Ben Kravitz

Ben Kravitz

Associate Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Director of Graduate Studies

Education

  • Ph.D., Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University, 2011
  • M.S., Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University, 2009
  • M.S., Mathematics, Purdue University, 2007
  • B.A., Mathematics, Northwestern University, 2004

About Ben Kravitz

I am interested in using climate models to explore radiative forcing, climate response, and climate system feedbacks. My main areas of focus are climate engineering using stratospheric sulfate aerosols, reduced order modeling of the climate system, high latitude climate teleconnections, and uncertainty quantification for wind energy. I am also interested in applying engineering techniques, such as control theory, system identification, and linear systems theory, to climate modeling.

Planetary Geoscience

Kravitz’s modeling of the effects of atmospheric composition on climate and climate system feedbacks can be used to test hypotheses about the dynamics of exoplanetary atmospheres derived from remote sensing data on their chemical compositions.

Employment history

  • 2024 - Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University
  • 2019-2024 - Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University
  • 2015-2018 - Staff Scientist, Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • 2012-2015 - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • 2011-2012 - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science

Representative publications

MacMartin DG and Kravitz B. The engineering of climate engineering, Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, accepted.

Tilmes S, Richter JH, Kravitz B, MacMartin D, Mills MJ, Simpson I, Glanville AS, Fasullo JT, Phillips AS, Lamarque J-F, Tribbia J, Edwards J, Mickelson S and Ghosh S. CESM1(WACCM) stratospheric aerosol geoengineering large ensemble (GLENS) project, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, accepted.

Ji D, Fang S, Curry C, Kashimura H, Watanabe S, Cole J, Lenton A, Muri H, Kravitz B and Moore J (2018). Extreme temperature and precipitation response to solar dimming and stratospheric aerosol geoengineering. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18:10133-10156. DOI

Richter JH, Tilmes S, Glanville A, Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Mills MJ, Simpson IR, Vitt F, Tribbia JJ and Lamarque J-F (2018). Stratospheric response in the first geoengineering simulation meeting multiple surface climate objectives. Journal of Geophysical Research 123:5762-5782. DOI

Plazzotta M, Séférian R, Douville H, Kravitz B and Tjiputra J (2018). Land surface temperature response to stratospheric aerosol injection constrained by major volcanic eruptions. Geophysical Research Letters 45:5663-5671. DOI

Kelly P, Kravitz B, Lu J and Leung LR (2018). Remote drying in the North Atlantic as a common response to precessional changes and CO2 increase over land. Geophysical Research Letters 45:3615-3624, DOI

Tilmes S, Richter J, Mills M, Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Garcia R, Kinnison D, Lamarque J-F, Tribbia J and Vitt F (2018). Effects of different stratospheric SO2 injection altitudes on stratospheric chemistry and dynamics. Journal of Geophysical Research 123:4654-4673, DOI

Keller D, Lenton A, Scott V, Vaughan N, Bauer N, Ji D, Jones C, Kravitz B, Muri H and Zickfeld K (2018). The Carbon Dioxide Removal Model Intercomparison Project (CDR-MIP): Rationale and experimental design. Geoscientific Model Development 11:1133-1160. DOI

Seneviratne SI, Phipps SJ, Pitman AJ, Hirsch AL, Davin EL, Donat MG, Hirschi M, Lenton A, Wilhelm M and Kravitz B (2018). Land radiative management as contributor to regional-scale climate adaptation and mitigation. Nature Geoscience 11:88-96. DOI

Stjern C, Muri H, Ahlm L, Boucher O, Cole JNS, Ji D, Jones A, Haywood J, Kravitz B, Lenton A, Moore JC, Niemeier U, Phipps SJ, Schmidt H, Watanabe S and Kristjánsson JE (2018). Response to marine cloud brightening in a multi-model ensemble. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18:621-634. DOI

Mills MJ, Richter JH, Tilmes S, Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Glanville S, Schmidt A, Tribbia JJ, Gettelman A, Hannay C, Bacmeister JT, Kinnison DE, Vitt F and Lamarque J-F (2017). Radiative and chemical response to interactive stratospheric aerosols in fully coupled CESM1(WACCM). Journal of Geophysical Research 122:13061-13078. DOI

Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Mills MJ, Richter JH, Tilmes S, Lamarque J-F, Tribbia JJ and Vitt F (2017). First simulations of designing stratospheric sulfate aerosol geoengineering to meet multiple simultaneous climate objectives. Journal of Geophysical Research 122:12616-12634. DOI

Tilmes S, Richter JH, Mills MJ, Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Vitt F, Tribbia JJ and Lamarque J-F (2017). Sensitivity of aerosol distribution and climate response to stratospheric SO2 injection locations. Journal of Geophysical Research 122:12591-12615. DOI

Richter JH, Tilmes S, Mills MJ, Tribbia JJ, Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Vitt F and Lamarque J-F (2017). Stratospheric dynamical response to SO2 injection. Journal of Geophysical Research 122:12557-12573. DOI

MacMartin DG, Kravitz B, Tilmes S, Richter JH, Mills MJ, Lamarque J-F, Tribbia JJ and Vitt F (2017). The climate response to stratospheric aerosol geoengineering can be tailored using multiple injection locations. Journal of Geophysical Research 122:12574-12590. DOI

Ahlm L, Jones A, Stjern CW, Muri H, Kravitz B and Kristjánsson JE (2017). Marine cloud brightening – as effective without clouds. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17:13071-13087. DOI

Lynch CD, Hartin CA, Bond-Lamberty B and Kravitz B (2017). An open-access CMIP5 pattern library for temperature and precipitation: Description and methodology. Earth System Science Data 9:281-292. DOI

Kravitz B, Lynch C, Hartin, C and Bond-Lamberty B (2017). Exploring precipitation pattern scaling methodologies and robustness among CMIP5 models. Geoscientific Model Development 10:1889-1902. DOI

Kashimura H, Abe M, Watanabe S, Sekiya T, Ji D, Moore JC, Cole JNS and Kravitz B (2017). Shortwave radiative forcing, rapid adjustment, and feedback to the surface by sulphate geoengineering: Analysis of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project G4 scenario. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17:3339-3356. DOI

Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Rasch PJ and Wang H (2017). Simultaneous fully dynamic characterization of multiple input-output relationships in climate models. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17:2525-2541. DOI

Irvine PJ, Kravitz B, Lawrence M, Gerten D, Caminade C, Gosling S, Hendy E, Kassie B, Kissling D, Muri H, Oschlies A and Smith S (2017). Towards a comprehensive climate impacts assessment of solar geoengineering. Earth’s Future 5:93-106. DOI

Gabriel CJ, Robock A, Xia L, Zambri B and Kravitz B (2017). The G4Foam experiment: Global climate impacts of regional ocean albedo modification. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17:595-613. DOI

MacMartin DG and Kravitz B (2016). Dynamic climate emulators for solar geoengineering. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 16:15789-15799. DOI

MacMartin DG, Kravitz B, Long JCS and Rasch PJ (2016). Geoengineering with stratospheric aerosols: What don’t we know after a decade of research? Earth’s Future 4:543-548. DOI

Kravitz B, Guenther AB, Gu L, Karl T, Kaser L, Pallardy SG, Peñuelas J, Potosnak MJ and Seco R. (2016). A new paradigm of quantifying ecosystem stress through chemical signatures. Ecosphere 7, e01559. DOI

Irvine PJ, Kravitz B, Muri H and Lawrence MG (2016). An overview of the Earth system science of solar geoengineering. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews 7:815-833, DOI

Kravitz B, MacMartin DG, Wang H, and Rasch PJ (2016). Geoengineering as a design problem. Earth System Dynamics 7:469-497. DOI

Haywood JM, Jones A, Dunstone N, Milton S, Vellinga M, Bodas-Salcedo A, Hawcroft M, Kravitz B, Cole J, Watanabe S and Stephens G (2016). The impact of equilibrating hemispheric albedos on tropical performance in the HadGEM2-ES coupled climate model. Geophysical Research Letters 43:395-403. DOI