Our Interdisciplinary Science investigation addresses the primary biogeochemical cycles of planet Earth and considers, in particular, how they are being changed by humans. The efforts focus on the cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, and selected trace gases. Process-based models are developed as modules, in concert with database management techniques which synthesize the in-situ and remote sensing data needed to characterize regional and global scales.

Models of the Earth's biogeochemical cycles are a central theme. They provide a rigorous means for developing quantitative projections of the interactions of atmospheric composition, climate, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, ocean circulation and sea level, and the effects of human activities. The family of models being developed in this investigation provide the predictive link between the physical and biological Earth system and the human dimensions of global change.

The long-term goal of our IDS research is to understand the primary biogeochemical cycles of the planet, the nature of the coupling between the Biogeochemical Subsystem and the Physical-Climate Subsystem, and the characteristics of the human forcing of the Biogeochemical Subsystem and hydrological cycle. Our strategy is to study how element cycles function in natural systems where perturbations in biogeochemical states are driven primarily by climate variability and in systems where disturbance gradients induced by human activity have modified significantly exchanges of water, carbon, nitrogen, or sulfur.