About Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) Division is the intellectual home of earth sciences at the Laboratory, and thus has representation in a large number of programs and projects across the complex. EES plays a leadership role in developing new programs within the energy and environment arenas for the Laboratory. The Office of Energy and Environment Initiatives at LANL is charged with promoting new research, and EES provides much of the technical leadership in OEEI (leadership in carbon, water, and climate thrust areas).

In view of the current issues and problems facing the nation and the world, we have identified five key Thrust Development Activities to ensure the quality of life and strengthen domestic security: Carbon Cycles, Homeland Security, Nuclear Weapons Effects, and Water.

Supporting these key activities are our core capabilities: atmosphere and ocean science, computational science, ecology, geochemistry and geomaterials, geology, geophysics and seismology, hydrology, and technical leadership. Search our Capabilities database or view our Progress Report to learn more.

Vision

To provide outstanding scientific and engineering leadership, basic and applied research and development, and applications that benefit our Environment, Energy, and National Security.

Mission

The EES mission is to use our capabilities in earth and environmental sciences and engineering to provide solutions to complex problems of importance in environmental, energy, and national security. The EES mission is closely aligned with the LANL mission statement, and EES plays a role in each of the major focus areas. The future LANL will likely see a static or reduced program in stockpile stewardship, and an increase in providing scientific solutions to threats of biological and chemical weapons and security implications associated with natural resources and social infrastructure. Based upon this changing mission, it is expected that EES will play an increasingly important role in the future of LANL.

Capabilities

The EES division has broad capabilities in Earth and related sciences. The strengths of the division are closely tied to those of LANL: predictive science, computational science, advanced monitoring and measuring, and classified research. Table 1 lists the EES discipline based capabilities:

Atmospheric Sciences

Numerical Modeling and Simulation
Atmospheric Radiation Measurements
Plume Transport and Dispersion
Infrasound
Wildfire Behavior
Weapons Phenomenology (EMP)

Ecology

Soil Science
Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
Theoretical Ecology

Geochemistry/Geomaterials

Isotopic Analysis
Geochemical Tracers and Transport of Contaminants
Mineralogy
Radioactive Materials in the Natural Environment

Geology

Volcanic Hazards
Geographical Information Systems
Seismic Hazards

Geophysics

Seismology
Non-linear Dynamics of Materials
Seismic Imaging and Processing
Petroleum Exploration and Characterization

Hydrology

Surface and Soil-Water Hydrology
Geomorphology
Subsurface Flow and Transport

Oceanography

Biogeochemistry
Ocean Circulation
Transuranic Waste Characterization
Actinide Chemistry

The EES capabilities are indexed in a database available on the web. A search engine allows over 350 key words or phrases to connect with capability or individual scientists. To promote the search on the web, EES released its Earth Adventure Series through the “For Real” web site (http://www.lanl.gov/real). “For Real” is a popular science site featuring many different projects of public interest.

RESOURCES

Informational Flyers