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
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
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
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.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL150100035
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,765,281.00
Summary
Revisiting the physics of clouds. Revisiting the physics of clouds: This fellowship project aims to bring new rigour to climate modelling by improving our understanding of key phenomena like clouds and storms. Earth’s climate has taken a number of turns in the recent and geologic past that so far cannot be reproduced in models. Clouds and atmospheric turbulence are also a problem for weather and climate prediction, the conceptual understanding of which now has evident flaws. The hypothesis of th ....Revisiting the physics of clouds. Revisiting the physics of clouds: This fellowship project aims to bring new rigour to climate modelling by improving our understanding of key phenomena like clouds and storms. Earth’s climate has taken a number of turns in the recent and geologic past that so far cannot be reproduced in models. Clouds and atmospheric turbulence are also a problem for weather and climate prediction, the conceptual understanding of which now has evident flaws. The hypothesis of this project is that these two problems are strongly linked, and that this link may be exploited to solve problems across disciplines. This project aims to systematically re-evaluate our conceptual understanding of cloud physics, and investigate how this affects our understanding of climate phenomena in Earth’s past and future.Read moreRead less
Cloudiness over the Southern Ocean: reducing a key knowledge gap and source of climate model uncertainty. Southern Ocean clouds are key ingredients of the global climate system and yet are only poorly understood and poorly represented in climate models. Through the use of advanced observational analysis techniques this research will provide a deep understanding of key Southern Ocean cloud regimes and improve their representation in models.
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
Transforming our research capacity in the analysis of climate extremes. Given their devastating impacts, there is now a critical urgency to understand what drives extreme climate events and make timely predictions of their future risk. The analysis of comprehensive extremes datasets, comprising global observations and output of multi-model simulations, will greatly improve our ability to answer fundamental questions about the nature and variability of extreme climatic events. This project also e ....Transforming our research capacity in the analysis of climate extremes. Given their devastating impacts, there is now a critical urgency to understand what drives extreme climate events and make timely predictions of their future risk. The analysis of comprehensive extremes datasets, comprising global observations and output of multi-model simulations, will greatly improve our ability to answer fundamental questions about the nature and variability of extreme climatic events. This project also ensures the government's continued commitment to managing the risks associated with extreme events as an urgent national priority. It represents a landmark opportunity for Australian leadership of an international collaboration between some of the world's leading climate scientists and climate data and modelling centres.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100048
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$630,000.00
Summary
Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity. Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity: No single player in the Australian research community can make a large suite of atmospheric composition measurements, while the combined capability of the community is tremendous. Providing a platform to bring this capability together is cost effective and is expected to provide strong scientific return. This defines the requirements for Atmospheric Integrated Res ....Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity. Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity: No single player in the Australian research community can make a large suite of atmospheric composition measurements, while the combined capability of the community is tremendous. Providing a platform to bring this capability together is cost effective and is expected to provide strong scientific return. This defines the requirements for Atmospheric Integrated Research on Burdens and Oxidative capacity (AIR-BOX) to make a valuable contribution to Australian Atmospheric Science research. This project aims to provide a suite of mobile equipment including a chemical ionisation mass spectrometer, an ultraviolet-visible radiation spectrometer, a mini micropulse lidar, an in situ Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and a cloud condensation nuclei counter. It will be capable of remote and autonomous deployment, real-time data transfer and control, a wide range of tracer measurements, flexible configuration, and physical as well as tracer measurements.Read moreRead less