Congratulations to Laurel Regibeau-Rockett, who successfully defended her doctoral thesis in December! Dr. Regibeau-Rockett's work is on thermodynamic efficiency of tropical convection.
I am on leave from January 2025 through the summer. I cannot consider taking on additional group members during this time.
The Severe Weather and Climate Group is led by Dr. Morgan O'Neill. We study the dynamics and thermodynamics of multiscale severe events, including supercell thunderstorms and hurricanes. The two-way feedbacks between these storms and the climate in which they occur is of importance to meteorologists, climate scientists and planetary scientists. In a changing climate, it is critical to accurately predict how the extremes to which we are accustomed will change in the future. The past and present climates of Earth, as well as those of other planets in our solar system, serve as physical laboratories in which we can observe a range of extreme phenomena.
The tools that our group uses to address these questions are varied, from simple theory and observations to complex numerical models that simulate realistic atmospheric phenomena. Because of the impossibility of recreating all the complexities of the atmosphere in a laboratory, our laboratory is a hierarchy of numerical models that approximate the equations of motion. Ultimately, numerical results and theoretical understanding must be tested against observations. We collaborate with other scientists and institutions to take the observations we need to validate our work. Our focus is on the genesis, evolution and environmental interaction of convective storms in a range of climates.
Current projects:
- Tropical cyclone boundary layer rolls
- Heat engine efficiency of tropical cyclones and tropical convection
- Supercell thunderstorm and pyrocumulonimbus control by large-scale conditions
- Tornadogenesis
- Lightning climatology and change
- Deep convection impact on lower stratosphere composition, including water vapor and aerosols
- Polar cyclones on giant planets
- Step changes in microclimates due to local forcings