The YCEO supports a diverse group of research projects in the earth sciences. Many of the graduates of Observing the Earth from Space continue to use the YCEO for their Senior Projects, Master's theses, or Ph.D. dissertations. In addition, several faculty projects are underway in the fields of Anthropology, Climatology, Ecology, Forestry, Geology, Geophysics, Hydrology, Meteorology and Public Health. One valuable service that the YCEO provides is to bring together faculty interested in remote sensing with students trained in the technology. Students and Faculty should see our consultant page for more information on this program.

Affiliated YCEO Research Activities:

   Student Projects

   Faculty and Staff Projects


Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI) Research Projects:

Land Surface Properties, Regional Climate Feedbacks and Urban Adaptations

We study the impact of changing earth surface properties on the climate system. For this research we will evaluate three specific aspects of surface properties including:

  1. the role of surface feedback in amplifying regional climate change, including the seasonal cycle, heat wave/drought events and long-term warming trends,
  2. climate change driven by the rapid growth of cities with their unique surface properties, and
  3. the geo-engineering of cities to improve local climate by modifying surface properties.

Late Holocene Paleoclimate Reconstruction and Long-Term Human Response in the Region of Timbuktu, Mali (West Africa): Interdisciplinary collaboration in the study of the Lake Faguibine region and the drought-afflicted populations

This interdisciplinary proposal seeks to integrate climatological, remote sensing, geomorphological and archaeological research into a cohesive study of long-term climate change over the past 5000 years at the border between the Sahara and the Sahel at Timbuktu, which is part of the Middle Niger hydraulic system. Understanding how humans have responded to Late Holocene climates in this region, to their long-term trends and abrupt excursions, will provide insight into the types of social institutions employed by the local populations that sought effectively to deal with the unpredictability of their physical world.
Please visit the research section of the YCEI web site for more detailed information on this and other projects.


Past NASA and NSF Funded Research Projects:

   EMCWA     Ecological Monitoring in Semi-Arid Central and West Asia

   SWAP   South West Asia Project

   MAP     Mesoscale Alpine Programme