Benjamin Crawford

Dr. Ben Crawford
Ph.D. • Assistant Professor
Department of Geography & Environmental Sciences

Mailing Address:
Dept. of Geography & Environmental Sciences
Campus Box 172
P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO 80217-3364

Physical Location:
Auraria Campus
North Classroom Building
Room 3526

Fields of Interest:

Urban Weather and Climate, Air Quality, Sensor Networks


Biography

Dr. Benjamin Crawford is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver. He directs the LEAP (Landscape Ecosystem Atmospheric Processes) Lab, where his team studies the complex interactions between urban environments and the atmosphere. He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of British Columbia and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Reading in the UK. Before joining CU Denver, he also worked as a wind energy resource analyst, an experience that grounds his academic work in real-world application.

Dr. Crawford’s research is defined by a "hands-on" approach to atmospheric science, often deploying novel sensor networks to capture data where traditional stations cannot. His recent projects range from measuring volcanic smog ("vog") in Hawai‘i using low-cost community sensors to mapping street-level air quality in Denver with mobile monitoring equipment. In the classroom, he brings this field-based perspective to courses in physical geography and weather and climate, challenging students to understand how our built environments shape the air we breathe.


Education

Postdoctoral Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Postdoctoral Researcher, Meteorology | University of Reading
PhD, Geography | University of British Columbia | 2014
MS, Atmospheric Science Program, Geography | Indiana University | 2007
BS, Geography | Indiana University | 2003


Crawford, B., Kelsey, K., Ibsen, P., Rees, A., & Charobee, A. (2025). Intra-urban variations in land surface phenology in a semi-arid environment. Environmental Research Letters, 20(1), 14036. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad9759 

Benson, A., Crawford, B. R., Frank, J. M., Middel, A., Valentine, G. P., Warziniack, T., & McHale, M. R. (2025). Bridging accuracy and efficiency: advancing mean radiant temperature measurement in urban ecology. International Journal of Biometeorology, 69(12), 3515-3525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-025-03038-8 

Wu, S., Lin, X., Bian, Z., Lipson, M., Lafortezza, R., Liu, Q., Grimmond, S., Velasco, E., Christen, A., Masson, V., Crawford, B., Ward, H. C., Chrysoulakis, N., Fortuniak, K., Parlow, E., Pawlak, W., Tapper, N., Hong, J., Hong, J.-W., . . . Chen, B. (2024). Satellite observations reveal a decreasing albedo trend of global cities over the past 35 years. Remote Sensing of Environment, 303, 114003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114003 

Pain, K., Shi, S., Black, D., Blower, J., Grimmond, S., Hunt, A., Milcheva, S., Crawford, B., Dale, N., Doolin, S., & Manna, S. (2023). Real estate investment and urban density: exploring the polycentric urban region using a topological lens. Territory, Politics, Governance, 11(2), 241-260. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2020.1837665 

deSouza, P., Barkjohn, K., Clements, A., Lee, J., Kahn, R., Crawford, B., & Kinney, P. (2023). An Analysis of Degradation in Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors. Environmental Science: Atmospheres, 5(3), 521-536. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00142J 

Lipson, M., Grimmond, S., Best, M., Chow, W. T. L., Christen, A., Chrysoulakis, N., Coutts, A., Crawford, B., Earl, S., Evans, J., Fortuniak, K., Heusinkveld, B. G., Hong, J.-W., Hong, J., Järvi, L., Jo, S., Kim, Y.-H., Kotthaus, S., Lee, K., . . . Ward, H. C. (2022). Harmonized gap-filled datasets from 20 urban flux tower sites. Earth System Science Data, 14(11), 5157-5178. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5157-2022 

deSouza, P., Kahn, R., Stockman, T., Obermann, W., Crawford, B., Wang, A., Crooks, J., Li, J., & Kinney, P. (2022). Calibrating networks of low-cost air quality sensors. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 15(21), 6309-6328. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6309-2022 

Crawford, B., Hagan, D. H., Grossman, I., Cole, E., Holland, L., Heald, C. L., & Kroll, J. H. (2021). Mapping pollution exposure and chemistry during an extreme air quality event (the 2018 Kīlauea eruption) using a low-cost sensor network. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 118(27), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025540118 

Krayenhoff, E. S., Jiang, T., Christen, A., Martilli, A., Oke, T. R., Bailey, B. N., Nazarian, N., Voogt, J. A., Giometto, M. G., Stastny, A., & Crawford, B. R. (2020). A multi-layer urban canopy meteorological model with trees (BEP-Tree): Street tree impacts on pedestrian-level climate. Urban Climate, 32, 100590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100590 

Chrysoulakis, N., Grimmond, S., Feigenwinter, C., Lindberg, F., Gastellu-Etchegorry, J.P., Marconcini, M., Mitraka, Z., Stagakis, S., Crawford, B., Olofson, F. and Landier, L., (2018). Urban energy exchanges monitoring from space. Scientific Reports, 8(1), p.11498.

H. Dacre, B. Crawford, A.J. Charlton-Perez, G. Lopez-Saldana, G.H Griffiths, J. Vicencio-Veloso (2018). ‘Chilean wildfires: Probabilistic prediction, emergency response and public communication’, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Crawford, B, C.S.B. Grimmond, A. Gabey, M. Marconcini, H.C. Ward, C. W. Kent (2018). ‘Variability of urban surface temperatures and implications for aerodynamic energy exchange during unstable conditions’, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Barlow, J., Best, M., Bohnenstengel, S. I., Clark, P., Grimmond, S., Lean, H., B. Crawford... & Lemonsu, A. (2017). ‘Developing a Research Strategy to Better Understand, Observe, and Simulate Urban Atmospheric Processes at Kilometer to Sub-kilometer Scales.’ Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 98(10), ES261-ES264.

Crawford, B., C.S.B. Grimmond, H.C. Ward, W. Morrison, S. Kotthaus (2017): ‘Spatial and temporal patterns of surface-atmosphere energy exchange in a dense urban environment using scintillometry’, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, doi:10.1002/qj.2967.

Crawford, B., Krayenhoff, E. S., & Cordy, P. (2016). ‘The urban energy balance of a lightweight low rise neighborhood in Andacollo, Chile.’ Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 1-14. 10.1007/s00704-016-1922-7

Crawford, B., A. Christen, I. McKendry (2016): ‘Diurnal course of carbon dioxide mixing ratios in the urban boundary layer in response to surface emissions’ Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 55.3, 507-529.

Crawford, B. and Christen, A. (2015): ‘Spatial source attribution of measured urban eddy covariance carbon dioxide flux.’ Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 119 (3-4), 733-755.

Crawford, B. and Christen, A. (2014): ‘Spatial variability of carbon dioxide in the urban canopy layer and implications for flux measurements.’ Atmospheric Environment, 98, pp. 308-322.

Cordy, P., M Veiga, B. Crawford, O. Garcia, V. Gonzalez, D. Moraga, M. Roeser, and D. Wip. (2013). ‘Characterization, mapping, and mitigation of mercury vapour emissions from artisanal mining gold shops.’ Environmental Research, 125, 82-91.

Kellett R., Christen A., Coops N., van der Laan M; Crawford B.R., Tooke T.R., Olchovski I. (2013): 'A systems approach to carbon cycling and emissions modelling at an urban neighbourhood scale.' Landscape and Urban Planning. 110, 48-58.

Christen, A., Coops N.C., Crawford B.R., Kellett R., Liss K.N., Olchovski I., Tooke T.R., van der Laan M., Voogt J. A. (2011): 'Validation of modeled carbon-dioxide emissions from an urban neighborhood with direct eddy-covariance measurements.’ Atmospheric Environment, 45, 6057-6069

Crawford B.R., Grimmond C.S.B., Christen A. (2011): 'Five years of carbon dioxide flux measurements in a highly vegetated suburban area'. Atmospheric Environment, 45 (4) 896-905

McKendry I.G., D. van der Kamp, K.B. Strawbridge, A. Christen, B. Crawford (2009). ‘Simultaneous observations of boundary-layer aerosol layers with CL31 ceilometer and 1064/532 n: m lidar’. Atmospheric Environment, 43 (36), 5847-5852.

GEOG 1202: Introduction to Physical Geography 
GEOG 3232: Weather and Climate
GEOG / ENVS 4757/5757: Urban Climate and Air Quality