Welcome to the Webpage of Prof. Yuan Wang’s Group!

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PI: Yuan Wang

Associate Professor, Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences

   HAMP 3225, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47920
   (765) 494-6581         yuanwang@purdue.edu

Research Interests

  • Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions
  • Climate extreme detection and attribution
  • Physical parameterizations of cloud and aerosol
  • Climate model evaluation and development
  • Haze/Wildfires observations and modeling
  • Terrestrial carbon feedback to climate change

Research Grants

  • NSF Physical and Dynamic Meteorology Program
  • NASA ACMAP
  • NASA MAIA Science Team
  • NASA MISR Science Team
  • Caltech President/Director Fund
  • JPL Strategic RTD

Latest Research Results

Machine Learning and Traffic Pollution

Our recent PNAS paper capitalizes on large variations of urban air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic and real-time observations of traffic, meteorology, and air pollution in Los Angeles to develop a machine-learning air pollution prediction model. We reveal heavy-duty truck emissions contribute primarily to the pollution variations, and demonstrate that the full benefit from fleet electrification cannot be attained if focused only on mitigation of local vehicle emissions.

Haze During COVID-19

Our recent paper published on Science revealed surprising haze events during the lockdown period in China and untangled complex interplay between emissions, atmospheric chemistry, especially the multi-phase chemistry, and meteorological variations. We call for a comprehensive regulatory strategy involving all emission sectors and accounting for meteorological variations for future emission control plans.

HURRICANE

The catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Harvey has received major attention, but the cause remains mysterious. By combining observation and model simulations, Our recent GRL paper provides microphysical and thermodynamic insights into the cause of the catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Harvey by the aerosols from industrial sources.

WINTER EXTREMES

Anthropogenic aerosol emissions decreased over North America and Europe but increased over Asia since the 1970s. Our recent paper on Nature Climate Change revealed that this aerosol forcing caused jet stream winds to shift poleward over the Atlantic, decreasing planetary wave activity and partially inhibiting extreme winter weather over northern Eurasia. See EOS & Guardian.

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