Archive - Researcher of the Month

Dr. Somnath Baidya Roy

Dr. Somnath Baidya Roy joined the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in the fall of 2006 as part of the recently completed CWACES hiring initiative. He comes to Illinois with experiences in several academic disciplines and departments from around the world. Somnath received his B.Sc. in Physics, with Honors, from Presidency College in Calcutta, India. Upon receiving his degree, he decided to pursue an academic career where he could integrate his background in Physics with his interest in environmental issues. Accordingly, he obtained an M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in the same field. His research interests include land-atmosphere interactions, and regional climate modeling.

During his doctoral work, Somnath participated in the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), examining the effect of deforestation on the regional climate of Rondonia, Brazil. Deforestation in Rondonia follows a characteristic pattern: Due to rampant clearcutting along the expanding road network, the landscape resembles a "fishbone". Using a high-resolution climate model, Somnath and his colleagues showed that this unique spatial pattern of land surface heterogeneity can trigger mesoscale circulations leading to more clouds and rain over the cleared patches. Subsequent studies with satellite data have validated their hypothesis.

After completing his Ph.D., Somnath worked first as a post-doc in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University and then as a Research Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University. At these institutions, he continued his research on modeling land-atmosphere interactions over regional scales. In this context, he studied a wide range of problems such as deforestation in Congo, land use in the U.S., and the North American Monsoon.

Somnath's research often involves real-world issues with significant policy relevance. In a recent project, he collaborated with ecologists and economists to look at the impacts of biological carbon sequestration using tree plantations. Plantations are cheap and efficient carbon sinks and hence figure prominently in all greenhouse gas mitigation schemes. Somnath's paper showed that large plantations affect regional climate and soil and water quality. These impacts impose additional costs that must be taken into account when designing any sequestration or afforestation program. Another interesting example of his policy-relevant research is the work on impacts of large windfarms on local meteorology. He found that turbulence generated in the wake of the turbine rotors can significantly affect surface temperature and humidity. These effects can be minimized by reducing rotor-generated turbulence. Interestingly, low-turbulence rotors are also economically efficient because they can harness the energy that would have otherwise been lost to turbulence. These results have important implications for siting, design and impact assessment of windfarms.

In the course of his academic training, Somnath had the privilege of collaborating with world-reknowned scientists from a wide range of disciplines. He believes that the most important quality he brings to CWACES is his exposure and experience in multidisciplinary environments. This will be a key factor in his research on the hydrologic cycle and its relationship to the human environment, the primary goal of CWACES. He is very happy to be in an “intellectually exciting environment,” with the opportunities available for collaboration with scientists driven by a common vision.