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Program in Atmospheric and Planetary Science
Division of Natural Sciences
Columbia University, New York, New York
 Detailed InformationProgram of StudyThe Departments of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics jointly offer a graduate program in atmospheric and planetary science leading to the Ph.D. degree. Four to six years are generally required to complete the Ph.D., including the earning of M.A. and M.Phil. degrees. Applicants should have a strong background in physics and mathematics, including advanced undergraduate courses in mechanics, electromagnetism, advanced calculus, and differential equations.
The program is conducted in cooperation with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is adjacent to Columbia University. Members of the Institute hold adjunct faculty appointments, offer courses, and supervise the research of graduate students in the program. The Institute holds colloquia and scientific conferences in which the University community participates. Opportunities for visiting scientists to conduct research at the Institute are provided by the NASA Postdoctoral Program
Research at the Institute focuses on broad studies of natural and anthropogenic global changes. Areas of study include global climate, earth observations, biogeochemical cycles, planetary atmospheres, and related interdisciplinary studies. The global climate program involves basic research on climatic variations and climate processes, including the development of global numerical models to study the climate effects of increasing carbon dioxide and other trace gases, aerosols, solar variability, and changing surface conditions. The earth observations program entails research in the retrieval of aerosol radiative properties from global satellite polarimetry data to further understanding of their effects on climate. Biogeochemical cycles research utilizes three-dimensional models to study in the distribution of trace gases in the troposphere and stratosphere and to examine the role of the biosphere in the global carbon cycle. The planetary atmospheres program focuses on studies of the dynamics of Titan and the Jovian planets, using Cassini spacecraft data. Interdisciplinary research includes studies of turbulence and astrobiology. Research FacilitiesThe Institute operates a modern general-purpose scientific computing facility consisting of links to the Goddard Space Flight Center, where most of the computations are being performed and stored. GISS staff have active links to systems called Discover and Dirac. Discover is a Linux Cluster with 4648 processors and 6712 gigabytes of memory. Dirac is an SGI Origin 3800 with 64 processors and 64 gigabytes of memory. Dirac is attached to a number of tape drives that give it terabytes worth of storage space.
At GISS, equipment consists of the following: a Compaq ES45 with 32 processors operating on Tru 64 UNIX, a 96-processor SGI 3800 server, Apple X-Serves, twenty SGI IRIX, desktops and laptops loaded with Windows XP, MacBooks and Mac Pros loaded with Mac OS/X, and peripheral equipment. Spyglass, AVS, IDL, NCAR graphics, and in-house software permit interactive processing, display, and analysis of satellite imagery and other digital data.
The Institute is the Global Processing Center for the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project, which uses satellite observations to create a multidecadal record of cloud and surface variations. Institute personnel frequently collaborate with scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Close research ties also exist with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, especially in the areas of geochemistry, oceanography, and paleoclimate studies. All facilities, including the Institute’s library containing approximately 17,000 volumes, are made available to students in the program. Financial AidResearch assistantships are available to most students in the program. Graduate assistantships in 2009–10 carry a twelve-month stipend of approximately $2500 per month and include a tuition waiver and payment of fees. Cost of StudyTuition and fees for 2009–10 are estimated at $39,900. As noted in the Financial Aid section, tuition and fees are paid for graduate students holding research assistantships. Living and Housing CostsLimited on-campus housing is available for single and married graduate students on 350-day contracts. Rates range from $12,444 for an unfurnished shared-unit apartment to $13,272 for a furnished dormitory-style private room and $9204 for a furnished dormitory-style semiprivate room. Furnished studios average $16,920, while furnished one-bedroom apartments average $19,867. Most students live off campus, many of them in apartments owned and operated by the University within a few blocks of the campus. Student GroupOf the 23,000 students at Columbia, 3,500 are students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Currently, there are 6 Columbia students at the Institute for Space Studies, all of whom are Ph.D. candidates in the Atmospheric and Planetary Science Program. There are also 19 University research appointments at the Institute. LocationColumbia University is located in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan in New York City. New York’s climate is moderate, with average maximum and minimum temperatures of 85 and 69 degrees in July and 40 and 28 in January. New York is one of the top cultural centers in the United States and, as such, provides unrivaled opportunities for attending concerts, operas, and plays and for visiting world-renowned art, scientific, and historical museums. Student discount tickets for many musical and dramatic performances are available in the Graduate Student Lounge. A comprehensive network of public transportation alleviates the need for keeping an automobile in the city. The superb beaches of Long Island, including the Fire Island National Seashore, are within easy driving distance, as are the numerous ski slopes, state parks, and other mountain recreational areas of upstate New York and southern New England. The UniversityColumbia University, founded in 1754 by royal charter of King George II of England, is a member of the Ivy League. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in New York State and the fifth oldest in the United States. It consists of sixteen separate schools and colleges with more than 3,200 full-time faculty members. ApplyingTo enter the program, an application must be submitted to one of the participating departments. For students applying for September admission, completed forms should be received by December 1 for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and by December 15 for the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics. The Institute Staff and Their Research
- Brian Cairns, Ph.D., Rochester, 1992. Radiative transfer, remote sensing, statistical physics.
- Vittorio M. Canuto, Ph.D., Turin (Italy), 1960. Theory of fully developed turbulence, analytical models for large-scale turbulence and their applications to geophysics and astrophysics.
- Barbara E. Carlson, Ph.D., SUNY at Stony Brook, 1984. Radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres, remote sensing and cloud modeling of Earth and Jovian planets.
- Mark A. Chandler, Ph.D., Columbia, 1992. Paleoclimate reconstruction and modeling, role of oceans in climate change.
- Anthony D. Del Genio, Ph.D., UCLA, 1978. Dynamics of planetary atmospheres, parameterization of clouds and cumulus convection, climate change, general circulation.
- Leonard M. Druyan, Ph.D., NYU, 1971. Tropical climate, African climate, Sahel drought, regional climate remodeling.
- Timothy M. Hall, Ph.D., Cornell, 1991. Atmosphere and ocean transport processes, atmospheric chemistry, ocean carbon, modeling and interpretation of observations.
- James E. Hansen, Head of the Institute for Space Studies; Ph.D., Iowa, 1967. Remote sensing of Earth and planetary atmospheres, global modeling of climate processes and climate sensitivity.
- Nancy Y. Kiang, Ph.D., Berkeley, 2002. Interaction between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere, biogeochemistry, plant ecophysiology, micrometeorology, photosynthesis, mathematical modeling, extensions to astrobiology.
- Andrew A. Lacis, Ph.D., Iowa, 1970. Radiative transfer, climate modeling, remote sensing of Earth and planetary atmospheres.
- Ron L. Miller, Ph.D., MIT, 1990. Tropical climate, coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics, interannual and decadal variability.
- Michael I. Mishchenko, Ph.D., Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 1987. Radiative transfer, electromagnetic scattering, remote sensing of Earth and planetary atmospheres.
- Jan Perlwitz, Ph.D., Hamburg, 1997. Soil dust aerosol modeling; effect of tropospheric aerosols on Earth’s past, present, and future climate.
- Dorothy M. Peteet, Ph.D., NYU, 1983. Paleoclimatology, palynology, ecology, botany.
- Cynthia Rosenzweig, Ph.D., Massachusetts Amherst, 1991. Parameterization of ground hydrology and biosphere, impacts of climate change on agriculture.
- Gary L. Russell, Ph.D., Columbia, 1976. Numerical methods, general circulation modeling.
- Gavin A. Schmidt, Ph.D., London, 1994. Physical oceanography, paleoclimate, coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models.
- Drew T. Shindell, Ph.D., SUNY at Stony Brook, 1995. Atmospheric chemistry and climate change.
- Linda E. Sohl, Ph.D., Columbia, 2000. Past climates and climate change, astrobiology.
- Larry D. Travis, Associate Chief of the Institute for Space Studies; Ph.D., Penn State, 1971. Remote sensing of Earth and planetary atmospheres, radiative transfer, numerical modeling.
Correspondence and InformationColumbia University Dr. Anthony D. Del Genio Atmospheric and Planetary Science Program Armstrong Hall–GISS 2880 Broadway New York, New York 10025 Telephone:
212-678-5588
Email:
adelgenio@giss.nasa.gov
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