My official title and address are:
Astrobiologist
Planetary Systems Branch
Space Science Division
NASA/Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

My main responsibility is being the Principal Investigator for the Mars General Circulation Model (GCM) task, which is funded by the NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program. Though the GCM is my main focus, I'm also funded by the Mars Data Analysis Program to analyze global dust storms, and the Mars Fundamental Research Program to develop state-of-the-art ice sublimation models.

Education:
Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, 1981
M.S. Meteorology, San Jose State University, 1975
B.S. Meteorology, San Jose State University, 1972

Research Interests:
My main research interests center around the climate of Mars: past, present, and future. Climate is a broad term that covers the seasonal cycles of dust, water vapor, and carbon dioxide, their coupling to the general circulation, and how these have changed in the past. I am very much interested in how the dust and water cycles are affected by changes in Mars' orbital parameters. For many years now, the geological community has been finding morphological evidence for significant post-noachian climate change (i.e., climate change since ~3.5 billion years ago). Things like tropical glaciers and ice covered lakes are some examples. General circulation models are now showing it is possible to mobilize surface ice and redistribute to almost any latitude just by changing the planet's orbit characteristics. This is a very exciting result and it opens up a new line of research that can transform our understanding of Mars. Instead of being a relatively dead planet for much of its history, it now seems entirely plausible that it has undergone many climate changes that could even have biological implications. So hang on folks, the fun is just beginning!

Mission Involvement:
I’ve been fortunate to have been involved with the following missions:

Brief Biographical Sketch:
I grew up in Southern California and have two brothers and a sister. I'm the oldest. I went to a technical high school and studied metallurgy as well as the usual academic subjects. After a few years at a junior college, I quit to travel and work. That was a big mistake! I got drafted and ended up in the infantry in Viet Nam. That experience changed my life forever. I promised myself that I'd never complain about anything anymore since nothing could be worse than ducking bullets while patrolling through a hot steamy jungle. I'm happy to say I've kept that promise.

After Viet Nam and the Army, I returned to school but quit again to travel. With my wife-to-be, I traveled through Europe for 7 months. That too was a life altering experience. I learned to respect and appreciate the diversity of human culture.

After returning to the US, and now in my mid-twenties, I went back to school in earnest. I majored in meteorology because I thought it might be fun. It was. In graduate school I learned about the atmospheres of the planets and became absolutely fascinated with the subject. It was then that I was introduced to Jim Pollack at Ames. Jim gave me a masters topic and a job when I graduated. He then encouraged me to get a Ph.D. and put me in touch with Conway Leovy at the University of Washington.

The rest is history. I came back to Ames after graduating from the University of Washington and joined the Space Science Division a few years later. I've been here ever since. It’s a great environment for basic theoretical research and the people are fun to be around.

Outside Interests and Hobbies:
For exercise I like to surf and play tennis. For relaxation I play the guitar and the piano. I also like to camp, fish, and hike, though I don't seem to find much time to do these things anymore.

Selected Publications:
Haberle, R.M., Leovy, C.B., and J.B. Pollack (1982). Some Effects of Global Dust Storms on the Atmospheric Circulation of Mars. Icarus, 50, 322-367.

Haberle, R.M., Ackerman, T.P., Toon, O.B., and J. Hollingsworth (1985). Global Transport of Atmospheric Smoke Following a Large-Scale Nuclear Exchange. Geophys. Res. Lett., 12, 405-408.

Haberle, R.M. (1985). The Climate of Mars. Scientific American, 254, 54-62.

Haberle, R.M. (1986). Interannual Variability of Global Dust Storms on Mars. Science, 234, 459-461.

Haberle, R.M. and B.M. Jakosky (1990). Sublimation and Transport of Water from the North Residual Cap on Mars, J. Geophy. Res., 95, 1423-1438.

Haberle, R.M., and B.M. Jakosky (1991). Atmospheric Effects on the Remote Determination of Thermal Inertia of Mars. Icarus, 90, 187-204.

Haberle, R.M., J.B. Pollack, J.R. Barnes, R.W. Zurek, C.B. Leovy, J.R. Murphy, J. Schaeffer, and H. Lee (1993). Mars atmospheric dynamics as simulated by the NASA/Ames general circulation model I. The zonal mean circulation. J. Geophys. Res., 98, 3093-3124.

Haberle, R.M., H.C. Houben, R. Hertenstein, and T. Herdtle (1993). A Boundary Layer Model for Mars: Comparison with Viking Entry and Lander Data. J. Atmos. Sci. 50, 1544-1559.

Haberle, R.M., C.P. McKay, O.E. Gwynne, D.H. Atkinson, R.W. Zurek, J.B. Pollack, G.A. Landis, J. Appelbaum, and D.J. Flood (1993). Atmospheric Effects on the Utility of Solar Power for Mars, In Resources of Near-Earth Space, J. Lewis and M.S. Matthews Editors, University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Haberle, R.M., D.Tyler, C.P. McKay, and W.L. Davis (1994). A Model for the Evolution of CO2 on Mars. Icarus, 109, 102-120.

Haberle, R.M., McKay, C.P., Tyler, D., and R.T. Reynolds. (1996). Can Synchronously Rotating Planets Support An Atmosphere? (1996). In Circumstellar Habitable Zones, Proceedings of the First International Conference. pp 29-34. L.R. Doyle, ed., Travis House Publications, Menlo Park, CA.

Haberle, R.M., and D.C. Catling (1996). A Micro-Metorological Mission for Global Network Science on Mars: Rationale and Measurement Requirements. Planet. Space Sci., 44, 1361-1384.

Haberle, R.M., Barnes, J.R., Murphy, J.R., Joshi, M.M, and J. Schaeffer (1997). Meteorological Predictions for the Mars Pathfinder Lander. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 13,301-13,311.

Haberle, R.M. (1998). Early Mars Climate Models. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 28,467-28,479.

Haberle, R.M., Joshi, M.M., Murphy, J.R., Barnes, J.R., Schofield, J.T., Wilson, G.R., Lopez-Valverde, M., Hollingsworth, J.L., Bridger, A.F.C., and Schaeffer, J. (1999). GCM Simulations of the Mars Pathfinder ASI/MET Data. J. Geophys. Res., 104, 8957-8974.

Haberle, R.M., McKay, C.P., Schaeffer, J., Cabrol, N.AS., Grin, E.A., Zent, A.P., and Quinn, R. (2001). On the possibility of liquid water on present day Mars. J. Geophys. Res., 106, 23,317-23,326.