Project Grant 2444136

This $199,770 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) will enable researchers at Texas A&M University to investigate the radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols associated with wildfire plume injection height and dark brown carbon absorption. The key objectives are to: 1) Quantify the uncertainties in estimating the radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols based on plume injection height and dark brown carbon absorption; 2) Identify the controlling factors that determine the wildfire intensity distribution; and 3) Test the hypothesis of positive feedback between extreme wildfires and climate change impacts on polar ice/snow cover. The research will incorporate modeling efforts into the NCAR Community Earth System Model Version 2 and use machine learning to build an emulator for wildfire intensity prediction. This award reflects NSF's mission to expand fundamental knowledge and understanding of the integrated Earth system through basic research in atmospheric, earth, and ocean sciences. The project period runs from March 1, 2025 to February 29, 2028.