Design, build, and test instrumentation for extreme heat waves on a warming planet
David Romps, Professor
Earth and Planetary Science
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
This project will design, build, and test instrumentation to measure temperature, humidity, air currents, and infrared radiation in extreme heat and humdity. These instruments are needed for laboratory studies that will evaluate models of human physiology that, in turn, are used to project the future of heat stress on a warming planet.
Climate change is causing heat waves to approach conditions that cause hyperthermia even in young, healthy adults. An unresolved question is whether continued burning of fossil fuels might render portions of Earth's land surface uninhabitable or even deadly due to extreme humid heat. To address that question, our group has been developing models of human thermoregulation, which are then applied to climate simulations. It is essential, however, to validate these types of models against laboratory data.
This project addresses a very important component of that validation process: the design and construction of instrumentation that can accurately measure the properties of the air and radiating surfaces in very hot and humid conditions.
Role: The student(s) will learn some basics of moist thermodynamics, radiation, and physiological thermoregulation while applying their knowledge of electrical circuits, programming, and/or fabrication to design, build, and test relevant instrumentation.
Qualifications: Knowledge of calculus is required. Basic experience with electrical circuits and coding is desirable.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Rusen Oktem, Staff Researcher
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: https://romps.berkeley.edu/papers/pubs-2023-texas.html
Related website: https://romps.berkeley.edu/papers/pubs-2022-sherwood.html