Charles S. Zender
Professor, Earth System Science
School of Physical Sciences
School of Physical Sciences
Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, 1996, Atmospheric Physics
M.S., University of Colorado at Boulder, 1994, Atmospheric Science
B.A., Harvard University, 1990, Physics
M.S., University of Colorado at Boulder, 1994, Atmospheric Science
B.A., Harvard University, 1990, Physics
University of California, Irvine
3323 Croul Hall
Mail Code: 3100
Irvine, CA 92697
3323 Croul Hall
Mail Code: 3100
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Aerosols, Clouds, Chemistry, Climate, Dust, Erosion, Radiation, Snow, Black Carbon, Supercomputing
Websites
Appointments
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Advanced Studies Program, 1996–1998
Research Abstract
I am a physicist who studies climate to help piece together the
climate puzzle so that as people alter Earth, intentionally or not, we
better understand the likely outcomes.
Rapid changes like vanishing snow and ice, blowing dust, and burning
forests fascinate me most, because fast processes often indicate
pressure points to which Earth is sensitive.
Recently we discovered that nothing heats the planet faster than
the pollution that darkens snow.
This has helped spur the policy shift to reduce soot emissions.
My current research includes desert dust and fire-emitted soot
particulates, snowpack lifecycle, reflectance, and emission,
wind-dispersal of nutrients and pathogens, wind-drag effects on
deserts and oceans, wind-induced melt, and ice shelf hydrofracture.
Better understanding of these processes will improve predictions of
dust storms, disease endemicity, seasonal snowpack, and ice shelf
disintegration.
I also work to accelerate large-scale analysis techniques for data
in the predominant geoscience storage formats.
climate puzzle so that as people alter Earth, intentionally or not, we
better understand the likely outcomes.
Rapid changes like vanishing snow and ice, blowing dust, and burning
forests fascinate me most, because fast processes often indicate
pressure points to which Earth is sensitive.
Recently we discovered that nothing heats the planet faster than
the pollution that darkens snow.
This has helped spur the policy shift to reduce soot emissions.
My current research includes desert dust and fire-emitted soot
particulates, snowpack lifecycle, reflectance, and emission,
wind-dispersal of nutrients and pathogens, wind-drag effects on
deserts and oceans, wind-induced melt, and ice shelf hydrofracture.
Better understanding of these processes will improve predictions of
dust storms, disease endemicity, seasonal snowpack, and ice shelf
disintegration.
I also work to accelerate large-scale analysis techniques for data
in the predominant geoscience storage formats.
Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=4743
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=4743
Last updated
04/15/2024
04/15/2024