Atmospheric Physics

The Atmospheric Physics (ATPH) graduate program aims to educate future leaders in the physical and Earth sciences. The curriculum is designed to train students with both deep understanding of the fundamental laws of physics that govern weather and climate as well as practical tools and skills in a broad range of applications. The ATPH faculty members involve graduate students in wide-ranging research areas, including the design and fabrication of airborne and satellite borne sensors, active and passive remote sensing techniques, ultraviolet to thermal infrared spectroscopy, light scattering and radiative transfer, atmospheric dynamics, and many others.

We closely collaborate with scientists from federal agencies and research institutes to provide fellowship and internship opportunities to students, including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and NASA Langley Research Center, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Naval Research Lab, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), etc. All our faculty members are affiliated with the Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR II), formed under a cooperative agreement between the Earth Science Division of NASA GSFC, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and the Earth and Space Institute (ESI). Beyond the ATPH tenured or tenure track faculty, GESTAR II hosts far more research faculty, GSFC Sponsors, appointed fellows, who expose students to a plethora of research frontiers and future employment opportunities. UMBC ranks #12 across all US colleges and universities in terms of NASA funding, which sponsors the broad category of geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences. The ATPH program has contributed significantly to this recognition.

For more information, please visit webpages for the individual ATPH research groups, the ATPH Graduate Program webpage, and the webpage for GESTAR II.

Faculty with Research Interests in Atmospheric Physics: