Building a Framework, Brick by Brick
If you want to build a better house, first ask what your buyer needs. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory built a modeling structure for policy-making decisions addressing climate change. Their research identified specific regional stakeholder needs, including real-world decisions faced by industry, regional planners, and policy makers.
Invisible Tropical Clouds
High above the Earth, clouds too thin to see cover the tropics. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a creative technique to identify the clouds' origins. Using several satellite data sources, they identified cloud formation mechanisms that occur in two distinct conditions. Knowing the different formation mechanisms will help scientists predict the amount of water vapor in the upper atmosphere, which affects the balance of warming and cooling that determines the Earth's climate.
Triple Play for Liquid Probing
An ingenious technique, developed by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, enables real-time examination of molecular-scale interactions on liquid surfaces. This novel creation combines the manipulation of tiny amounts of fluids, called "microfluidics," and a partially open detection area for imaging the chemical physics of liquid in a vacuum.
Methane Mitigation Seminar for Russia's Oil and Gas Production
A seminar led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory marked the culmination of a four-year-long effort to raise awareness of methane gas emissions in Russia. Under the framework of the Global Methane Initiative, the seminar brought together several of Russia's leading oil and gas companies in partnership with researchers at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, the U.S. EPA, and support from the World Wildlife Fund-Russia to exchange knowledge of internationally proven and cost-effective methane reduction technologies and practices.
Taming Uncertainty in Climate Prediction
Uncertainty just became more certain. Atmospheric and computational researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory used a new scientific approach called "uncertainty quantification," or UQ, that allowed them to better simulate precipitation. Their study is the first to apply a stochastic sampling method to select model inputs for precipitation representations and improve atmospheric simulations within a regional weather research and forecasting model.
Clouds Get in the Way
Using ten years of data gathered at three unique measurement sites, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that global climate models are not representing just how much clouds mask the sun's warming energy. And for the first time, scientists used data on the spatial coverage, height, and transparency of the clouds to inform climate models.
