Michael Cheeseman worked with several professors and researchers at Colorado
State University this summer looking at satellite observations of CO2 and
using them to evaluate several models in poorly constrained regions.
Approximately 25% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are removed from the atmosphere
and stored in a terrestrial carbon sink. This land sink and its mechanisms are
not well understood. Improved models, backed by greater data coverage, are
crucial to better understanding the carbon cycle on regional scales. The models
that Michael looked at were SiB-3 and SiB-4, Simple Biosphere model, and CASA,
the Carnegie-Ames Stanford Approach carbon model. He concluded that satellite
data is useful in analyzing carbon models, especially in regions with poor
in situ coverage.
Michael's research poster,
Satellite based evaluation of terrestrial carbon models, may be found here.
Michael is from Mebane, North Carolina and was a senior at Appalachian State
University majoring in Environmental Science. While mountains were not new to
him, he took advantage of his stay in Colorado got up into the high country with
other interns as much as possible. His research interests include earth systems
science, atmospheric physics & dynamics, geophysics, and computational
modeling. For fun, Michael enjoys playing soccer, swing dance, crossfit, jiu
jitsu and rafting.
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