The International Graduate Summer School on Statistics and Climate Modeling
Topic
* Introduction to foundations and methods for estimating curves and surfaces
* Basic climate model science
* Regional climate and assessing impacts of climate change
* Reconstructing past climate
* Interpreting the numerical experiments from climate models.
Labs
The Labs will focus on:
* Spatial analysis using the R statistical environment.
* Data formats and manipulating large geophysical data sets
* Accessing community geophysical data sets.
Field trips
Several field trips will be organized to give the students a better understanding of the kinds of scientific facilities needed to study the Earth system:
* Scientific supercomputering and visualization: A tour of the NCAR supercomputing facility and the visualizaion lab.
* Long term environmental monitoring: A visit to the Mountain Research Station maintained by the Institute of Alpine and Arctic Research (INSTAAR).
* In situ measurements of the atmospheric: A visit to the NCAR research aircraft facility to learn about scientifically instrumented aircraft and field experiments.
Speakers
Details
The International Graduate Summer School on Statistics and Climate Modeling will provide a program of lectures, labs and field trips on Statistics & Climate Modeling
The Graduate Institute’s Summer School in 2008 will be held at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research, a Center that provides a rich
learning environment that cannot be found elsewhere, even in
universities. Moreover its mission, to provide the university science
and teaching community with the tools, facilities, and support required
to perform innovate research, means it is well set-up for the School.
NCAR scientists have access to high-performance computational and
observational facilities, such as supercomputers needed to improve
human understanding of atmospheric and Earth system processes. And they
share these resources with university scientists through collaborative
research projects involving: atmospheric chemistry; climate; cloud
physics & storms; weather hazards to aviation & sun – Earth
interaction. Finally, members of the IMAGe (Institute for Mathematics
Applied to the Geosciences) have extensive experience with mathematical
and statistical modeling as well as the development of requisite
software for implementing them.
This course will exploit the NCAR/IMAGe environment to introduce
students to the topic of climate modeling in a serious way. It will
include the types of outputs they produce, and what tools there are for
visualizing and otherwise analyzing them. And it will help students
develop interdisciplinary research skills through interaction with
those NCAR scientists mentioned above.
Additional Information
Application Procedures
Please click here to apply online. Because lab space is limited, applicant will be competitively selected. Application submissions should include a supporting letter from a faculty advisor in the case of graduate student applicants, and a resumé that describes your educational background as well as current program of studies. In the covering email, briefly describe how attending this course would benefit you in your research or other learning objectives
All applications must be made by June 15, 2008
The summer school is sponsored in part by the The National Science Foundation Collaboration in Mathematical Geosciences as well as The Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences
Venue
The workshop will be held at the Mesa Laboratory, National Center for
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado 9 August - 13 August 2008.
Course Credits
Two credits for this course may be obtained through STAT 547 (2 Credits) at the University of British Columbia. That means in particular that students at Canadian PIMS universities should be able to obtain credit through existing inter-university credit sharing arrangements.
Evaluation: To obtain such credit on a pass – fail basis, a student will need to submit to one of the instructors, a report no longer than 5 pages in length (not counting figures and tables) no later than Aug 30, 2008. Details will be supplied at the Summer school.
Lecturer Websites
Stephan Sain, Geophysical Statistics Project, NCAR
Doug Nychka, IMAGe, NCAR
Claudia Tebaldi, Climate Central
Gerald Meehl, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, NCAR
Caspar Ammann, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, NCAR
Bo Li, Geophysical Statistics Project, NCAR and Department of Statistics, Pudue University
Richard Furrer, Colerado School of Mines
Financial Support
A number of competitive fellowships with stipends covering air travel, local transportation, lodging and meals are available for graduate students. Students are expected to be in residence for the entire week of the program. Applicants from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged.
Requirements
The Institute's summer course is aimed primarily at graduate students who will come from a wide array of disciplines including applied mathematics, statistics, computational science, atmospheric and oceanic science amongst others. However, Postdoctoral Fellows in these areas as well as young investigators are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants should have a background in master’s level statistics including some familiarity with linear models, regression, Bayesian statistics and multivariate analysis. Familiarity with the R statistical language is strongly suggested and students will be required to bring a laptop computer that will support R to participate in the lab part of the school.
Students are encouraged to contact Doug Nychka (nychka@ucar.edu) for questions about the necessary background knowledge and skills.
IMAGe
The Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geosciences (IMAGe) is a group within the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for the purpose of advancing mathematical theory and its application to all facets of NCAR and the geophysical community at large. IMAGe is
substantially funded by the National Science Foundation. IMAGe is composed of four groups; the Data Assimilation Research Section, the Geophysical Statistics Project, the Turbulence Numerics Team, and the Computational Mathematics Group. For more information about IMAGe, including post-doc positions, please contact Doug Nychka.
NCAR
NCAR was formed in 1960 and has a broad interdisciplinary research program involving more that 1000 employees of which several hundred hold advanced scientific or engineering degrees. The NCAR scientific program includes nearly all aspects of the atmosphere including climate and weather, atmospheric chemistry, ecology, instrumentation, scientific computing, and economic and societal impacts of atmospheric processes.
Stephan Sain, Geophysical Statistics Project, NCAR Claudia Tebaldi, Climate Central Gerald Meehl, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, NCAR Caspar Ammann, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, NCAR Bo Li, Geophysical Statistics Project, NCAR and Department of Statistics, Pudue UniversityRichard Furrer, Colorado School of Mines