ATM M.S. Research Equipment and Facilities
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences
The Atmospheric Sciences department is linked directly to the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences at School of Mines (see the Institute website at: http://www.ias.sdsmt.edu). Students typically work directly with faculty on externally-funded research projects. Graduate research assistantships associated with these projects are available that provide part-time employment for students during the academic months and possible full-time employment during the summer. Facilities and resources of the IAS are utilized in these research efforts. These facilities comprise various meteorological instrument platforms and packages including several automated surface weather stations, a tethered-balloon sampling system, an instrumented flux measurement tower in the Black Hills National Forest, portable equipment for land surface and plant canopy ecosystem studies, and atmospheric analytical chemistry field and laboratory instrumentation. Sophisticated computer facilities are available on campus, including a state-of-the-art 3-D computer visualization facility and a high-speed multiple-node computer cluster, with additional access to the larger computer complexes elsewhere.
Black Hills Advanced Visualization Laboratory
Photo at left is a simulated supercell thunderstorm in Virtual Reality as seen in the “Viz” lab at IAS. The lab was created in 2001, and has been used collaboratively with the Geology Dept., the Advanced Manufacturing and Processing (AMP) Center, Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Museum of Geology. It is used within the IAS for both research and education in meteorology and pattern recognition research.
Biogeochemistry Core Facility (BCF)
IAS has state of the art laboratory facilities to analyze key constituents of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The BCF, made possible by a recent grant from the National Science Foundation and housed in IAS, is an analytical and research laboratory facility shared by IAS and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Additional laboratory facilities in IAS focus on measurements of atmospheric constituents that have the potential to affect the radiation and the oxidant balance of the earth system. Please visit the website at http://www.ias.sdsmt.edu/BCF/LabEquipment.htm for a complete listing of the equipment with photos.
