Friday April 27 CSL Meeting

Practice Dissertation Proposal Defense: The Impact of Frozen Ground Degradation on Surface-Atmosphere Interactions

Presenter: Daniel Vecellio
Time: Friday, 27 April 2018, 1:45-2:45 p.m.
Location: 805 O&M

Summary: This dissertation will determine the impact of frozen ground degradation on the surface, boundary layer, and synoptic-scale circulation. This will be done using modeling approaches, first in the short-term using a numerical weather prediction model in WRF and then in the long-term using an earth system model, the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s CESM. This research will provide a new lens for the impact of surface heat flux impacts of the Arctic on the climate as much of the past research has focused on a drastically changing Arctic Ocean. It will be the first study to use the dynamical adjustment method to examine ground influences on surface and boundary layer variables over a Eurasian domain. Furthermore, it will be the first to use frozen ground as a basis for a thermodynamic narrative to describe land-atmosphere interactions. While the impacts of climate on the soil thermal regime are well-known and have been studied for decades, upon completion of this dissertation, the biogeophysical impacts of a changing soil thermal regime on the climate will also be established.

Surface pressure over Eurasia during active (left) and quiescent (right) case runs from GFS analysis.