Robert Balling
- Senior Sustainability Scientist, Global Institute of Sustainability
- Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Director, Master of Advanced Study in Geographic Information Systems
School of Geographical Sciences
Arizona State University
PO Box 875302
Tempe, AZ 85287
Phone:
480-965-7533
Fax:
480-965-8313
Email:
robert.balling@asu.edu
Home Page:
http://geoplan.asu.edu/balling
Biography
Robert Balling came to Arizona State University (ASU) in 1985 to join the Office of Climatology, where he served as the director for 15 years. He is a professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, where he is currently the director of Advanced Study in Geographic Information Systems. Balling is a senior fellow in the Goldwater Institute at ASU, a member of the Committee of the European Science and Environment Forum, and a contributing member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is also a past member of the United Nations International Panel of Experts on Desertification. His work focuses upon climate-change issues, particularly how well historical records of climate match numerical model predictions given the ongoing buildup of greenhouse gases. Balling began his academic career in 1979 as an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Nebraska, where he was also a Research Fellow for the Center for Agricultural Meteorology and Climatology.
Education
- Ph.D., Geography, University of Oklahoma, 1979
- M.A., Geography, Bowling Green State University, 1975
- A.B., Geography, Witterberg University, 1974
Journal Articles
Balling, R. C. and H. C. Cubaque. 2009. Estimating future residential water consumption in Phoenix, Arizona based on simulated changes in climate. Physical Geography 30:308-323.
Balling, R. C. and P. Gober. 2007. Climate variability and residential water use in the City of Phoenix, Arizona. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 46:1130-1137.
Balling, R. C., P. Gober and N. Jones. 2008. Sensitivity of residential water consumption to variations in weather and climate: An intraurban analysis of Phoenix, Arizona. Water Resources Research 44.
Balling, R. C. and G. B. Goodrich. 2011. Spatial analysis of variations and trends in precipitation intensity in the USA. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 104:415-421.
Balling, R. C. and G. B. Goodrich. 2007. Analysis of drought determinants for the Colorado River Basin. Climatic Change 82:179-194.
Balling, R. C. and G. B. Goodrich. 2010. Increasing drought in the American Southwest? A continental perspective using a spatial analytical evaluation of recent trends. Physical Geography 31:293-306.
Brommer, D. M., R. S. Cerveny and R. C. Balling. 2007. Characteristics of long-duration precipitation events across the United States. Geophysical Research Letters 34.
Cerveny, R. S., B. M. Svoma, R. C. Balling and R. S. Vose. 2008. Gregorian calendar bias in monthly temperature databases. Geophysical Research Letters 35:L19706.
Drezner, T. D. and R. C. Balling. 2008. Regeneration cycles of the keystone species Carnegiea gigantea are linked to worldwide volcanism. Journal of Vegetation Science 19:587-596.
Ellis, A. W., T. W. Hawkins, R. C. Balling and P. Gober. 2008. Estimating future runoff levels for a semi-arid fluvial system in central Arizona. Climate Research 35:227-239.
Gober, P., C. W. Kirkwood, R. C. Balling, A. W. Ellis and S. Deitrick. 2010. Water planning under climatic uncertainty in Phoenix: Why we need a new paradigm. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 100:356-372. (link)
Lee, S. J., R. C. Balling and P. Gober. 2008. Bayesian Maximum Entropy mapping and the soft data problem in urban climate research. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 98:309-322.
Roy, S. S. and R. C. Balling. 2007. Diurnal variations in summer season precipitation in India. International Journal of Climatology 27:969-976.
Shutters, S. T. and R. C. Balling. 2006. Weekly cycling of environmental variables in Phoenix, Arizona. Atmospheric Environment 40:304-310.
Svoma, B. M. and R. C. Balling. 2010. United States' interannual precipitation variability over the past century: Is variability increasing as predicted by models?. Physical Geography 31:307-318.
Svoma, B. M. and R. C. Balling. 2009. An anthropogenic signal in Phoenix, Arizona winter precipitation. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 98:315-321. (link)
Svoma, B. M., R. C. Balling and A. W. Ellis. 2010. Analysis of soil moisture trends in the Salt River watershed of Central Arizona. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 102:159-169.
Walker, J. S., R. C. Balling, J. M. Briggs, M. Katti, P. Warren and E. M. Wentz. 2008. Birds of a feather: Interpolating distribution patterns of urban birds. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 32:19-28. (link)
Wentz, E. A., A. J. Wills, W. K. Kim, S. W. Myint, P. Gober, R. C. Balling and . In press. Factors influencing water consumption in multifamily housing in Tempe, Arizona. The Professional Geographer.
Posters/Presentations
Atkinson-Palombo, C., J. A. Miller and R. C. Balling. 2005. Seasonal variation in the 'weekend effect' for ozone in Phoenix, AZ. Poster presented October 12-16 at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Phoenix, AZ.
Balling, R. C. 2006. Analysis of drought determinants for the Colorado River Basin. Paper presented September 2006 at the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. Eugene, OR.
Balling, R. C. and A. W. Ellis. 2006. Simulating the potential impacts of regional climate change on Water Supply from the Salt and Verde watersheds. Presented at the September 6, 2006 DCDC Symposium on The Impact of Climate on Water Supply Reliability, Tempe, AZ.
Balling, R. C. and A. W. Ellis. 2007. Climate change 2050: Impacts on the Salt and Verde watersheds. Paper presented at the February 2007 Family Farm Alliance Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
Balling, R. C. and A. W. Ellis. 2006. Climate change 2050: Impacts on the Salt and Verde watersheds. Presented at the December 13-15, 2006 Colorado River Water User's Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Balling, R. C., A. W. Ellis, T. Hawkins and P. Gober. 2007. Impacts of potential climate change on the Phoenix, Arizona water supply. Presented at the April 19, 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, San Francisco, CA.
Balling, R. C., P. Gober and N. Jones. 2008. Climate sensitivity of residential water consumption for the city of Phoenix, Arizona. Poster presented at 10 January 2008 CAP LTER 10th Annual Poster Symposium, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (link)
Balling, R. C. and G. B. Goodrich. 2006. Drought determinations for the Colorado River Basin. Poster presented at the 8th Annual Central Arizona — Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) Poster Symposium, Tempe, AZ. January 19, 2006. (link)
Ellis, A. W. and R. C. Balling. 2006. Hydroclimatic modeling of the Salt and Verde watersheds. Paper presented at the Decision Center for a Desert City External Advisory Committee Program Review, Tempe, AZ.
Ellis, A. W. and R. C. Balling. 2006. The potential impacts of climate change on Arizona watersheds. Paper presented at the September 18-20, 2006 Geological Society of America Specialty Meeting: Managing Drought and Water Scarcity in Vulnerable Environments: Creating a Roadmap for Change in the United States, Boulder/Longmont, CO.
Ellis, A., G. Garfin, R. C. Balling and C. Graham. 2006. A hydroclimactic indexing concept for monitoring drought. Poster presented at the 19 January 2006 CAP LTER 8th Annual Poster Symposium, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (link)
Lee, S. J., R. Balling and P. Gober. 2007. A soft geostatistical application in urban climate research. Poster presented at the January 10, 2007 CAP LTER Ninth Annual Poster Symposium, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (link)
Svoma, B. M. and R. C. Balling. 2009. An anthropogenic signal in Phoenix, Arizona winter precipitation. Presented March 25, 2009 at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Svoma, B. M. and R. C. Balling. 2009. An anthropogenic signal in Phoenix, Arizona winter precipitation. Presented January 12, 2009 at the Eighth Symposium on the Urban Environment and 89th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona.
