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Planetary Science

Daniel Horton’s Climate Change Research Group (CCRG) uses numerical models to study planets that orbit stars outside our solar system, aka exoplanets. Observation and characterization of the atmospheres of exoplanets is on the horizon, with ground- and space-based missions that target habitability indicators in development. The CCRG leverages general circulation models (GCMs) to study exoplanets to help inform their habitability potential and provide critical knowledge of observational targets and detectable atmospheric constituents. The CCRG has pioneered the use of 3D chemistry-climate models (CCMs) to study the feedbacks, interplay, and synergies between photochemistry, atmospheric dynamics, and surface climate. Researchers in the CCRG are actively engaged in the modification of Earth-based GCMs/CCMs to simulate atmospheres of planets orbiting both Sun-like and M-dwarf stars.