Argonne National Laboratory

Community Research on Climate and Urban Science

CROCUS
CROCUS is an Urban Integrated Field Laboratory established by Argonne with help from academic and community organizations and civic and industry champions. Our goal is to understand and meet the challenges of Chicago’s changing climate.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Community Research on Climate and Urban Science (CROCUS) will study urban climate change and its implications for environmental justice in the Chicago region. The CROCUS team will conduct novel observational science and create highly accurate climate models. This information will lead to new insights on current and future urban climate challenges and will inform future actions for mitigating and adapting to climate change at the street, neighborhood, and regional levels.

Our goal is to develop knowledge and tools that are responsive to the needs of diverse communities and applicable to urban areas across the country. Our research will provide opportunities to educate and train the next generation of workers who are diverse, informed, and prepared for jobs in the climate sector.

Photo montage of lakes and atmosphere above. [Image courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).]
Press Release

Future-proofing the Great Lakes region through climate research: Improved regional climate models will help the Great Lakes Region become more informed, ready and resilient

New climate models on warming water temperatures in the Great Lakes region show that small differences in lake surface temperatures have a big impact on summer climate, fueling extreme weather. This is crucial information for climate resilience planning.
Computational Science, Computational Environmental Science, Modeling and Simulation