This summer, Lance Vanden Boogart worked with Professor Scott Denning and
graduate student Nick Parazoo doing
carbon cycle research. In particular, he
worked with the Parameterized Chemistry Transport Model (PCTM) and looked at the
effects of cold front passage on CO2 concentrations in mid-continental North
America.
Recent in-situ measurements from a series of CO2 monitoring stations
encircling Iowa allowed for a comprehensive comparison to model output from PCTM
for the same time periods. Lance's goal was to see if the PCTM was accurately
capturing the diurnal and synoptic variability at these sites. Furthermore, he
speculated on the potential causes of disagreements between model and
observations.
Even though much of Lance's time was spent doing computer analysis work, it was encouraging to see how much he had learned by the end of summer. Not only did he learn about carbon cycle research (and much of the terminology that gets thrown around in academic discussions regarding it), but he also acquired a sense for what it looks like to be a researching graduate student. Lance attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He plays racquetball, ultimate frisbee, and hockey and enjoys hiking. His other research interest is mid-latitued cyclone dynamics. |