About Us
The Nonlinear Geophysics Section (NG) was formed in 1998 to meet a growing interest in the analysis and modeling of nonlinear behavior in complex geophysical systems. Twenty-three years later, the importance of complex systems phenomena in Earth science and beyond was highlighted by the 2021 Nobel prize in Physics, awarded “for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems.” NG initially focused on quantifying nonlinear behavior through analysis of geophysical data and modeling using the mathematical tools and approaches of fractals, chaos, scaling, critical phenomena, nucleation, cellular automata, and self-organizing and complex systems. Since then the group’s focus has expanded, and now includes fundamental research on nonlinear, stochastic, and turbulent behavior across geophysical systems, and on the development of methods from mathematics, statistics, and computational science in support of solution-based geophysics.
Our members advance fundamental research in fluid dynamics of waves and turbulence; they study predictability of complex systems, and develop methods for data assimilation (DA), prediction, and uncertainty quantification; they formulate new machine learning (ML) frameworks for geophysical applications; and they develop new tools in computational physics, artificial intelligence (AI), and data science. At the Annual Meeting, NG organizes sessions, hosts the Ed Lorenz Lecture, and presents the Donald L Turcotte Award. The section’s interests are cross-cutting and trans-disciplinary, and NG has affiliates from across AGU. If you are interested, we invite you to affiliate with us.