Atmospheric Science Department

Chair's Message:

Sundar A. Christopher
Chair, Department of Atmospheric Science
chair@nsstc.uah.edu

Welcome to UAHuntsville’s Department of Atmospheric Science. In the less than 15 years it has existed, our graduate program has attained top ten status in the nation based on rankings by the Chronicle of Higher education. This is a remarkable feat. It can largely be attributed to the productivity of our faculty and students, along with the excellent relationships we enjoy with NASA, NOAA, USRA and our other partners. We share the National Space Science and Technology Center in UAHuntsville’s Cramer Research Hall with several of these partners.

Our students come from all over the world to study and conduct research on the earth-atmosphere system. Our graduates have gone on to win Presidential awards (PECASE), and to work in prestigious organizations as faculty members, researchers and educators, and as ambassadors in the larger community.

It is difficult to describe the areas of expertise in one phrase because of the breadth and depth of research in the Atmospheric Science Department. Some students are attracted to our severe weather program because they can ‘chase’ tornadoes, travel with our mobile fleet of advanced instruments to study land falling hurricanes, and study various aspects of severe weather. Students are also interested in leading edge research in satellite remote sensing, atmospheric chemistry, climate, atmospheric radiation, data assimilation and a wide variety of other atmospheric science topics.

Our students have taken on leadership roles in various venues, including the American Meteorological Society, and they continue to win major NASA and NSF fellowships and awards. I firmly believe our program will continue to grow and achieve even greater success as our students take on greater leadership roles in the community.

Thanks for checking our web pages. Please send your comments and suggestions to chair@nsstc.uah.edu.