Timothy Griffis

Professor
[email protected]
612-625-3117
Tim's Google Scholar Profile
Tim's Biometeorology Page
Education
  • BS, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario - 1995
  • PhD, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario - 2000

Areas of Interest

Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions, Biogeochemistry, Biometeorology

Teaching

  • ESPM 5402 Biometeorology
  • ESPM 3000 Climate Change: Myths, Mysteries, and Uncertainties
  • ESPM 4903 Directed Research in Atmospheric Science
  • Soils 8195 Directed Research in Atmospheric Science

Research

My research aims to improve the scientific understanding of the biophysical mechanisms that govern the exchange of energy and mass between the Earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere. At this interface the processes are highly complex requiring a multidisciplinary approach that draws on knowledge from boundary layer meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, ecophysiology, hydrology, and soil science. In my view, Biometeorology represents the intersection of these disciplines and has become an integral component of global change research. The underlying theory and methodological approaches allow inquiry at the leaf to regional scale, which is essential to understanding how natural and anthropogenic environmental change influence the Earth-Atmosphere system. Humans have great capacity to alter the atmospheric composition and land surface characteristics. The exact consequences of these changes to weather, climate, environmental quality, and human health continue to be the subject of much debate and uncertainty. I aim to reduce these uncertainties by advancing the science of Biometeorology through innovative research and teaching.

Research Interests

  • Biogeochemical and biogeophysical forcings associated with agriculture and natural ecosystems
  • Development of micrometeorological and optical stable isotope techniques to trace the flow of carbon and water between the land and atmosphere
  • Impacts of land use and climate variation on ecosystem and regional 13C-CO2 and 18O-CO2 discrimination and isotope disequilibrium
  • Influence of atmospheric circulation and land surface characteristics on trends in atmospheric water vapor and its isotope composition
  • Biophysical modeling of land-atmosphere isotopic CO2 and water vapor exchange

Select Publications

  • "Nitrous oxide emissions are enhanced in a warmer and wetter world", T.J. Griffis, Z. Chen, J.M. Baker, J.D. Wood, D.B. Millet, X. Lee, R.T. Venterea, and P.A. Turner, (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017, 114(45), 12081-12085, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1704552114) 
  • "OCO-2 advances photosynthesis observation from space via solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence", Y. Sun, C. Frankenberg, J. D. Wood, D. S. Schimel, M. Jung, L. Guanter, D. T. Drewry, M. Verma, A. Porcar-Castell, T. J. Griffis, L. Gu, T. S. Magney, P. Köhler, B. Evans, and K. Yuen (Science, 2017, 358 (6360), eaam5747, doi: 10.1126/science.aam5747)
  • "Multi-scale analyses of solar induced fluorescence and gross primary production", J.D. Wood, T.J. Griffis, J.M. Baker, C. Frankenberg, M. Verma, and K. Yuen (Geophysical Research Letters, 2017, 44, 533-541, doi: 10.1002/2016GL070775)
  • "Regional-scale controls on dissolved nitrous oxide in the Upper Mississippi River", P.A. Turner, T.J. Griffis, J.M. Baker, X. Lee, J.T. Crawford, L.C. Loken, and R.T. Venterea (Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, 43, 4400-4407, DOI: 10.1002/2016GL068710)
  • "Investigating the source, transport, and isotope composition of water vapor in the planetary boundary layer", T.J. Griffis, J.D. Wood, J.M. Baker, X. Lee, K. Xiao, Z. Chen, L.R. Welp, N. Schultz, G. Gorski, M. Chen, and J. Nieber (Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2016, 16, 5139-5157, doi:10.5194/acp-16-5139-2016)
  • "Indirect nitrous oxide emissions from streams within the US Corn Belt scale with stream order", P.A. Turner, T.J. Griffis, X. Lee, J.M. Baker, R.T. Venterea, and J.D. Wood (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015, 112, 9839-9843, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1503598112)
  • "Detecting drift bias and exposure errors in historical solar and photosynthetically active radiation data", J.D. Wood, T.J. Griffis and J.M. Baker (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2015, 206, 33-44, doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.02.015)
  • "Simulating crop phenology in the Community Land Model and its impact on energy and carbon fluxes", M. Chen, T.J. Griffis, J.M. Baker, J. Wood, and K. Xiao (Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, 2015, 120, 310-325, doi: 10.1002/2014JG002780)
  • "Global and time-resolved monitoring of crop photosynthesis with chlorophyll fluorescence", Guanter et al., (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014, 111 (14) E1327-E1333)
  • "Reconciling the differences between top-down and bottom-up estimates of nitrous oxide emissions for the US Corn Belt", T.J. Griffis, X. Lee, J.M. Baker, M.P. Russelle, X. Zhang, R. Venterea, and D.B. Millet (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2013, 27, doi: 10.1002/gbc.20066)
  • "Interannual, seasonal, and retrospective analysis of the methane and carbon dioxide budgets of a temperate peatland", D. Olson, T.J. Griffis, A. Noormets, R. Kolka and J. Chen (Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, 2013, 118, 226-238, doi: 10.1002/jgrg.20031)
  • "Tracing the flow of carbon dioxide and water vapor between the biosphere and atmosphere: A review of optical isotope techniques and their application", T.J. Griffis (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2013, 174-175, 85-109, doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2013.02.009)
  • "Oxygen isotope composition of evapotranspiration and its relation to C4 photosynthetic discrimination” T.J. Griffis, X. Lee, J.M. Baker, K. Billmark, N. Schultz, M. Erickson, X. Zhang, J. Fassbinder, W. Xiao, and N. Hu (Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, 2011, 116, G01035, doi: 10.1029/2010JG001514)
  • “Influence of C4 vegetation on 13CO2 discrimination and isotopic forcing in the Upper Midwest, United States”, T.J. Griffis, J.M. Baker, S.D. Sargent, M. Erickson, J. Corcoran, M. Chen, and K. Billmark (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2010, 24, GB4006, doi:10.1029/2009GB003768)
  • "Determining the oxygen isotope composition of evapotranspiration using eddy covariance", T.J. Griffis, S.D. Sargent, X. Lee, J.M. Baker, J. Greene, M. Erickson, X. Zhang, K. Billmark, N. Schultz, W. Xiao, and N. Hu (Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 2010, doi: 10.1007/s10546-010-9529-5, 137(2), 307-326)
  • "Canopy-scale kinetic fractionation of atmospheric carbon dioxide and water vapor isotopes", X. Lee, T.J. Griffis, J.M. Baker, K.A. Billmark, K. Kim, L.R. Welp (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2009, 23, GB1002, doi:10.1029/2008GB003331)
  • "Direct Measurement of Biosphere-Atmosphere Isotopic CO2 Exchange using the Eddy Covariance Technique", T.J. Griffis, S.D. Sargent, J.M. Baker, X. Lee, B.D. Tanner, J. Greene, E. Swiatek, and K. Billmark (Journal of Geophysical Research- Atmospheres, 2008, 113, D08304,doi:10.1029/2007JD009297).
  • "Using Continuous Stable Isotope Measurements to Partition Net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange." J.Zhang, T.J.Griffis, and J.M.Baker. (Plant, Cell and Environment, 2006, 29: 483-496)
  • "Ecophysiological Controls on the Carbon Balances of Three Southern Boreal Forests." T.J.Griffis, T.A.Black, K.Morgenstern, A.Barr, Z.Nesic, G.Drewitt, D.Gaumont-Guay, H.McCaughey. (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2003, 117:53-71)

National Advisory Committees and Affiliations