Claudia M. Bernier

Affiliation: Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)/ NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)

Division: Earth Science Division (SG)

Branch: Biospheric Sciences Branch (SGE)

Email: claudia.m.bernier@nasa.gov

Professional Biography

Dr. Claudia Bernier is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). She earned her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Houston in 2023, where her dissertation focused on clustering multidimensional ozone profiles and evaluating chemical transport model (CTM) simulations to characterize coastal tropospheric ozone behavior. Claudia also holds a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of the Incarnate Word.

Claudia’s current research focuses on conducting high-resolution regional CTM simulations to investigate the spatiotemporal structure of tropospheric ozone and its precursors and processes impacting regional air quality. She utilizes an extensive suite of measurements to evaluate model capabilities and novel satellite retrievals from NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument to infer detailed information about atmospheric pollutants.

A significant aspect of her current work includes using fine-resolution emission inventories and meteorological conditions to perform high-resolution modeling. She integrates multidimensional data from ground, air, and space-based observatories, such as the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) and TEMPO, to examine processes that control ozone transport in complex environments.

For further information on Claudia’s work please see her CV or contact her at claudia.m.bernier@nasa.gov.

Education

Ph.D. Atmospheric Science, 2023, University of Houston, Advisor: Dr. Yuxuan Wang. Dissertation: Synthesis Analysis of Multidimensional Ozone Measurements in Coastal Environments Toward

B.S. Meteorology, 2016, University of the Incarnate Word, Mathematics Minor 

Research Interests

• Cross-validating CTMs, multidimensional lidar data, in situ measurements, and remote-sensing retrievals to study trace gases behavior and development.
• Investigating processes controlling ozone transport in challenging environments, particularly coastal regions affected by emission transport and regional scale meteorological processes.

Awards/Honors

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow (2023)

Outstanding Student Presentation Award AMS Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry (2023)

UH Earth and Atmospheric Science Outstanding Graduate Academic Achievement (2022)

MUREP and ARMD NASA Fellow (2019)

ACOM/NCAR Ralph Cicerone Fellow (2019)

NOAA NCEP Student Intern (2018)

Select Publications

Bernier, C., Wang, Y., Gronoff, G., Berkoff, T., Knowland, K. E., Sullivan, J., Delgado, R., Caicedo, V., & Carroll, B., “Cluster-based characterization of multi-dimensional tropospheric ozone variability in coastal regions: an analysis of lidar measurements and model results.”, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15313–15331, 2022. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15313-2022.

Li, W., Wang, Y., Bernier, C., Estes, M., “Identification of Sea Breeze Recirculation and Its Effects on Ozone in Houston, TX, during DISCOVER‐AQ 2013.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, vol. 125, no. 22, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020jd033165. 

Bernier, C., Wang, Y., Estes, M., Lei, R., Jia, B., Wang, S.‐C., & Sun, J., “Clustering surface ozone diurnal cycles to understand the impact of circulation patterns in Houston, TX.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, vol. 124, no. 23, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2019JD031725.