Author Archives: sdriscoll

About sdriscoll

https://twitter.com/SimonDriscoll_ Researching machine learning and thermodynamics of Arctic sea ice. Part of SASIP (2021-present) @UniofReading (Schmidt Futures). Previously DPhil Physics @UniofOxford (climate/volcanoes/geoengineering). Also nuclear war/winter + X-risk.

Weathering the storm, or even just a blustery day.

By: Dr. Natalie Harvey Maintaining positive mental well-being fosters resilience, enabling individuals to navigate life’s challenges with clarity, strength, and resilience. It helps us form meaningful relationships and achieve our full potential. Neglecting our mental health can negatively impact all aspects … Continue reading

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What are equatorial waves and how are they linked to heavy rainfall in Southeast Asia?

By: Dr. Samantha Ferrett What is an equatorial wave and why do we care about them? Atmospheric equatorial waves are confined to, and move, or propagate, along the equator. Equatorial waves can cause variations in pressure, temperature and winds. Each … Continue reading

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Unlocking the secrets of the thunderstorm: what are Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements?

By: Dr. Hripsime Mkrtchyan Thunderstorm Ground Enhancement is an atmospheric phenomenon which describes a significant increase of the ground-level radiation during thunderstorm activity. This effect is primarily attributed to the acceleration of charged particles by strong electric fields within thunderclouds, … Continue reading

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Shedding some light on DARC (the Data Assimilation Research Centre)

By: Dr. Ross Bannister Data assimilation as a scientific tool for weather forecasting and beyond In the early 2000s few academic groups around the world were doing research into the activity that we call “data assimilation”. Data assimilation is the … Continue reading

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The evolution and destruction of Saturn’s rings

By: Dr. James O’Donoghue Saturn, thanks to its system of rings, is the most recognisable planet in our Solar System. The planet is regularly used in clip-art images alongside a test tube or a DNA strand to represent even science … Continue reading

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Understanding thunderstorms over one of the largest lakes in the world

By: Dr. Russell Glazer Over eastern Africa a monumental geological process is occurring that will eventually split the countries of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Mozambique from the rest of Africa. The African tectonic plate is spreading along a line … Continue reading

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Wavenumber-4 in the Southern Hemisphere: How does it generate? Why does it matter?

By: Dr. Balaji Senapati Understanding climate variability on regional and global scales has always been a challenge. The year-to-year and long-term variations in climate are consistently linked to tropical oceans, spanning the region between 23.5°S and 23.5°N. However, the influence … Continue reading

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Machine learning enhanced gap filling in global land surface temperature analysis

By: Dr. Shaerdan Shataer Land Surface Temperature (LST) data, an essential component of climate change indicators (CCI), often suffers from data gaps due to various reasons such as cloud coverage, sensor limitations, or data processing issues. These gaps can hinder … Continue reading

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The Signal to Noise Paradox from a Cat’s Perspective

This is not the signal-to-noise paradox, this is just a tribute.  By: Dr. Leo Saffin The signal-to-noise paradox is a recently discovered phenomenon in forecasts on seasonal and longer timescales. The signal-to-noise paradox is when a model has good predictions … Continue reading

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The Carbon Footprint of Climate Science – an opinion by Hilary Weller 

By: Hillary Weller What is the acceptable carbon footprint of climate science? Climate science cannot be done without a carbon footprint, and without climate science we would not know that burning fossil fuels is causing dangerous climate change. So without … Continue reading

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