Breadcrumb
Lab phone: 303 492-5495
Other phone: 303 249-2698
Bio
Carbon cycle; paleoclimate records in ice cores; atmosphere-ice sheet interactions; water vapor isotopes in the atmosphere.
Bruce manages the INSTAAR Stable Isotope lab and uses stable isotopes to study biogeochemical processes that control environmental change on human timescales. The lab collaborates with the NOAA Global Monitoring Division and measures stable isotopes of bi-weekly atmospheric trace gas samples from over 50 sites, adding to a 20+ year global database. The lab also creates extremely high-resolution paleoclimate records from stable isotopes of polar ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. With a fleet of 8 mass spectrometers and a growing number of laser-based spectroscopy instruments, the lab continues to pioneer new methods and techniques using stable isotopes for a variety of applications.
Jim White and Bruce Vaughn began the Stable Isotope Lab at INSTAAR in 1989 with 2 mass spectrometers, focusing on ice cores and developing methods for measuring isotopes in atmospheric CO2. The lab has now grown to include multiple instruments and multiple projects. Bruce manages the lab with its current staff of five, plus graduate students, and collaborates with many researchers on a variety of projects. Prior to INSTAAR, Bruce was with the Water Resources Division of the USGS, Project office Glaciology. His passion for Earth science has always included an important role for field work. Sites over the years have included Greenland, Antarctica, Ecuador, Alaska, the Central Pacific islands, Grand Canyon, and the North Cascades.
Current efforts include a pioneering effort into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's, or drones) for making measurements of atmospheric water vapor and stable isotopes. The findings will inform a better understanding of ice sheet-atmosphere interactions and implications for quantifying direct sublimation, which impact surface mass balance, and by extension, sea level rise. This deeper understanding of water vapor and post-depositional changes in isotopes of surface snow will also further illuminate our interpretation of isotopic signatures in ice cores.
Education
- MS: University of Colorado, 1994
Research
In addition to carbon cycle relevant measurements of atmospheric greenhouse gases, my field research is closely linked to the laboratory analysis of stable isotopes in ice cores from polar regions. More recently we have been investigating the role of water vapor isotopes in the atmosphere above the Greenland Ice Sheet. This is important because not only does the atmosphere transfer climate information to the ice sheet via precipitation that eventually makes up the ice core record, but the ice sheet exchanges water vapor with the atmosphere between snow storms, and possibly during them.
To do this we have employed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) or drones to collect air samples that we analyze. In 2018 we deployed a multi-rotor drone to prove the concept of remote sampling capability to ~500 meters above the ice sheet at the EGRIP Ice Core site in NE Greenland. In 2019 we used a fixed wing (3 meter wing span) UAV to collect samples 1,500 meters above the ice sheet, well into the planetary boundary layer. Results from these studies will deepen our understanding of the ice core record as well as shed light on direct sublimation of the ice sheet and the surface mass balance of Greenland.
Publications
For additional publications, see Bruce's ResearchID profile.
Background variations of atmospheric CO2 and carbon-stable isotopes at Waliguan and Shangdianzi stations in China
Publication Date: 2014-05-19
Type: Journal Article
Ecological processes dominate the C-13 land disequilibrium in a Rocky Mountain subalpine forest
Publication Date: 2014-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Core handling and processing for the WAIS Divide ice-core project
Souney JM; Twickler MS; Hargreaves GM; Bencivengo BM; Kippenhan MJ; Johnson JA; Cravens ED; Neff PD; Nunn RM; Orsi AJ...
- Souney JM
- Twickler MS
- Hargreaves GM
- Bencivengo BM
- Kippenhan MJ
- Johnson JA
- Cravens ED
- Neff PD
- Nunn RM
- Orsi AJ
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Onset of deglacial warming in West Antarctica driven by local orbital forcing
Fudge TJ; Steig EJ; Markle BR; Schoenemann SW; Ding Q; Taylor KC; McConnell JR; Brook EJ; Sowers T; White JWC...
- Fudge TJ
- Steig EJ
- Markle BR
- Schoenemann SW
- Ding Q
- Taylor KC
- McConnell JR
- Brook EJ
- Sowers T
- White JWC
Publication Date: 2013-08-22
Type: Journal Article
Recent climate and ice-sheet changes in West Antarctica compared with the past 2,000 years
Steig EJ; Ding Q; White JWC; Kuettel M; Rupper SB; Neumann TA; Neff PD; Gallant AJE; Mayewski PA; Taylor KC...
- Steig EJ
- Ding Q
- White JWC
- Kuettel M
- Rupper SB
- Neumann TA
- Neff PD
- Gallant AJE
- Mayewski PA
- Taylor KC
Publication Date: 2013-05-01
Type: Journal Article
Eemian interglacial reconstructed from a Greenland folded ice core
Dahl-Jensen D; Albert MR; Aldahan A; Azuma N; Balslev-Clausen D; Baumgartner M; Berggren A-M; Bigler M; Binder T; Blunie...
- Dahl-Jensen D
- Albert MR
- Aldahan A
- Azuma N
- Balslev-Clausen D
- Baumgartner M
- Berggren A-M
- Bigler M
- Binder T
- Blunier T
Publication Date: 2013-01-24
Type: Journal Article
No inter-hemispheric delta(CH4)-C-13 trend observed
Publication Date: 2012-06-28
Type: Journal Article
Interpreting methane variations in the past two decades using measurements of CH4 mixing ratio and isotopic composition
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Monthly precipitation isoscapes (δ18O) of the United States: Connections with surface temperatures, moisture source conditions, and air mass trajectories
Publication Date: 2010-11-12
Type: Journal Article
Moisture source temperatures and precipitation δ18O-temperature relationships across the United States
Publication Date: 2010-07-20
Type: Journal Article
Global Network Measurements of Atmospheric Trace Gas Isotopes
Type: Chapter
Demonstration of high-precision continuous measurements of water vapor isotopologues in laboratory and remote field deployments using wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) technology
Publication Date: 2009-08-01
Type: Journal Article
A new laser-based, field-deployable analyzer for laboratory-class stable isotope measurements in water
Publication Date: 2009-06-01
Type: Journal Article
Isoscapes to Address Large‐Scale Earth Science Challenges
Bowen GJ; West JB; Vaughn BH; Dawson TE; Ehleringer JR; Fogel ML; Hobson K; Hoogewerff J; Kendall C; Lai C...
- Bowen GJ
- West JB
- Vaughn BH
- Dawson TE
- Ehleringer JR
- Fogel ML
- Hobson K
- Hoogewerff J
- Kendall C
- Lai C
Publication Date: 2009-03-31
Type: Journal Article
High-precision CO2 isotopologue spectrometer with a difference-frequency-generation laser source
Publication Date: 2009-01-15
Type: Journal Article
Long-term field performance of a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer for analysis of carbon isotopes of CO2 in forest air
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Stable isotopic variations in west China: A consideration of moisture sources
Publication Date: 2007-05-23
Type: Journal Article
The 8.2 ka event from Greenland ice cores
Thomas ER; Wolff EW; Mulvaney R; Steffensen JP; Johnsen SJ; Arrowsmith C; White JWC; Vaughn B; Popp T...
- Thomas ER
- Wolff EW
- Mulvaney R
- Steffensen JP
- Johnsen SJ
- Arrowsmith C
- White JWC
- Vaughn B
- Popp T
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Type: Journal Article
A stable isotopic investigation of a polar desert hydrologic system, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Publication Date: 2006-02-01
Type: Journal Article
Stable isotopes and electrical conductivity as keys to understanding water pathways and storage in South Cascade Glacier, Washington, USA
Publication Date: 2004-07-26
Type: Conference Proceeding
Stable isotope measurements of atmospheric CO2 and CH4
Type: Chapter
Determining long time-scale hyporheic zone flow paths in Antarctic streams
Publication Date: 2003-06-30
Type: Journal Article
The atmospheric signal of terrestrial carbon isotopic discrimination and its implication for partitioning carbon fluxes
Publication Date: 2003-04-01
Type: Journal Article
Surface glaciochemistry of Taylor Valley, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica and its relationship to stream chemistry
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Type: Journal Article
Carbon isotope discrimination of arctic and boreal biomes inferred from remote atmospheric measurements and a biosphere-atmosphere model
Randerson JT; Still CJ; Balle JJ; Fung IY; Doney SC; Tans PP; Conway TJ; White JWC; Vaughn B; Suits N...
- Randerson JT
- Still CJ
- Balle JJ
- Fung IY
- Doney SC
- Tans PP
- Conway TJ
- White JWC
- Vaughn B
- Suits N
Publication Date: 2002-07-01
Type: Journal Article
Pages
Outreach
Faces of the Front Range: Scientists Bruce Vaughn and Bradley Markle look to save the world by understanding it. Story in the Denver Post about the work of the Stable Isotope Lab.
Bruce Vaughn, who runs our Stable Isotope Lab at INSTAAR, is also a volunteer firefighter with the Four Mile Fire Protection District. Twitter takeover from October 23, 2020.