my research

Research interests

My interests lie in understanding the processes underpinning climate variability and biosphere-atmosphere interactions. The main tools are high-resolution coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) and land surface models. Some of the questions I have been researching, together with links to some of my publications:

• Climate variability: what are the mechanisms that affect regional-scale climate variability and how are they expected to change in the future:
  • Custodio et al. (2017, 2012) on circulation and governing atmospheric phenomena of the climate of the South American Continent.
  • Schiemann et al. 2017, on the representation of atmospheric blocking in GCMs
  • Johnson et al. 2016, on the resolution sensitivity in simulations of the Indian Monsoon
  • Vellinga et al. 2016, on the mechanisms affecting the decadal recovery of precipitation in the Sahel
  • Hegerl et al. 2015 (BAMS), on the challenges in the representation of the global hydrological cycle in GCMs.
  • Demory et al. 2013, on the mechanisms that control the hydrological cycle over land and water
  • Berckmanns et al. 2013 on atmospheric blocking
  • Dawson et al. 2013, on simulating air-sea interactions and the extra-tropical response to El Niño
  • Vidale et al. 2007, on future summer climate variability and controlling mechanisms.
  • Hohenegger and Vidale 2005, on the impact of aerosols when simulating regional climate.
  • Vidale et al. 2003, on current climate variability and feedback mechanisms.
• Climate and weather extremes: what are the weather and climate elements that we should target for impacts analysis ? How do they interact with the climate system:
  • Guo et al. 2017, on the contribution of Tropical Cyclones to the precipitation and moisture supply of South East Asia, with a focus on China
  • Tous et al. 2016, on “Medicanes”, hurricane-type extreme cyclones in the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Roberts et al. 2015, Bell et al. 2014, 2013, Strachan et al. 2013, on hurricanes and typhoons in the climate system
  • A series of papers in the US CLIVAR Hurricanes Working Group (HWG) special issue of Journal of Climate, on current capability in the simulation of tropical cyclones in AGCMs and AOGCMs: Shaevitz et al. 2014; Daloz et al. 2015;
  • A summary of the US CLIVAR Hurricanes Working Group findings in BAMS: Walsh et al. 2015
  • Schwierz et al. 2010, on European winter wind storms, risks and losses.
  • Frei et al. 2006, on precipitation extremes in future climate scenarios.
  • Frei et al. 2003, on precipitation extremes in current climate at high-resolution.
• Heat waves: how are positive feedbacks between atmospheric circulation and the surface energy balance initiated and maintained
  • Lloyd-Huges et al. 2013, on development and maintenance of drought in high-resolution climate simulations
  • Fischer et al. 2008, on controlling mechanisms for the 2003 European summer heat wave.
  • Vidale et al. 2007, on summer climate variability and controlling mechanisms.
  • Schaer et al. 2004, our Nature paper on the 2003 European summer heat wave.

Answering these questions requires advanced observational and modelling capabilities:

• Development of high-resolution Global Climate Models: I am the PI for NERC’s UJCC and HiGEM projects, developing the HiGEM and NUGEM models. I am also a PI in the NERC-Met Office Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme (JWCRP) and I collaborate within the Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme (JWCRP) with Malcolm Roberts (MO) on building the next high-resolution coupled climate model at high resolution, HadGEM3
  • Walter et al. 2017, on building HadGEM3-GA6 and its land component, JULES
  • Haarsma et al. 2016, on the design of the HighResMIP protocol for CMIP6
  • Walters et al.  2014, on building HadGEM3-GA3 and its land component, JULES
  • Schiemann et al. 2014, on representing precipitation and circulation around the Maritime Continent
  • Mizielinski et al. 2014, project UPSCALE, on developing and deploying high-resolution AGCMs on Petascale HPC
  • Martin et al. 2011, on building and assessing the HadGEM2 AOGCM
  • Slingo et al. 2009, on next-generation climate models.
  • Shaffrey et al. 2009, on the development of the HiGEM high-resolution AOGCM.
  • Roberts et al. 2008, on simulating Tropical Instability Waves in high-resolution AOGCMs.
• Monitoring of vegetation from space: can we detect vegetation dynamics and trends due to climate change from space
  • Studer et al. 2007, European phenology and its validation from ground observations.
  • Stockli and Vidale. 2003, on European phenology from space.
• Development of Land Surface Models: can we improve our understanding of how the exchanges of water and carbon by terrestrial ecosystems occur and how they are expected to change under elevated CO2 and climate change ? Can we also use this understanding to improve weather models
  • Van den Hoof et al. 2013, on improving the representation of the partitioning in transpiration and soil evaporation as contributors to the terrestrial water cycle.
  • Black et al. 2012, on the dynamical simulation of C4 crops in Ghana
  • Egea et al. 2011, on introducing a mesophyll pathway mechanism for simulating soil water control on plants
  • Van den Hoof et al. 2010, on simulating crop growth with an enhanced land surface ecosystems model (JULES-SUCROS).
  • Dharrsi et al. 2009, on land surface modelling developments from our collaborative work with the Met Office Data Assimilation group, which have resulted in significant improvements to the operational forecasts of 2m temperature and moisture in the MO global NWP model.
  • Stockli et al. 2007, on simulating lateral soil water flow and river discharge over complex topography
  • Vidale and Stockli 2005, on developing a new prognostic approach to canopy-level exchanges of CO2 and water
  • Stockli and Vidale 2005, on simulating FLUXNET sites with a hierarchy of land surface models of increasing complexity
  • Nicholls et al. 2004, on simulating multi-scale CO2 exchanges at multiple heights over a US forest.
  • Denning et al.2003, on simulating the variability of CO2 and H2O concentrations and gradients over a US forest.
  • Baker et al. 2003, on simulating CO2 and H20 exchanges over a US forest.
  • Mihailovic et al. 2000, on intercomparing land surface models of different complexity
  • Walko et al. 2000, on the development of the LEAF land surface model
• Land surface heterogeneity: how are the fluxes of heat, moisture, momentum and carbon organised by atmospheric circulation ? How do they affect the atmosphere and large-scale circulation
  • Pielke et al., 1999, on historical landscape changes in Florida, 1900-1990.
  • Taylor et al., 1998, on winter land surface heterogeneity and biosphere-atmosphere interactions during BOREAS.
  • Vidale et al., 1997, on summer land surface heterogeneity and biosphere-atmosphere interactions during BOREAS.
  • Pielke and Vidale, 1995, on the Boreal forest and the Polar Front.

Organisational responsibilities

• I am the NCAS Principal Investigator for High-Resolution global Climate Modelling (HRCM) under the Joint Weather and Climate Research Programme (JWCRP). I manage a large research group in this activity. Follow this HRCM link for further details.
• I develop and work with the JULES land surface model.
• I am the director, and one of the main lecturers, of the NCAS Climate Modelling Summer School, held bi-annually at Cambridge University.

• PhD supervisor for:
  • Ray Bell (with J. Strachan and K. Hodges), on Tropical Cyclones in future climates.
  • Marie-Estelle Demory, who began her project in October 2007 on the role of the land surface in the hydrological cycle.
  • Catherine van Den Hoof, who completed in 2010, on developing a crop model coupled to JULES.
  • See my CV for students I advised while at ETH Zurich.
• Participation in boards, committees etc.
  • Senior Academic in Climate System Research for the Willis Research Network.
  • Member of the NERC-Met Office JWCRP Joint Facilities Group.
  • Member of the Project Assurance Team of the HadGEM2 model development project at the Met Office Hadley Centre; Olivier Boucher is the project manager.
  • Member of the Project Assurance Team of the HadGEM3 model development project at the Met Office Hadley Centre; Helene Banks is the project manager.
  • Member of the JULES Science Steering Committee and Management Board.
  • Member of NERC’s Peer Review College.