Theoretical modeling of planetary atmospheres

Eric Wolf

Degree/Major: Ph.D. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, 2014, University of Colorado, Boulder

Role: VPL Team Member, Affiliates

Affiliation: University of Colorado, Boulder

Location: Breckenridge, CO

Research Interest: 3D climate modeling, exoplanetary habitability, open-source software, machine learning

Biography

Dr. Wolf is a leading expert on 3D climate modeling of extrasolar planets, having written ExoCAM, an exoplanet climate model branch of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Earth System Model. ExoCAM is made available to the public via Github, with active support provided by Dr. Wolf. Dr. Wolf has led numerous papers on the subject of terrestrial exoplanet climates and habitability and to date over 40 papers have been written using the ExoCAM model by 20 different lead authors. Dr. Wolf is an active member of the exoplanet climate community, participating on the recently completed TRAPPIST Habitable Atmospheres Intercomparison project. Dr. Wolf also has expertise in the evolution of Earth’s climate evolution from the Archean era to Earth’s far future, and in radiative transfer. For VPL, Dr. Wolf performs 3D climate modeling of extrasolar planets. 3D simulations will be used to constrain exoplanet climates, to inform parameterizations of global heat transport, clouds, and hazes for use in 1D and 1.5D models, and to aide in interpreting phase dependent observations.