Storms in urban areas

The project focusses on understanding the interactions between thunderstorms and urban boundary layer. The project will be based in Houston TX. (2021-2024). 

Status: Currently ongoing

Funding: NSF (GEO)

Building – Environment Interactions

The project will model the interactions between building enerhy use and the urban environment. It will develop/eneble technologies for improving efficiency of building energy systems. (2021-2026). 

Status: Currently ongoing

Funding: NSF (ENG)

Heat Pump

The focus of this project is to develop an effcient heat pump for residential use. (2021-2024)

Status: Currently ongoing

Funding: DOE

Urban liveability

Understanding the relationship between indoor and outdoor pollutants in dense urban areas and their impact on people’s health and everyday life. The project will begin in fall 2020. Currently recruiting undergrads.

Status: Currently ongoing

Funding: NSF (SCC)

Urban Coastal Boundary Layers

We examine various LiDAR scanning techniques to represnt urban boundary layer dynamics. The goal is to study interconnection between urban surface layer and mixed layer in the context of sea breeze. Project currently ongoing (2020-2023).

Status: Currently ongoing

Funding: DOD

Mapping NYC’ Thermal Characteristics

We use ground based sensors and satellite data to study the thermal characteristics of NYC neighborhoods. The project will explore the relationship between physical and socio-economic characteristics.

Status: Currently ongoing

Funding: CUNY

Urban Hydro-Met Net

The project aims to understand the spatial variability in urban soil moisture and how if affects the near-term and long-term urban climate. The project will run 25 autonomous weather stations around the City to continuously monitor soil moisture and other vital meteorological variables. The network will also serve as an early warning system for heat waves and flash floods in the city. The network will also improve our urban climate modeling efforts to build capability of next generation weather models to accurately predict the urban micro climate.

Status: Currently ongoing

Collaborators: CUNY-CREST and NYCHA

Funding: NOAA

Scaleable Sensors 

This project aims to develop scalebale low-cost environmental sesnors to monitor key urban climatological variables. The multi-purpose sesnors can be installed on any platform and can monitor basic meteorological variables related to air quality and energy.

Status: Completed

Funding: CUNY

Hurricane Maria’ Impact on PuertoRico’ Climatology

The project used ground and satellite based remopte sesning to map the landcover damage to PR in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria. High-resolution simulation were then used to study the imapct of landcover change on the island’ climatology. The work foundout that the hurricane induced damage drastically altered the surface to atmosphere exchanges of heat, water vapor and momentum. It increased precipitation in the western and central parts of the island. 

Status: Completed

Funding: NSF

Closing the Urban Surface Energy Budget

The project couples flux measurements with remote sensing data to advance our current knowledge on urban surface energy budget. As part of this project the surface energy budget of distinct urban materials are directly monitored using  eddy covariance system. Currently two stations are in operation in Upper Manhattan neighborhood. The data will then be coupled with both visual and infrared bands of LANDSAT and MODIS data and will be dynamically scaled using an urban land surface scheme.

Status: Completed

Funding: DOD

Harlem Heat

How do people experience heat? A citizen science initiative to study how Harlem residents are impacted by extreme heat during summer. The project is lead by WNYC, AdaptNY, WeAct, IseeChange.

Status: Completed

Funding: WNYC