Thomas J. Duck

B.Sc., Ph.D. (York)

E-mail: tom.duck@dal.ca
Phone: (902) 494-1456
Fax: (902) 494-5191

* Accepting graduate students

Research Interests: Laser remote sensing, Arctic climate, Planetary Atmospheres.

The study of atmospheric dynamics provides a foundation for climate change and ozone depletion research. The effects of atmospheric waves are known to be important for large-scale temperatures and chemistry, but a detailed understanding of many wave physical processes does not exist. In the Atmospheric-Optics Laboratory, we use laser radar, or lidar, instrumentation to obtain measurements of dynamical properties. In particular, we investigate gravity waves and how they physically couple disparate atmospheric regions.

The continuing deterioration of the Arctic ice cap is a response to atmospheric change.  The Arctic is anticipated to be ice-free within 50 years, but there is a lot of uncertainty owing to a lack of understanding of the underlying physical processes.  Insight has been historically difficult to achieve due to the difficulty of performing experiments in the harsh polar environment.  Together with CANDAC --  the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change -- we have established and conduct research at the Northernmost civilian research facility in the world: the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Eureka, Nunavut.  Our focus is the radiative transfer problem, which is central to understanding climate change.  We built and installed a new laser radar (lidar) system that profiles temperatures, water vapour, and aerosol and cloud optical properties.  It is the most advanced instrument of its kind in the Arctic.  Together with other CANDAC instruments, we are putting together a comprehensive view of the current state of the Arctic 
atmosphere, which is enabling new and important discoveries to be made.  As an experimental research group, we also have a lidar system at Dalhousie University that is used for aerosol measurements and pollution transport studies, and we contributed substantially toward the successful 2008 Phoenix Mars Scout mission.

Visit our group: Duck Group