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Earth Sciences

Journal Article

Journal Article

Advancing Alternative Analysis: Integration of Decision Science

Incorporating decision science into alternatives analysis would help companies and regulators to select alternatives to environmentally harmful ingredients.

Aug 1, 2017
Commentary

Mining the Moon for Rocket Fuel to Get Us to Mars

Students from around the world participated in the 2017 Caltech Space Challenge. They proposed designs of what a lunar launch and supply station for deep space missions might look like, and how it would work.

May 16, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Heat Wave Vulnerability Mapping for India

Indexing relative variation in heat-related vulnerability across all of India can help planners, policy makers, and disaster mitigation experts target climate adaptation efforts.

Apr 4, 2017
Dissertation

Dissertation

Directed International Technological Change and Climate Policy: New Methods for Identifying Robust Policies Under Conditions of Deep Uncertainty

Explores new methods to the study of international technological change and climate policy providing useful insights that can be used for designing a robust architecture of international technological cooperation for climate change mitigation.

Mar 11, 2016
Journal Article

An Open Source Framework for Many-Objective Robust Decision Making

This study introduces a new open source software framework to support bottom-up environmental systems planning under deep uncertainty with a focus on many-objective robust decision making (MORDM), called OpenMORDM.

Nov 6, 2015
Commentary

Debris Poses Increased Threat to Exploration

Every satellite launch and maneuver is carefully coordinated because some orbits are strewn with the space-based equivalent of blown tires, abandoned vehicles, loose gravel and, of course, other traffic. Earth's orbit is littered with hundreds of thousands of debris objects.

May 16, 2014
Report

Report

The Industrial Base for Carbon Dioxide Storage: Status and Prospects

If policies aimed at large reductions of carbon dioxide emissions are enacted, more carbon capture and storage will be needed. RAND researchers explored the ability of the industrial base to support the expansion of carbon storage.

Mar 18, 2013
Commentary

Satellite Collision Is a Reminder of Challenges Posed by Space Debris

Solving the problem of space debris isn't going to be easy because, like spilled petroleum products, debris can spend years lurking in an environment that is foreign to most people's daily lives, write Dave Baiocchi and William Welser.

Mar 15, 2013
Report

Outcome Evaluation of U.S. Department of State Support for the Global Methane Initiative

A RAND study evaluated U.S. Department of State contributions to the Global Methane Initiative, an international partnership to promote methane recovery and reuse. The study focused on the strategic contributions and program activities and outcomes.

Jan 30, 2013
Journal Article

Journal Article

Quantifying the Azimuthal Plasmaspheric Density Structure and Dynamics Inferred from IMAGE EUV

This study is the first to systematically analyze global images of the density structure of the inner plasmasphere by using data from the EUV imager on the IMAGE satellite.

Dec 1, 2012
Report

Report

SMART TRASH: Study on RFID tags and the recycling industry: Executive Summary of Final Report (D6) in English, with German and French translations

Executive Summary in English, with French, and German translations. The study aims to assess the environmental impact of the RFID tags themselves as well as the environmental advantages that the use of RFID can provide to product lifecycle management.

Jul 11, 2012
Report

How the Recycling Industry Can Manage RFID Tags and Other 'Smart Trash'

This assessment of the environmental impact of Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags, which are increasingly embedded in a wide range of products, as well as the environmental advantages that the use of RFID can provide to product lifecycle management, aims to inform policymaking in the European Union.

Jul 3, 2012
Project

Improving Decisions in a Complex and Changing World

This project conducted research to address climate change policy and decisionmaking under uncertain conditions.

May 30, 2012
Journal Article

Journal Article

Research Capacity Building in Africa: Networks, Institutions and Local Ownership

This paper focuses on the Wellcome Trust's African Institutions initiative, an example of the networked research capacity-building initiatives emerging in response to the need for research capacity growth.

May 1, 2012
Blog

Blog

Could Coal Mine Drainage Be Used for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction?

A recent RAND report examines the feasibility and challenges of using coal mine drainage for hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale.

Apr 27, 2012
Report

Could Coal Mine Drainage Be Used for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction?

There are large quantities of coal mine water in Pennsylvania—much more than could be used in the coming decade for hydraulic fracturing. Researchers and operators will need to further explore quantity and quality needs to confirm whether coal mine drainage sources represent a viable, large-scale alternative to fresh water.

Apr 16, 2012
Report

Report

Recommended Research Priorities for the Qatar Foundation's Environment and Energy Research Institute

The Qatar Foundation is establishing a national research institute to conduct energy, environment, and water research. This book recommends research priorities for the institute and reports on a survey of related research institutions in the region.

Sep 22, 2011
Journal Article

Journal Article

Technology Interactions Among Low-Carbon Energy Technologies: What Can We Learn from a Large Number of Scenarios?

This paper uses a combinatorial approach in which scenarios are created for all combinations of the technology development assumptions that underlie a smaller, representative set of scenarios.

Jul 1, 2011
Journal Article

Journal Article

A ~ 13,000-Year Paleolimnological Record from the Uinta Mountains, Utah, Inferred from Diatoms and Loss-On-Ignition Analysis

Paleolimnological research in mountainous regions of the Western United States provide baseline understanding of how these lake systems will respond to ongoing climate change.

Apr 1, 2011
Commentary

Commentary

Climate Scientists Should Wear Adam Smith Ties

If it were really possible to explain millions of years of Earth data with a theory that doesn't also imply a recent human influence on the climate, some ambitious, self-interested team of scientists somewhere in the world would seek scientific renown by doing so, writes Robert Lempert.

Mar 30, 2011

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RAND Topic:
Earth Sciences

Topic Synonyms:
Geochemistry;
Geosciences

Research conducted by

RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment