PAOC Colloquium: Yohai Kaspi (Weizmann Institute)

Date: 
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - 12:00

"The spatial structure of midlatitude storm tracks and its variation under climate change"

 

Abstract: Midlatitude storm tracks dominate the transport of momentum, heat and water-vapor in the extratropics, and therefore identifying the mechanisms governing their temporal and spatial structure is vital for understanding weather and climate. In this talk, we will review the main questions in the study of storm tracks, and present a PV tendency analysis which allows to break down the mechanisms controlling the spatial structure of the storm tracks and their downstream evolution. The study includes a hierarchy of models, ranging from idealized GCMs to comprehensive CMIP5 global warming simulations, all of which are coupled to a tracking algorithm for a Lagrangian tracking of the storms. We show that under global warming, in addition to the known poleward shift in the genesis region of the storm tracks, there will be an additional shift in the propagation of the storms themselves.

 

About the Speaker: Yohai Kaspi is an Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science. His interests are: Geophysical fluid dynamics; The general circulation of the atmosphere; Storm track dynamics; Formation of zonal jets; Dynamics on giant planet atmospheres and interiors; Exoplanet atmospheric dynamics; Geostrophic turbulence; Convection in rotating systems; Climate dynamics

About this Series: The PAOC Colloquium is a weekly interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars generally take place on Monday from 12-1pm. Lunch is provided to encourage students and post-docs to meet with the speaker. Besides the seminar and lunch, individual meetings with professors, post-docs, and students are arranged.

Location: 54-923