Not all superheroes wear capes. Some wear lab coats.

Atmospheric chemistry is the study of chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere and their implications for climate, ecosystems, and human health. It focuses on chemistry of the gas and particulate-phase species in the upper and lower atmosphere and it helps to predict how air pollution can affect climate on local and global scales.

The global climate is constantly changing and study of climate trends allows us to estimate the magnitude of the climate change. For example, this field of atmospheric sciences estimates the amount of heat-trapping gases, which are emitted globally, and analyzes how the Earth's climate (e.g., atmospheric temperature) reacts to those emissions.

Clouds and aerosols play an extremely important role in the atmosphere. This area relates to the following research fields: atmospheric structure, global radiation balance, aerosol nucleation, physics and chemistry of clouds and precipitation, radiation scattering by gases and aerosol particles, radiation transfer, atmospheric thermodynamics, cloud physics, aerosol mechanics, atmospheric electricity, etc.

Wildland fires are challenging to study and analyze. This area covers wildfire plume dynamics, boundary layer controls on cumulus convection, mesoscale controls on orographic precipitation, remote sensing of wildland fires, etc.

Air pollution has various short- and long-term health effects. Despite considerable air pollution control measures, air pollution remains one of the most important  health risk factors. To control air pollution, six common air pollutants (known as “criteria pollutants”) are monitored: particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and ground-level ozone.

Mesoscale modeling is a discipline that studies different mesoscale atmospheric phenomena such as thunderstorms, winds, land-sea breezes, pollution generation and transport, etc.

This field covers the basic components of solar and terrestrial radiation for clear and cloudy conditions and related to atmospheric heating rates, the general circulation, remote sensing, and climate.

Monitoring and analysis of Earth’s environments from a distance using observations collected by aircraft, satellites, and ground-based instruments.

The weather forecasting field focuses on analysis of past weather data, taking current observations, and predicting future state of weather. It helps to understand atmospheric processes using meteorological parameters.