Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100985
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,000.00
Summary
Entrainment and interface dynamics of turbulent flows. Patches of turbulent flow such as in clouds, volcanic or bushfire plumes grow with time because they draw or entrain non-turbulent fluid through their boundaries. The quantity of fluid entrained, and why it entrains this amount, is poorly understood. This is a major bottleneck in our ability to predict how these natural phenomena evolve in time. This project aims to employ idealised laboratory models of these natural phenomena, and utilise h ....Entrainment and interface dynamics of turbulent flows. Patches of turbulent flow such as in clouds, volcanic or bushfire plumes grow with time because they draw or entrain non-turbulent fluid through their boundaries. The quantity of fluid entrained, and why it entrains this amount, is poorly understood. This is a major bottleneck in our ability to predict how these natural phenomena evolve in time. This project aims to employ idealised laboratory models of these natural phenomena, and utilise high quality measurement techniques and theoretical tools to quantify and understand the physical basis of the entrainment mechanism. The project aims to create better climate models and more accurate predictions of natural disasters associated with bushfires and volcanos.Read moreRead less
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
The weather-climate connection in Australian climate change. This project aims to uncover the key links in Australia's weather-climate connection by identifying the role weather features play in influencing the slowly varying climate and how changes in one might affect changes in the other. Better describing the two-way connection between weather and climate through an innovative combination of research techniques usually applied to only one of weather or climate will allow for a more insightful ....The weather-climate connection in Australian climate change. This project aims to uncover the key links in Australia's weather-climate connection by identifying the role weather features play in influencing the slowly varying climate and how changes in one might affect changes in the other. Better describing the two-way connection between weather and climate through an innovative combination of research techniques usually applied to only one of weather or climate will allow for a more insightful assessment of climate model quality. This assessment will support the identification of the most reliable climate models and, by using them, reduce uncertainties in future predictions. Improved predictions of climate in turn will enable better decision making in all sectors of society.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
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.
Satellite measurements of ocean wave breaking. This project aims to develop a methodology for global satellite measurements of ocean wave breaking and determine global trends. Measurements of ocean wave breaking are elusive and not available at global scale, but are important for understanding ocean wave dynamics, air-sea interaction, aerosol production, gas transfer, ocean mixing, climate, and other coupled dynamics in the air-sea system, and designing and operating coastal and offshore facilit ....Satellite measurements of ocean wave breaking. This project aims to develop a methodology for global satellite measurements of ocean wave breaking and determine global trends. Measurements of ocean wave breaking are elusive and not available at global scale, but are important for understanding ocean wave dynamics, air-sea interaction, aerosol production, gas transfer, ocean mixing, climate, and other coupled dynamics in the air-sea system, and designing and operating coastal and offshore facilities. This project will produce major updates of wave and General Circulation Models which will be important for our understanding of wave, ocean and climate dynamics, the design and operation of coastal and offshore facilities and the determination of global trends. The new satellite sensing is expected to be used extensively in metocean and engineering applications, and for major updates of wave and general circulation models.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100079
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
Experimental facility for extreme air/sea interaction studies. The level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which cause global warming is greatly influenced by interactions at the air/sea interface. This infrastructure will allow in-depth studies of these interactions and contribute to much improved strategies to control greenhouse gases.
The impact of India-Asia tectonics on climate. This interdisciplinary project aims to determine the controls of tectonics on global climate in the last 50 million years. A combination of tectonics, paleogeography, climate modelling and high-performance computing will be applied to test systematically outstanding issues in the reconstruction of the Indo-Asia region and their landmass/seaways configurations and topography, which have bedevilled previous models of paleoclimate evolution. The propos ....The impact of India-Asia tectonics on climate. This interdisciplinary project aims to determine the controls of tectonics on global climate in the last 50 million years. A combination of tectonics, paleogeography, climate modelling and high-performance computing will be applied to test systematically outstanding issues in the reconstruction of the Indo-Asia region and their landmass/seaways configurations and topography, which have bedevilled previous models of paleoclimate evolution. The proposal expects to generate novel knowledge in the area at the boundary between tectonics, paleoclimate modelling and present-day climate. This provides significant benefits to the interpretation of tectonics–climate coupling as current drivers of climate evolution.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