Associate Professor Frank Mills
PhD (Planetary science) California Institute of Technology, MS (Physics) California Institute of Technology, BSE with Honors (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) Princeton University
Associate Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society
ANU College of Science
Areas of expertise
- Planetary Science (Excl. Extraterrestrial Geology) 020108
- Atmospheric Aerosols 040101
- Tropospheric And Stratospheric Physics 040108
- Environmental Chemistry (Incl. Atmospheric Chemistry) 039901
- Atmospheric Radiation 040103
- Physical Geography And Environmental Geoscience 0406
- Atmospheric Sciences 0401
Research interests
My principal resarch interests are the transmission of radiation through planetary atmospheres and its impact on atmospheric chemistry. Recent research includes: atmospheric chemistry on Venus and the Earth, simulation of atmospheric chemistry on extrasolar planets, analysis of data and simulations for Australia's climate, and solar energy forecasting.
Biography
After a decade on a joint appointment in the ANU's Research School of Physics and Engineering (RSPE) and Fenner School of Environment and Society, I moved in 2015 to a position solely in Fenner. Throughout 2015-2017, I served as at least one of Fenner's Acting Associate Director (Education), Deputy Director for Education, and Associate Director (Undergraduate Coursework). I am affiliated with the ANU's Planetary Science, Climate Change, and Energy Change Institutes. I also hold a grant-funded position with Space Science Institute in the USA. For most/all of 2020 I am a visiting researcher at the University of Texas Austin.
I have supervised student research projects in the Astrophysics, Earth Science, Engineering, Environment, and Physics programs.
I convened the Honours program in the Fenner School from late-2012 until mid-2018. I also have convened and lectured in Thermal and Statistical Physics (PHYS2020), Climatology (ENVS3013/6303), and Climate Change Science and Policy (ENVS3020/6307) and have contributed to Physics for Future Leaders (PHYS2205), Ocean and Atmosphere Modelling (EMSC3029), Fundamentals of Climate System Science (EMSC2021), Planetary Science (EMSC3022), and Weather, Climate and Fire (ENVS2004).
I have been a Supporting Investigator for ESA's Venus Express mission, Guest Investigator for JAXA's Akatsuki's mission, adjunct member of the Japan science team for ASTER, member of an ISSI International Team studying SO2 on Venus, invited participant in an ISSI/Europlanet workshop on exoplanetary atmospheres, and member of ICPAE of the IAMAS.
Researcher's projects
- EnVision VenSpec Science Team (ESA)
- Simulating the spatial distributions of carbon monoxide and oxygen to better understand the chemical stability of Venus' atmosphere (NASA)
- Chemistry and dynamics in Venus' lower atmosphere and cloud layers in the context of the global sulfur cycle (NASA)
- Understanding the diversity of planetary atmospheres (ISSI)
- Sulfur dioxide variability in the Venus atmosphere (ISSI)
- Carbon, oxygen, and sulfur chemistry on Venus in three dimensions: Time, altitude, and latitude (NASA)
- Photochemistry and dynamics of the middle atmosphere of Venus (~70-110 km): Modeling of SO2 and aerosol distributions and comparisons with Venus Express and ground-based observations (NASA)
- The new Venus photochemistry: Improvements in understanding Venus' atmospheric evolution (NASA)
- Analysis of photochemical variability in the Venus mesosphere and lower thermosphere (NASA)
- Chemistry and dynamics of the Venus middle atmosphere (NASA)
- Coordinated HST, Venus Express, and Venus Climate Orbiter observations of Venus (STScI, NASA, JAXA)
- Multispectral and multiangle remote sensing of mineral dust aerosols (NASA)
- Modelling and observational support to Venus Express observations of atmospheric composition (ESA)
- Isotopic fractionation in planetary atmospheres (ARC)
- Understanding the chemistry and evolution of planets and their atmospheres: Integrating experiments, observations, and quantum mechanical models (ARC)
- Photochemistry of the middle atmospheres of Venus and the Earth (ARC)
- Real-time operational distributed PV simulations for distribution network service providers (ARENA)
- Machine-learning-based forecasting of distributed solar energy production (ASI, ARENA)
- Evaluating, forecasting, and managing suburb-scale distributed solar electricity production (ANU)
Available student projects
Undergraduate, Honours, Masters, and PhD research projects are developed in consultation with prospective students. Many student projects I have supervised were proposed by the student. Some ideas are the following.
Extrasolar Planets
- Simulate potentially observable atmospheric composition on terrestrial-like extrasolar planets
Planetary Atmospheres
- SO2 and SO from Venus transit, Hubble Space Telescope, and other observations
- Infrared and visible observations of Venus
- Compare and synthesise observations of Venus
- Model Venus' chemistry and evolution
- Develop atmospheric chemistry models
Earth Atmospheric and Climate Science
- Analyse climate data and/or simulations
- Develop atmospheric chemistry models
- Analyse Australian weather patterns
- Retrieve cloud characteristics from photovoltaic data
Solar Energy Forecasting
- Design remote data collection, archive, and distribution system
- Design remote data logging system for retrieving data from geographically dispersed photovoltaic and camera arrays
- Operate, calibrate, and analyse data from on-campus solar measurement network
- Analyse data from distributed photovoltaic arrays
Current student projects
PhD Thesis Research
- Yan Zhang: Occupant behavior and its impact on energy consumption of urban residential buildings (Fenner)
MPhil Thesis Research
Masters Dissertation Research
Honours Thesis Research
Past student projects
PhD Theses
- Using 3D serious gaming interventions to promote climate science literacy in the 12-13-year age group (Inez Harker-Schuch, Fenner)
- City-wide simulations of distributed photovoltaic array power output (Nicholas Engerer, Fenner)
- Two complementary approaches in refining the search for liquid water and habitable environments on present-day Mars (Eriita Jones, Astrophysics)
MPhil Theses
- Modeling the Venus middle atmosphere (Manuraj Shunmuga Sundaram, Physics)
Masters Dissertation Research
- Characterisation and analysis of solar radiation variability and the resultant power ramps for a rooftop photovoltaic system in Bandung Indonesia (Umar Hanif Ramadhani, Fenner)
- Precipitation and atmospheric moisture in the Australian region as modelled by the ACCESS climate model with two separate cloud and condensation schemes (Liam Lilly, Fenner)
Honours Theses
- Investigating a blended approach to cross-cultural human ecology education: An exploratopry study pairing university institutions in Australia and the Philippines (Louise Blessington, Fenner)
- Does valley morphology influence the orientation and form of sand dunes in the Shyok Basin, Northern Himalaya? (Savannah McGuirk, Fenner)
- Observed and simulated relationships amongst ENSO, the IPO and rainfall variability in eastern Australia (Sonya Wellby, Fenner)
- Public policy for a low carbon economy: A case study analysis of the Australian clean energy future package in the Australian capital region (Jemma Williams, Fenner)
- Modelling of sulfur oxide and cloud chemistry in Venus' mesosphere (Joshua Petrass, Physics)
- An investigation of methods for estimating distributed solar energy generation (Junyan Tan, Engineering)
- The effect of spatial dispersion on photovoltaic intermittency (Ashton Walker, Engineering)
- Velocity-map imaging of O- photodetachment yielding O(3P) and O(1D2) atoms (Ly Duong, Astrophysics)
- ANU Spectroradiometry (Patrick Duthie, Engineering)
- The geothermal energy potential of the Clarence-Moreton Basin, New South Wales (Marcus Haynes, Fenner)
- Australian precipitation from models and observations (Annette Hirsch, Fenner)
- Atmospheric aerosols over Australia and New Zealand and effects on surface ultraviolet radiation (Lukas Weber, Physics)
- Heterogeneous chemistry in the Venus atmosphere (Manuraj Shunmuga Sundaram, Physics)
PhB, BSc, and MBBS Independent Research Projects
- Sustainability in ACT schools
- Assessment of the potential importance for human health of UV reduction due to aerosols
- Comparison of modelled and measured aerosol spectra
- Verification of the Caltech / JPL photochemical model
- Research on Venus' atmospheric chemistry
- Impact of increasing the SO2 oxidation rate on the oxygen chemistry of Venus' middle atmosphere
- A comparison of modern sulfuric acid optical constants essential to Venusian atmospheric chemistry
- An investigation of possible methods of measuring molecular oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus
Publications
- Mahieux, A, Yelle, R, Yoshida, N et al. 2021, 'Determination of the Venus eddy diffusion profile from CO and CO2 profiles using SOIR/Venus Express observations', Icarus, vol. 361.
- Mills, F, Moses, J, Gao, P et al. 2021, 'The Diversity of Planetary Atmospheric Chemistry: Lessons and Challenges from Our Solar System and Extrasolar Planets', Space Science Reviews, vol. 217, no. 43.
- Pinto, J, Li, J, Mills, F et al. 2021, 'Sulfur monoxide dimer chemistry as a possible source of polysulfur in the upper atmosphere of Venus', Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1.
- Parkinson, C, Bougher, S, Mills, F et al. 2021, 'Modeling of observations of the OH nightglow in the Venusian mesosphere', Icarus, vol. 368.
- Li, K, Khoury, R, Pongetti, T et al. 2021, 'Diurnal variability of stratospheric column NO2 measured using direct solar and lunar spectra over Table Mountain, California (34.38N)', Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 7495-7510.
- Zhang, Y, Bai, X, Mills, F, Pezzey, J 2021, 'Examining the attitude-behavior gap in residential energy use: Empirical evidence from a large-scale survey in Beijing, China', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 295.
- Jessup, K, Marcq, E, Bertaux, J et al. 2020, 'On Venus' cloud top chemistry, convective activity and topography: A perspective from HST', Icarus, vol. 335, no. 0.
- Zhang, Y, Bai, X & Mills, F 2020, 'Characterizing energy-related occupant behavior in residential buildings: Evidence from a survey in Beijing, China', Energy and Buildings, vol. 214.
- Harker-Schuch, I, Lade, S, Mills, F et al. 2020, 'Opinions of 12 to 13-year-olds in Austria and Australia on the concern, cause and imminence of climate change', AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, vol. 50, pp. 644-660.
- Harker-Schuch, I, Mills, F, Lade, S, Colvin, RM 2020, 'CO2peration - Structuring a 3D interactive digital game to improve climate literacy in the 12-13-year-old age group', Computers and Education, vol. 144, no. 103705, pp. 1-16.
- Marcq, E, Mills, F, Parkinson, C et al. 2018, 'Composition and Chemistry of the Neutral Atmosphere of Venus', Space Science Reviews, vol. 214, no. 10, pp. 1-55.
- Zhang, Y, Bai, X, Mills, F., Pezzey J. 2018, 'Rethinking the role of occupant behavior in building energy performance: A review', Energy and Buildings, vol. 172, pp. 279-294pp.
- Mills, F, Jessup, K & Yung, Y 2017, 'Simulations of Vertical Profiles of SO and SO2 in Venus’ Mesosphere', Venus Modeling Workshop, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
- Vandaele, A, Korablev, O, Belyaev, D et al. 2017, 'Sulfur dioxide in the Venus Atmosphere: II. Spatial and temporal variability', Icarus, vol. 295, pp. 1-15.
- Vandaele, A, Korablev, O, Belyaev, D et al. 2017, 'Sulfur dioxide in the Venus atmosphere: I. Vertical distribution and variability', Icarus, vol. 295, pp. 16-33.
- Mills, F, Shunmuga Sundaram, M, Allen, M et al. 2016, 'Potential impacts of heterogeneous chemistry on Venus' mesospheric chemistry', 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Online, p. 1936.
- Caprarelli, G, Jones, E & Mills, F 2016, 'A thermophysical study of Martian surface materials in Schiaparelli Crater', 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Online, pp. 2pp.
- Jessup, K, Imamura, T, Nakamura, M et al. 2016, 'Advancing Venus atmospheric modelling via coordinated HST-Akatsuki observations', 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Online, pp. 2pp.
- Engerer, N & Mills, F 2015, 'Validating nine clear sky radiation models in Australia', Solar Energy, vol. 120, pp. 9-24.
- Vandaele, A, Korablev, O, Mahieux, A et al. 2015, 'Sulfur Dioxide variability in the Venus Atmosphere', European Planetary Science Congress 2015, European Planetary Science Congress 2015, Online, pp. 2pp.
- Garcia Munoz, A & Mills, F 2015, 'Pre-conditioned backward Monte Carlo solutions to radiative transport in planetary atmospheres Fundamentals: Sampling of propagation directions in polarising media', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 573, no. A72, pp. 1-20.
- Jessup, K-L, Marcq, E, Mills, F et al 2015, 'Coordinated Hubble Space Telescope and Venus Express Observations of Venus' upper cloud deck', Icarus, vol. 258, pp. 309-336.
- Engerer, N & Mills, F 2014, 'K-PV: A clear-sky index for photovoltaics', Solar Energy, vol. 105, pp. 679-693.
- Mills, F, Engerer, N & Steele, T 2014, 'Design considerations for an urban solar radiation measurement network', The 52nd Annual Conference of the Australian Solar Council, Australian Solar Council, Australia, pp. 343-353.
- Tan, J, Engerer, N & Mills, F 2014, 'Estimating Hourly Energy Generation of Distributed Photovoltaic Arrays: a Comparison of Two Methods', The 52nd Annual Conference of the Australian Solar Council, Australian Solar Council, Australia, pp. 385-396.
- Marcq, E, Mills, F, Sandor, B et al. 2014, 'Composition and Chemistry of the Neutral Atmosphere of Venus', European Planetary Science Congress 2014, European Planetary Science Congress 2014, Portugal.
- Gibson, S, Cavanagh, S, Lewis, B et al. 2014, 'Back to basics, the chemistry of aerosol formation, viewed with velocity-map imaging of photoelectrons', Optical Instrumentation for Energy and Environmental Applications 2014, Optical Society of American (OSA), United States.
- Jones, E, Caprarelli, G, Mills, F et al 2014, 'An Alternative Approach to Mapping Thermophysical Units from Martian Thermal Inertia and Albedo Data Using a Combination of Unsupervised Classification Techniques', Remote Sensing, vol. 6, pp. 5184-5237.
- Wang, S, Li, K, Pongetti, T et al. 2013, 'Midlatitude atmospheric OH response to the most recent 11-y solar cycle', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 110, no. 6, pp. 2023-2028.
- Jones, E, Mills, F, Caprarelli, G et al. 2013, 'Geologic features in new tes thermal inertia-albedo units derived from unsupervised classification', 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Online, pp. 2pp.
- Jessup, K, Mills, F, Marcq, E et al. 2013, 'Variations in Venus' Cloud Top SO2 and SO Gas Density with Latitude and Time of Day', European Planetary Science Congress 2013, European Planetary Science Congress 2013, Online, pp. 3pp.
- Garcia Munoz, A & Mills, F 2012, 'The June 2012 transit of Venus Framework for interpretation of observations', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 547, pp. 1-14.
- Mills, F 2012, What Venus has taught us about protecting the ozone layer, pp. 1-3pp.
- Mills, F, Shunmuga Sundaram, M, Allen, M et al. 2011, 'Preliminary modelling of NOx photochemistry on Venus', EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, Online, pp. 2pp.
- Mills, F & Brown, M 2000, 'Thermal infrared spectroscopy of Europa and Callisto', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 105, no. E6, pp. 15051-15059.
- Mills, F 1999, 'Water vapor in the Venus middle atmosphere', Advances in Space Research, vol. 23, no. 9, pp. 1573-1576.
- Eldering, A, Mills, F, Irion, F et al. 1999, 'Determination of stratospheric sulfate aerosol composition and mass loading from high resolution infrared transmission measurements', Journal of Aerosol Science, vol. 30, no. Suppl. 1, pp. S571-S572.
- Mills, F 1999, 'A spectroscopic search for molecular oxygen in the Venus middle atmosphere', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 104, no. E12, pp. 30757-30763.
- Zhang et al 2012, 'Sulfur chemistry in the middle atmosphere of Venus', Icarus 217, 714-739.
- Jones et al 2011, 'New Unsupervised Classification of the Martian Surface Into TES Thermal-Inertia Albedo Units', Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2011
- Sundaram et al 2011, 'An Initial Model Assessment of NOx Photochemistry on Venus with Heterogeneous Oxidation of CO', Australian Space Science Conference 2010.
- Jones et al 2011, 'Initial Results from a GIS-Âbased Unsupervised Classification Study of the Martian Surface', Australian Space Science Conference 2010.
- Sandor et al 2010, 'Sulfur chemistry in the Venus mesosphere from SO2 and SO microwave spectra', Icarus 208, 49-60.
- Mills and Chee 2010, 'An initial assessment of the impact of Australian aerosols on surface ultraviolet radiation and implications for human health', National Conference of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society 2010.
- Garcia-Munoz, A, Mills, F, Piccioni, G et al. 2009, 'The near-infrared nitric oxide nightglow in the upper atmosphere of Venus', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 106, no. 4, pp. 985-988.
- Cuzzi, J, Backman, D, Baines, A et al. 2009, 'Planetary Science', in Robert Gehrz, Daniel Lester, Thomas Roellig, Eric Becklin (ed.), The Science Vision for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Moffett Field CA, USA, pp. 5/1 to 20.
- Piccioni, G, Zasova, L, Migliorini, A et al. 2009, 'Near-IR oxygen nightglow observed by VIRTIS in the Venus upper atmosphere', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 114, no. E00B38, p. 18.
- Garcia-Munoz, A, Mills, F, Slanger, T et al. 2009, 'Visible and near-infrared nightglow of molecular oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 114, no. E12002, pp. 1-12.
- Dovers, S, Hutchinson, M, Lindenmayer, D et al. 2008, 'Uncertainty, Complexity and the Environment', in Gabriele Bammer and Michael Smithson (ed.), Uncertainty and Risk: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, pp. 245-260.
- Giuseppe, P, Drossart, P, Zasova, L et al. 2008, 'First detection of hydroxyl in the atmosphere of Venus', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 483, pp. L29-L33.
- Fischer, J, Manning, A, Steffen, W et al. 2007, 'Mind the sustainability gap', Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 22, no. 12, pp. 621-624.
- Mills, F, Esposito, L & Yung, Y 2007, 'Atmospheric Composition, Chemistry, and Clouds', in Larry W. Esposito, Ellen R. Stofan, Thomas E. Cravens (ed.), Exploring Venus as a Terrestrial Planet, American Geophysical Union, Washington, USA, pp. 73-100.
- Kalashnikova, O, Mills, F, Eldering, A et al. 2007, 'Application of satellite and ground-based data to investigate the UV radiative effects of Australian aerosols', Remote Sensing of Environment, vol. 107, pp. 65-80.
- Mills, F & Allen, M 2007, 'A review of selected issues concerning the chemistry in Venus' middle atmosphere', Planetary and Space Science, vol. 55, pp. 1729-1740.
- Mills, F, Sundaram, M, Slanger, T et al. 2006, 'Oxygen Chemistry in the Venus Middle Atmosphere', in Anil Bhardwaj (ed.), Advances in Geosciences Volume 3: Planetary Science, World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore, pp. 109-117.
- Li, K, Cageao, R, Karpilovsky, E et al. 2005, 'OH column abundance over Table Mountain Facility, California: AP-PM diurnal asymmetry', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 32, no. L13813, pp. 1-4.
- Eldering, A, Kahn, B, Mills, F et al. 2004, 'Vertical profiles of aerosol volume from high spectral resolution infrared transmission measurements: results', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 109, pp. D20201.
- Pernice, H, Garcia, P, Willner, H et al. 2004, 'Laboratory evidence for a key intermediate in the Venus atmosphere: Peroxychloroformyl radical', PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 101, no. 39, pp. 14007-14010.
- Mills, F, Cageao, R, Sander, S et al. 2003, 'OH Column Abundance over Table Mountain Facility, California: Intra-Annual Variations and Comparisons to Model Predictions for 1997-2001', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 108, no. D24, pp. 17-1-16.
- Steele, H, Eldering, A, Sen, B et al. 2003, 'Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol size and composition information from solar infrared transmission spectra', Applied Optics, vol. 42, no. 12, pp. 2140-2154.
- Mills, F, Cageao, R, Nemtchinov, V et al. 2002, 'OH column abundance over Table Mountain Facility, California: Annual average 1997-2000', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 29, no. 15, pp. 1742 (32-1-4).
- Kahn, B, Eldering, A, Irion, F et al. 2002, 'Cloud identification in Atmospheric Trace Molecule spectrosocopy infrared occulatation measurements', Applied Optics, vol. 41, no. 15, pp. 2768-2780.
- Cageao, R, Blavier, J, McGuire, J et al. 2001, 'High-resolution Fourier-transform ultraviolet-visible spectrometer for the measurement of atmospheric trace species: application to OH', Applied Optics, vol. 40, no. 12, pp. 2024-2030.
- Eldering, A, Irion, F, Chang, A et al. 2001, 'Vertical profiles of aerosol volume from high-spectral-resolution infrared transmission measurements: I. Methodology', Applied Optics, vol. 40, no. 18, pp. 3082-3091.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- ARENA Industry-Research Collaboration Round: Real-time Operational Distributed PV Simulations for Distribution Network Service Providers (Secondary Investigator)
- Snowy Monaro Regional Scholarship (Primary Investigator)
- Machine-learning-based forecasting of distributed solar energy production (Secondary Investigator)
- Understanding the chemistry and evolution of planets and their atmospheres: Integrating experiments, observations, and quantum mechanical models (Secondary Investigator)
- Isotopic fractionation in planetary atmospheres (Primary Investigator)
