Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed ....Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed data for improving global climate models. Expected outcomes include more accurate seasonal and latitudinal representations of Southern Ocean aerosol populations, properties and sources. The main benefit includes improvements in weather forecasting and future climate projection for Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.Read moreRead less
Cloud-climate interaction over the Great Barrier Reef and Southwest Pacific. This project aims to investigate cloud-climate interactions of the Southwest Pacific trade wind region from the regional scale to local forcing over the Great Barrier Reef. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the nature and variability of the trade wind clouds, including their impact on the surface radiative budget, ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events. Potential changes of these clouds due to glob ....Cloud-climate interaction over the Great Barrier Reef and Southwest Pacific. This project aims to investigate cloud-climate interactions of the Southwest Pacific trade wind region from the regional scale to local forcing over the Great Barrier Reef. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the nature and variability of the trade wind clouds, including their impact on the surface radiative budget, ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events. Potential changes of these clouds due to global warming and ensuing impacts on the environment will be studied. Expected outcomes include better modelling of the Great Barrier Reef environment and improved estimates of low-cloud feedback. This should provide significant benefits in developing warning systems for bleaching events, and regional land and water management. Read moreRead less
Local climate changes caused by large bushfire burnt areas. This project aims to quantify the impact on local climate produced by large burnt areas after extreme bushfires. This project expects to generate new knowledge on these previously unexplored fire-scar induced changes to local climate. It will extend an innovative approach that combines satellite based earth observation with very high resolution regional climate modelling to quantify the impacts on land-atmosphere feedbacks and local cli ....Local climate changes caused by large bushfire burnt areas. This project aims to quantify the impact on local climate produced by large burnt areas after extreme bushfires. This project expects to generate new knowledge on these previously unexplored fire-scar induced changes to local climate. It will extend an innovative approach that combines satellite based earth observation with very high resolution regional climate modelling to quantify the impacts on land-atmosphere feedbacks and local climate. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced methods to quantify local climate changes after extreme fires and their effect on vegetation recovery. This should provide significant benefits to the planning for, and management of, vegetation recovery after extreme fires.Read moreRead less
The carbon cycle and climate: new approaches to atmospheric measurements and modelling. Earth's climate is intimately connected to the carbon cycle, which controls atmospheric CO2 through processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and ocean uptake. A thorough understanding of the carbon cycle, and potential feedbacks with climate change, is prerequisite knowledge for informed assessments of future climate, impacts, adaptation and mitigation. This proposal improves that understanding through ....The carbon cycle and climate: new approaches to atmospheric measurements and modelling. Earth's climate is intimately connected to the carbon cycle, which controls atmospheric CO2 through processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and ocean uptake. A thorough understanding of the carbon cycle, and potential feedbacks with climate change, is prerequisite knowledge for informed assessments of future climate, impacts, adaptation and mitigation. This proposal improves that understanding through measurements of CO2 and other key Kyoto-protocol greenhouse gases, links to global networks and satellite measurements, and advanced modelling. Australian science has a very important role to play in international networks due to our unique combination of southern hemisphere location and scientific standing. 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
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
A regional coupled climate model for Australia. This project aims to implement a regional, coupled atmosphere and ocean model, to determine under what circumstance ocean-atmosphere interactions are critical. Regional high-resolution atmosphere models are routinely used to provide projections of climate at the local scales needed by decision makers. However, these tools neglect the fine-scale interactions between ocean and atmosphere that can significantly modify conditions around coastal or isla ....A regional coupled climate model for Australia. This project aims to implement a regional, coupled atmosphere and ocean model, to determine under what circumstance ocean-atmosphere interactions are critical. Regional high-resolution atmosphere models are routinely used to provide projections of climate at the local scales needed by decision makers. However, these tools neglect the fine-scale interactions between ocean and atmosphere that can significantly modify conditions around coastal or island regions. This project intends to deliver the first high-resolution projections of both ocean and atmosphere off eastern Australia to understand how small-scale ocean and atmosphere processes and their interactions affect changes in extreme rainfall, marine heat waves and ocean circulation.Read moreRead less
The Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to the Earth Energy Budget. This project aims to quantify the tropical cyclone contribution to the earth energy budget to understand whether tropical cyclones feed back to the climate system. While existing literature focuses exclusively on the effects of climate change on tropical cyclone variability, this project switches this viewpoint around. One possible outcome is a better understanding of long-term tropical cyclone variability. This is particularly im ....The Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to the Earth Energy Budget. This project aims to quantify the tropical cyclone contribution to the earth energy budget to understand whether tropical cyclones feed back to the climate system. While existing literature focuses exclusively on the effects of climate change on tropical cyclone variability, this project switches this viewpoint around. One possible outcome is a better understanding of long-term tropical cyclone variability. This is particularly important for tropical cyclone vulnerable regions including the Australian east coast and the oil and gas industry off the Northwest Shelf. Furthermore, the anticipated knowledge gained by this project will inform international understanding on the impacts of tropical cyclones to the overall climate system.Read moreRead less
Reactivity and photochemistry of halide anions: atmospheric implications. Bromine and iodine are suspected to be responsible for most of the halogen-induced ozone loss in the stratosphere but are not currently included in atmospheric models due to a paucity of knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry and photochemistry of their anions and radicals. This project will develop and deploy advanced mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy techniques to enable precision measurements of the reactions and p ....Reactivity and photochemistry of halide anions: atmospheric implications. Bromine and iodine are suspected to be responsible for most of the halogen-induced ozone loss in the stratosphere but are not currently included in atmospheric models due to a paucity of knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry and photochemistry of their anions and radicals. This project will develop and deploy advanced mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy techniques to enable precision measurements of the reactions and photo-reactions of gas-phase iodide and bromide anions and their oxides. These state-of-the-art measurements of reaction kinetics and products will enable accurate chemical models that predict the impact of bromine and iodine chemistry on ozone levels and will inform future models for global climate.Read moreRead less
The Total Column Carbon Observing Network in the Southern Hemisphere: constraining our understanding of the carbon cycle and climate. The global carbon cycle and the distribution, sources and sinks of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are crucial drivers of climate change. The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) measures the amounts of greenhouse and other trace gases in the atmosphere by solar remote sensing from the ground with unprecedented accuracy and precision. ....The Total Column Carbon Observing Network in the Southern Hemisphere: constraining our understanding of the carbon cycle and climate. The global carbon cycle and the distribution, sources and sinks of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are crucial drivers of climate change. The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) measures the amounts of greenhouse and other trace gases in the atmosphere by solar remote sensing from the ground with unprecedented accuracy and precision. TCCON data are the "gold standard" for total column measurements and an essential part of greenhouse gas science. They are used to improve knowledge of the carbon cycle and future climate change, both directly and by validating global-scale satellite measurements. This project will continue to expand TCCON in the southern hemisphere and the enhanced scientific understanding it will provide.Read moreRead less