Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102645
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The cause of the poleward shift of Earth's storm tracks and jet streams. Why do global climate models shift the atmospheric storm tracks and jet streams poleward in simulations of future climate? This project will determine the underlying causes of the most important circulation change that is projected to occur with increasing greenhouse gases, and will allow much more accurate regional climate projections.
The dynamics of subtropical anticyclones and the connection to drought, heatwaves and bushfires in southern Australia. The aim of the project is to understand the dynamics of anticyclones (high pressure systems) in the region of southern Australia. The study of anticyclones in the region is important because of their very strong connection to rainfall in the winter, and heatwaves and bushfires in the summer, and because so little work has been done on understanding what is the defining feature o ....The dynamics of subtropical anticyclones and the connection to drought, heatwaves and bushfires in southern Australia. The aim of the project is to understand the dynamics of anticyclones (high pressure systems) in the region of southern Australia. The study of anticyclones in the region is important because of their very strong connection to rainfall in the winter, and heatwaves and bushfires in the summer, and because so little work has been done on understanding what is the defining feature of the climate of southern Australia. Understanding what controls the location and strength of these features will go a long way to explaining how the climate of southern Australia will change in a warmer world.Read moreRead less
GBR as a significant source of climatically relevant aerosol particles. Every cloud drop is formed from a microscopic aerosol particle, known as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). In unpolluted environments the CCN particles originate from biogenic sources. Determining the magnitude and driving factors of biogenic aerosol production in different ecosystems is crucial to the development and improvement of climate models. This project aims to determine the mechanisms of new particle production fro ....GBR as a significant source of climatically relevant aerosol particles. Every cloud drop is formed from a microscopic aerosol particle, known as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). In unpolluted environments the CCN particles originate from biogenic sources. Determining the magnitude and driving factors of biogenic aerosol production in different ecosystems is crucial to the development and improvement of climate models. This project aims to determine the mechanisms of new particle production from one of the biggest ecosystems in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. It is expected that the project will establish whether marine aerosol along the Queensland coast is coral-derived and show that this aerosol can affect the CCN concentration and therefore cloud formation and the hydrological cycle.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101836
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$325,111.00
Summary
Global Influence of Intraseasonal Variability in Ozonesonde Profiles. This proposal aims to better understand how tropical intraseasonal variability (periods of 40 to 60 days) influences the chemical components of the global atmosphere. The results of the research aim to improve regional air-quality forecasts on weekly and monthly timescales. The highly vertically resolved ozone concentrations from the surface up to 20 kilometres, measured by balloon-borne instruments called ozonesondes, will be ....Global Influence of Intraseasonal Variability in Ozonesonde Profiles. This proposal aims to better understand how tropical intraseasonal variability (periods of 40 to 60 days) influences the chemical components of the global atmosphere. The results of the research aim to improve regional air-quality forecasts on weekly and monthly timescales. The highly vertically resolved ozone concentrations from the surface up to 20 kilometres, measured by balloon-borne instruments called ozonesondes, will be used as a dynamical tracer. The knowledge gained from the ozonesonde data will be used to elucidate the chemical origins of the tropical variability related to biomass burning activities and convective lightning, as well as the subtropical variability related to the polar vortex dynamics.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100866
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$325,000.00
Summary
Intense thunderstorms in the tropics and subtropics under global warming. This project aims to determine how the frequency of intense tropical and subtropical thunderstorms will change as a result of future global warming. Climate models project that the energy available to such storms will increase in the future, but the reasons for this increase in available energy, and the implications for thunderstorm activity, remain uncertain. Using observations and high-resolution models, the project expe ....Intense thunderstorms in the tropics and subtropics under global warming. This project aims to determine how the frequency of intense tropical and subtropical thunderstorms will change as a result of future global warming. Climate models project that the energy available to such storms will increase in the future, but the reasons for this increase in available energy, and the implications for thunderstorm activity, remain uncertain. Using observations and high-resolution models, the project expects to generate new knowledge of the mechanisms driving changes in intense thunderstorm activity under climate change, and to provide more accurate projections of the frequency of intense thunderstorms in a warmer climate. This project should deliver benefits to sectors of the economy such as agriculture and transportation, which are significantly exposed to such hazards.Read moreRead less
Links between bushfires in Victoria and floods in Queensland. This project will investigate connections between bushfires in Victoria and floods in Queensland under the framework that atmospheric blocking can be thought of as a common link. High resolution runs using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change future projections of the energetics of high impact weather will improve climate forecasts in sensitive coastal areas of the country.
The Southern Ocean boundary layer: winds, turbulence, sea spray and clouds. Both satellite products and climate models have large biases in the energy and water budgets over the Southern Ocean (SO). This is a direct consequence of a poor understanding of the structure and dynamics of the SO atmospheric boundary layer, which has arisen from an inability to make the necessary observations in this harsh environment. Due to the availability of new Australian research infrastructure, large steps forw ....The Southern Ocean boundary layer: winds, turbulence, sea spray and clouds. Both satellite products and climate models have large biases in the energy and water budgets over the Southern Ocean (SO). This is a direct consequence of a poor understanding of the structure and dynamics of the SO atmospheric boundary layer, which has arisen from an inability to make the necessary observations in this harsh environment. Due to the availability of new Australian research infrastructure, large steps forward are now possible with modest investment. This project will conduct and combine observations from the recently acquired marine vessel, RV Investigator, and the collocated airborne and surface observations to understand the structure and evolution of the unique, pristine SO boundary layer and to evaluate satellites and climate models.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100178
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Combining multi-platform, multi-tracer measurements with atmospheric modelling to better estimate fluxes of atmospheric constituents. The global carbon cycle and the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane are important drivers of climate change. Understanding the fluxes of these gases to and from the atmosphere is crucial for understanding past, present and future climate variability. This project focuses on using simultaneous co-located measurements of greenhouse gas amounts, together with ....Combining multi-platform, multi-tracer measurements with atmospheric modelling to better estimate fluxes of atmospheric constituents. The global carbon cycle and the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane are important drivers of climate change. Understanding the fluxes of these gases to and from the atmosphere is crucial for understanding past, present and future climate variability. This project focuses on using simultaneous co-located measurements of greenhouse gas amounts, together with modelling their atmospheric co-variability, to better estimate these fluxes by individual processes and on better temporal and spatial scales. In particular, co-located solar remote-sensing and in situ measurements will be combined, and the ability of the remote-sensing and in situ instruments to measure numerous gases will be exploited to improve flux estimates and atmospheric modelling.Read moreRead less
Tropical climate change, the Hadley and Walker Circulations, and Australian climate. Tropical climate systems, especially the overturning circulations and monsoons, have undergone change in recent decades and are expected to do so over the next century. However, a full understanding of these has proved elusive. The project will employ a suite of insightful diagnostics of these tropical circulations calculated from the latest, high-quality data and the results of modelling to isolate the key phys ....Tropical climate change, the Hadley and Walker Circulations, and Australian climate. Tropical climate systems, especially the overturning circulations and monsoons, have undergone change in recent decades and are expected to do so over the next century. However, a full understanding of these has proved elusive. The project will employ a suite of insightful diagnostics of these tropical circulations calculated from the latest, high-quality data and the results of modelling to isolate the key physical mechanisms at work. The research is significant in that tropical circulations determine the precipitation and temperature over large parts of the Earth’s surface, and particularly Australia. The physical underpinning of the changes will assist in forming outlooks for future climate for the ‘wet tropics’ and the ‘dry zones’.Read moreRead less
Testing a new explanation of cloud feedback on global climate. A new analysis suggests that the sensitivity of global climate to greenhouse gases is largely controlled by the upward transport of water vapour in the lower troposphere, but the analysis did not examine clouds, which must be involved for the mechanism to be valid. The aim of the proposed project is to determine whether variations in cloud implied by this new explanation are supported by observations and process models. If the explan ....Testing a new explanation of cloud feedback on global climate. A new analysis suggests that the sensitivity of global climate to greenhouse gases is largely controlled by the upward transport of water vapour in the lower troposphere, but the analysis did not examine clouds, which must be involved for the mechanism to be valid. The aim of the proposed project is to determine whether variations in cloud implied by this new explanation are supported by observations and process models. If the explanation is confirmed, then for the first time in over 30 years of intense research it will be possible to determine the long-term severity of global warming by examining the present-day atmosphere. The expected outcome of this research is to clarify how and why low clouds change in altered climates.Read moreRead less