AGU Fall Meeting
The poster hall is a great opportunity to see research trends across disciplines and meet fellow scientists. Credit: David Aleman/f-stop Photography

This year’s AGU Fall Meeting has a packed schedule with more than 26,000 oral and poster presentations, as well as many other events each day. Since it can be difficult to navigate such a large program of events, we asked the editors of AGU’s journals for their top picks.

The recommendations are grouped by topic. This list covers Oceans and Coasts, Cryosphere and Hydrology, Atmosphere and Climate, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, and Biogeosciences. The previous list covered Interdisciplinary, Science and Society, Planetary Science, Space Physics and Space Weather, Seismology, and Tectonophysics.

Each recommendation includes the event code (with a link to the details in the full Fall Meeting 2018 program), day, time and room. Please support the poster sessions to encourage students and early career scientists.

Oceans and Coasts

  • Air-Sea Interaction from Tropics to Extratropics: Ocean Mesoscales, Teleconnections, and Climate Predictions – This session highlights air-sea interaction and coupled ocean-atmosphere studies focusing on a range of time and space scales. (Meghan Cronin, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) This is a topic of multi-disciplinary interest covering air-sea interactions and the impacts on large-scale atmosphere, ocean, biogeochemistry, and climate predictions. (Janet Sprintall, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) – Posters (OS23F), Tuesday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session I (OS31A), Wednesday, 08:00-10:00 and Session II (OS32A), Wednesday, 10:20-12:20, both in Convention Center Room 103AB
  • Close-Range Remote Sensing of Nearshore Processes and Coastal Morphology – This session covers low-altitude and ground-based observing platforms that collect data with high resolution in time and space allowing for detailed observations of changes in nearshore processes and coastal landscapes. (Ryan Mulligan, Associate Editor, JGR: Oceans) – Posters (EP23E), Tuesday,  13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall; eLightning session I (EP52D), Friday,  10:20-12:20 and eLightning session II (EP54B), Friday, 16:00-18:00, both in Convention Center eLightning Theater II
  • New Frontiers in the Southern Oceans Role in Climate: Recent Developments in Physical and Biogeochemical Observations and Modeling – These sessions include submissions from observationalists and modellers that are aimed at understanding the physical and biogeochemical processes responsible for the mean and variability of the Southern Ocean. (Janet Sprintall, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) These presentations and posters are important to the ocean and climate communities because they highlight breakthrough new results on the role of ocean heat and carbon uptake on the global climate due to the revolution in profiling robot floats with biogeochemical sensors and earth system models. (Joellen Russell, Associate Editor, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology) – Posters (OS31H), Wednesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session I (OS33B), Wednesday, 13:40-15:40 and Session II (OS34B), Wednesday, 16:00-18:00, both in Convention Center Room 102AB
  • Sea Level Change and Coastal Impacts and Flooding – I’m looking forward to this discussion in our Nation’s Capital. (Meghan Cronin, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) – Session I (OS43B), Thursday, 13:40-15:40 and Session II (OS44B), Thursday, 16:00-18:00, both in Convention Center Room 102AB; Posters (OS51E), Friday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall.
  • Coastal Response to Extreme Events: Fidelity of Model Predictions of Surge, Inundation, and Morphodynamics – This session examines the predictive capacity of numerical models to simulate intense storm events, focusing on coupled interactions between atmosphere and ocean that drive changes to the coastal land surface. (Ryan Mulligan, Associate Editor, JGR: Oceans) – Posters (OS51C), Friday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session (OS53A), Friday, 13:40-15:40, Convention Center Room 102AB
  • Beyond Constant Eddy Diffusivities: Estimation, Implementation, Impacts, and New Approaches to the Parameterization of Lateral Mixing in Ocean Models – The title says it all! This is a very hot topic of interest to physical oceanographers interested in how and where the ocean mixes and how to best represent that in models. The line-up of speakers is a great mix of observationalists and modellers and it looks like a fantastic Friday session. (Janet Sprintall, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) – Session (OS52A), Friday, 10:20-12:20, Convention Center Room 103AB; Posters (OS53D), Friday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall

Cryosphere and Hydrology

  • Advancing Catchment Science: Process Understanding and Societal Benefits from Long-Term Observation and Experimentation – Presents a range of measurement and modeling advances being made in catchment science, with a focus on ties to society. (D. Scott Mackay, Editor, Water Resources Research) – Session I (H11C), Monday, 08:00-10:00 and Session II (H12D), Monday, 10:20-12:20, both in Convention Center Room 156; Posters (H13J), Monday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Advancements in Measurement of Snow Water Equivalent Using Coincident Ground and Airborne Data – This session is tightly linked to an upcoming special issue of our journal “Advancing process representation in hydrologic models: Integrating new concepts, knowledge, and data”. (Tobias Jonas, Associate Editor, Water Resources Research) – Session (C12A), Monday, 10:20-12:20, Convention Center Salon G; Posters (C13D), Monday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Big Data and Machine Learning in Hydrology and Subsurface Flow and Transport – The presentations and posters will cover recent progress in deep learning, uncertainty quantification, interpretive method, physics-machine learning hybrid models. (Chaopeng Shen, Associate Editor, Water Resources Research) – Session I (H13B), Monday, 13:40-15:40 and Session II (H14C), Monday, 16:00-18:00, both in Convention Center Room 146A; Posters (H21J), Tuesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Collaborative Research to Address Changes in the Climate, Hydrology, and Cryosphere of High-Mountain Asia – The cryosphere in High-Mountain Asia contributes water to more than a billion people. Its variability and change has the potential to drive natural hazards and stress water resources and agriculture across the region. This interdisciplinary session considers High-Mountain Asia as well as implications for other regions of the world. (Sarah Kapnick, Associate Editor, Water Resources Research) – Posters (C21E), Tuesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session I (C43B), Thursday, 13:40-15:40 and Session II (C44B), Thursday, 16:00-18:00, both in Convention Center Salon G
  • One Hundred Years of Cryosphere – This contribution to the AGU Centennial celebration includes a fantastic line-up of invited talks by pillars of the cryosphere community. (Jim McClelland, Associate Editor, Global Biogeochemical Cycles) – Centennial Session (C24A), Tuesday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Salon H
  • Integrating Observations and Models to Better Understand a Changing Arctic System – This session focuses on the Arctic but will be valuable to a broader audience interested in observation-model fusion. (Jim McClelland, Associate Editor, Global Biogeochemical Cycles) – Session (C32B), Wednesday, 10:20-12:20, Convention Center Salon G; Posters (C33F), Wednesday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall

Atmosphere and Climate

  • Climate Sensitivity and Feedbacks: Advances and New Paradigms – This year’s iteration of this perennially interesting session includes a range of talks on holistic efforts to understand climate sensitivity, a topic that’s now yielding really interesting insights even if solid answers are still out of reach. Emergent constraints, a topic that excites strong opinions, will have strong representation across the aisle. (Robert Pincus, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems) – Posters (A21H), Tuesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session (A24C), Tuesday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Room 146B
  • Insights on clouds, convection, and climate sensitivity from idealized modeling studies – The path to understanding often leads through simplification and idealization. Here’s an entire session focused on what idealized modeling can tell us about large-scale planetary behavior. Many of the talks will focus on the simplified-but-relevant situation of radiative-convective equilibrium in which clouds and convection turn out to have quite interesting, and not-so-simple, behavior. (Robert Pincus, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems) – Posters (A23K), Tuesday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session (A34F), Wednesday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Room 152A
  • Highlights from the Fourth National Climate Assessment: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States – This session highlights key findings from the latest authoritative assessment of climate impacts on the United States. The assessment report was prepared by over 300 experts over a course of three years based on the latest climate science, representing the most comprehensive assessment on the ecological, economic, and societal impacts of climate change across the Nation. (Kevin He, Associate Editor, Water Resources Research) – Union Session (U24A), Tuesday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Room 202A
  • Untangling ENSO Complexity: From the Ancient Past to the Far Future – This session explores precursors and dynamics that lead to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) diversity and extremes. (Meghan Cronin, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) – Posters (GC33I), Wednesday, 13:40-18:00 ; Convention Center Poster Hall; Session (GC42D), Thursday, 10:20-12:20, Convention Center Salon A.
  • High-resolution weather and climate modeling on large supercomputers – This session will be an opportunity to see the cutting edge of what’s possible for the largest-scale calculations for weather and climate. It’s an especially exciting time an increasing number of global models are now operating at scales fine enough to explicitly represent the deep convection that sets conditions for the entire lower atmosphere. There might be a certain amount of one-upmanship between different modeling centers, which will be fun. (Robert Pincus, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems) – Session (A33D), Wednesday, 13:40-15:40, Convention Center Room 152A; Posters (A23J), Wednesday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • A New Era for Aerosol Products from Geostationary Satellites for Air Quality Operational and Research Applications – This session focuses on near-continuous monitoring of atmospheric aerosols, as provided by the new generation of satellite imagers in geostationary orbit. Previously only available from polar-orbiting satellites, accurate and high-spatial resolution products are now being provided by Himawari (East Asia and western Pacific) and GOES-R (North and South America). However, the nearly continuous observation frequency promises to revolutionize research and operational applications. (Robert Levy, Associate Editor, JGR: Atmospheres) – Session: (A44A), Thursday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Room 147A; Posters (A51G), Friday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall

Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

  • Understanding the Indian–Asian–Australian Monsoon: Evolution and Links to Tectonic, Climatic, and Biogeochemical Cycles – The Indian-Asian-Australian Monsoon is part of the Earth’s most powerful hydrologic regime, and affects billions of people annually, yet we lack critical knowledge of the controls on the monsoon system. These sessions aim to increase our understanding of this important system, with importance for our future as well as for understanding the Earth system. (Ellen Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology) – Session I (PP22C), Tuesday, 10:20-12:20, Session II (PP23C), Tuesday, 13:40-15:40, Session III (PP24C), Tuesday, 16:00-18:00, all in Convention Center Salon I; Posters (PP33E), Wednesday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • High-Resolution Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironmental Records from Africa: Providing Context for Human Evolution and Dispersal from the Pliocene to the Present – At a time when we are looking into the potential effects of human activity on Earth (the Anthropocene), it is of major interest to look back at human evolution and dispersal. This session presents high-resolution paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental studies from and near Africa, to be used in testing human evolution and dispersal hypotheses, and linkages between human evolution and climate change. (Ellen Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology) – Session (PP22B), Tuesday, 10:20-12:20, Convention Center Room 144A-C; Posters (PP31C), Wednesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Advances in Paleoecology and Paleoclimate with Emphasis on Contextualizing Human Evolutionary History – This session will complement the one highlighted above. (Ellen Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology) – Session (PP24A), Tuesday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Room 146A; Posters (PP31B), Wednesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Lessons for the Future from Cenozoic Warm Climates – Studying warm climate states of the past helps us to both better understand the range of responses of known mechanisms of global and regional warming, and to uncover mechanisms and interactions that may not be in operation now but may operate in the future warmer state. During the Cenozoic the Earth’s climate has traversed several warm climates, and each of the warm climate states provides a unique perspective on warming in the Earth system. (Ellen Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology) – Session I (PP33A), Wednesday, 13:40-15:40 and Session II (PP34A), Wednesday, 16:00-18:00, both in Convention Center Salon I; Posters (PP41C), Thursday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall

Biogeosciences

  • The Resilience and Vulnerability of Arctic and Boreal Ecosystems to Climate Change – Is rapid warming in the Arctic causing more wildfires, thawing of permafrost soils, and loss of ice on lakes? Attend this session to find out about these changes in fire and ice, among other observed or predicted disturbances on land or water in the Arctic. (Rose Cory, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) – Session I (B11A), Monday, 08:00-10:00, Session II (B12C), Monday, 10:20-12:20, Session III (B13E), Monday, 13:40-15:40, Session IV (B14C), Monday, 16:00-18:00, Session V (B21E), Tuesday, 08:00-10:00, all in Convention Center Room 143A-C; Posters (B31F), Wednesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Modeling the Critical Zone: Integrating Processes and Data Across Disciplines and Scales – Critical zone science has become a focal point for a broad group of hydrology, biogeosciences and earth surface processes researchers, and is being hailed as vital for future developments in earth systems models. These presentations and posters will share the modeling advances being made. (D. Scott Mackay, Editor, Water Resources Research) – Posters (EP11C), Monday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session (EP14A), Monday, 16:00-18:00, Convention Center Room 147A
  • Postwildfire Hydrologic, Geomorphic, and Biogeochemical Responses – This session focuses on hydrologic and geomorphic responses to wildfire. It’s especially timely in view of the devastating fires in the western US over the past two years. The urgency of better understanding these issues has never been higher given the climate change situation in this part of the world. (Amy East, Associate Editor and incoming Editor-in-Chief, JGR: Earth Surface) – Session (H21F), Tuesday, 08:00-10:00, Convention Center Room 145B; Posters (H23L), Tuesday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Biogeochemical Cycling in Estuaries, Coastal Waters, and Their Watersheds: Natural Variability, Response to Land Use and Climate Change, and Management Implications – This series of talks and posters is very interdisciplinary, involving the terrestrial, estuarine and coastal ocean communities, as well as hydrology and climate change. (Marjy Friedrichs, Editor, JGR: Oceans) – Session I (OS22A), Tuesday, 10:20-12:20, Session II (OS23A), Tuesday, 13:40-15:40, Session III (OS24A), Tuesday,  16:00-18:00 all in Convention Center Room 103AB; Posters I (OS41C) Thursday, 08:00-12:20 and Posters II (OS43F), Thursday, 13:40-18:00 both in Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Interactions Between Hydrological and Biogeochemical Change in Permafrost Environment – Recent studies show changes in solute export from permafrost soils to streams, rivers and lakes across the Arctic. I’m attending this session to learn why. Presentations in this session include how thawing permafrost and changes in hydrology may shift the export of solutes such as carbon, nutrients, or mercury to streams, rivers and the ocean, and what these changes may mean for carbon cycling, greenhouse gas or mercury emissions. (Rose Cory, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters) – Session (B23C), Tuesday, 13:40-15:40, Convention Center Room 150A; Posters (B31H), Wednesday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Biogeosciences—Defining the Pulse of a Living Planet – The first of a pair of special Centennial sessions on biogeosciences, this one presenting the current state of the art and setting the stage for the next century of science. (Dork Sahagian, Associate Editor, JGR: Biogeosciences) – Centennial Session (B41B), Thursday, 08:00-10:00, Convention Center Room 143A-C; Posters (B43J), Thursday, 13:40-18:00, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Transformational Contributions over the Past 100 Years in the Biogeosciences – The second of a pair of special Centennial sessions on biogeosciences, this one looking at the transformative accomplishments of the first century of AGU in this scientific field. (Dork Sahagian, Associate Editor, JGR: Biogeosciences) – Centennial Session (B42B), Thursday, 10:20-12:20, Convention Center Room 143A-C
  • Ecological Drought: An Emerging Threat Across the United States – This tutorial talk will explore the role of drought on ecosystems, combining hydroclimate variability and extremes with ecological impacts. This session relates to a new national-scale initiative to address this gap in research and represents an emerging theme in drought and ecological fields. (Sarah Kapnick, Associate Editor, Water Resources Research) – Tutorial (TT42B), Thursday, 10:50-11:20, Marriott Marquis Room University of DC/Catholic University
  • Near-Surface Geophysics in the Critical Zone – As per my session recommendation above, critical zone science is emerging as an important and exciting interdisciplinary field. (D. Scott Mackay, Editor, Water Resources Research) – Session (NS43A), Thursday, 13:40-15:40, Marriott Marquis Rooms 12-13; Posters (NS41B), Thursday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall
  • Land Management in the Earth System: Measurements and Models – This session brings together different areas of forest and land management and how we represent biogeoscience aspects of these processes in global models. It is really broad, spanning social science, satellite remote sensing, earth system modeling, measurements. With a diverse group of organizers, speakers and accompanying posters this promises to be really interesting. (Ankur Desai, Editor, JGR: Biogeosciences) – Posters (B51J), Friday, 08:00-12:20, Convention Center Poster Hall; Session (B53A), Friday, 13:40-15:40, Convention Center Room 150B

—Jenny Lunn, Director of Publications, American Geophysical Union; email: [email protected]

Citation:

Lunn, J. (2018), Fall Meeting recommendations from AGU’s journal editors, part 2, Eos, 99, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO110789. Published on 03 December 2018.

Text © 2018. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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