Ar (radiatively neutral gas), CO₂ (greenhouse gas) or mixtures thereof, and temperature sensors will register the effect of adding the greenhouse gas. Experiments and calculations are carried out by the AEM group to simulate the terrestrial greenhouse effect in this analog matter. Requirements: capability to collaborate, good quantitative skills, interest in Physics (radiation) and love of fiddling with instruments (and patience). This is a totally novel and never tried experiment!!

2. GGA - Greenhouse gas absorption of IRR – The group builds an IRR absorption spectrometer from bits and pieces already acquired on ebay. The goal is to measure the wavelength-integrated absorption of IRR by CO₂ through measurements with different CO₂ concentrations and different pathlengths. These measurements can then be used to estimate the ‘blocking power’ of CO₂ gas in the natural atmosphere through extrapolation to natural conditions. Requirements: capability to collaborate, good quantitative skills, interest in Physics (radiation) and love of fiddling with instruments (and patience). This is a novel experiment!!

3. MAC - Middletown Air CO₂ – The concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere increases as a result of anthropogenic CO₂ releases as well as natural processes. What is the magnitude of CO₂ concentration variations in the Wesleyan University outside air over a semester? We drilled a hole through a windowsill at the 4^th floor of the ESC and set up an instrument that samples the air and analyzes it for CO₂ every 0.5 hour for most of the semester. This project is interrupted every time the CO₂ analyzer is needed for the other projects, so the record consists of a time series with ‘holes’ in it. Data storage, plotting and treatment is an important part and models will be created to explain the observed patterns. The MAC group may ask the local firestation to use their ladder wagon to create a detailed atmospheric CO₂ profile along the highest ladder during two time periods in a day. Requirements: interest in analysis of gases, data plotting, creative thinking.

4. CIW – CO₂ into Water – Atmospheric CO₂ dissolves into water through gas exchange reactions. The increases in atmospheric CO₂ are partially buffered by the uptake of CO₂ in surface waters, mainly the oceans. The kinetics of CO₂ uptake in fresh water and seawater can be experimentally determined in a gas dissolution cell, which we have already built. The CIW group will carry out experiments in freshwater and in seawater, through gas dissolution in static water and in stirred water (4 experiments in total). The obtained data will be plotted and modeled, and compared with experimental results from others as well as experiments in nature (e.g., rate of loss of atmospheric bomb ¹⁴C to the oceans). Requirements: Interest in physical chemistry and detailed experimentation, and scaling of models.

5. CIP –CO₂ into Plants – Plants absorb atmospheric CO₂ through photosynthesis, and it is well known that the rate of photosynthesis increases with raised atmospheric CO₂ levels. The CIP group will carry out plant growth experiments in growthchambers under different temperature, CO₂ and humidity conditions (chambers courtesy to Dana Royer). Models will be used to scale the results up to the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere. Requirements: Interest in plant physiology and biology, experimentation and model scaling.

6. CMCC - Computer Models of Climate Change – The response of climate on changes in greenhouse gas concentrations can be modelled through box modeling and computer climate simulations. This can be extended by incorporating the ‘human’ component and entering human consumption patterns and choices into the box models. Simple programs already exist and will be re-written for zero dimensional climate models to simulate the various CO₂-options, with ground-truthing of the model on data of the last 100 years. Results may be compared with externally acquired climate simulations. Requirements: Interest in computer modeling, ability to generalize from very detailed data sets to useful expresions, some insight in economics

7. CTPST – Carbon Trading Policies and Sequestration Technologies

Cutbacks in anthropogenic CO₂ emissions can be made through technological advances in the western world (e.g., CO₂ sequestration) as well as exchange of technology with lesser developed nations. ‘Carbon trading’ is another approach to limit net CO₂ fluxes into the atmosphere (e.g., planting trees in Costa Rica).