Events
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UTIG Seminar Series: Courtney Schumacher, Texas A&M University
Start:January 19, 2018 at 10:30 am
End:
January 19, 2018 at 11:30 am
Location:
PRC ROC Room 1.603
Contact:
Anisa Abdulkader, aabdulkader@ig.utexas.edu, 512-471-0417
Title: Why storms matter to climate
Abstract: Large, organized storms significantly impact global circulations through vertical transports of heat, moisture, and momentum. These impacts are evident at intraseasonal, annual, and interannual time scales. This talk will discuss the most relevant aspects of convective storms and their important role in the Madden-Julian Oscillation, the East Pacific manifestation of the Hadley circulation, and El Nino. Organized storms have even been shown to have their own isotopic signatures, opening the path to examining variations in storm structure over longer (climate) time scales. Frustratingly, most global climate models (GCMs) don’t account for mesoscale storm processes in their formulations – time permitting, discussion on ways to improve GCMs in this regard may also be covered.
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DeFord Lecture: Maureen Long
Start:
January 25, 2018 at 4:00 pm
End:
January 25, 2018 at 5:00 pm
Location:
JGB 2.324
UTIG Seminar Series: Martin Put, UTIG
Start:January 26, 2018 at 10:30 am
End:
January 26, 2018 at 11:30 am
Location:
PRC ROC Room 1.603
Contact:
Anisa Abdulkader, aabdulkader@ig.utexas.edu, 512-471-0417
Title: Limitations on El Niño predictability
Abstract: El Niño, the recurrent warming pattern of the Pacific Ocean, affects weather patterns worldwide, causing droughts, flooding and long-lasting heat waves. Predicting these events enough in advance is therefore of crucial importance. El Nino forecasts have improved over the past three decades, yet our ability to predict these events is less than six months. In my seminar, I will discuss the factors that could explain this limited El Niño predictability. We focus on two recent events which exhibited very different evolutions and revealed limitations in our ability to predict El Nino. Based on long-standing theories, the scientific community expected that the event of 2014 was going to become a record-breaking El Nino. This event was heralded by the occurrence of strong westerly wind event (WWEs), random atmospheric fluctuations, which are thought to favor the initiation of El Niño events. Operational forecasts pointed indeed toward a strong El Nino, but instead a borderline event occurred. In contrast, a similar WWE led to one of the strongest El Niño on record in 2015, with a magnitude similar to as the super El Niño of 1997. The reason for such large error in the prediction of El Niño’s magnitude remains unknown. Motivated by this issue I explore the role of WWEs in the evolution of El Nino. First, we characterize the WWEs in the observations and show that their occurrence is associated with propagating disturbances in the tropical atmosphere that could be predicted a few weeks in advance. We also show that WWEs have an increased probability of occurrence when the equatorial Pacific is warmer than usual, such as during El Niño events. This relationship can reinforce the development of an El Nino. Then I performed forecasts with a model that simulates realistic WWEs. The model shows that even with favorable conditions for a strong El Niño to occur, a weak event, such as in 2014, can happen by random chance. Additional forecasts, where WWEs are hindered, confirm that the different outcome between the 2014 and 2015 El Niño are mainly caused by WWEs. These results show that, at lead times longer than six months, the prediction of strong El Nino may be limited by the unpredictability of WWEs.
Learn more about Dr. Puy
Host: Pedro Di Nezio
UTIG Brown Bag Seminar: Brandon Shuck
Start:January 31, 2018 at 12:00 pm
End:
January 31, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Location:
PRC ROC Room 1.603
Contact:
Sophie Goliber, sgoliber@utexas.edu
Informal weekly presentations by UTIG students and researchers. Bring your lunch!
DeFord Lecture | Dr. Richard TaylorApril, 25 2024Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PMLocation: Boyd Auditorium (JGB 2.324) Adapting to the Amplification of Climate Extremes Through Freshwater Capture: Evidence from the Tropics by Dr. Richard Taylor, Department of Geography, University College London Abstract: In low-income countries of the tropics undergoing rapid growth, global warming presents challenges to the expansion and sustainability of water supplies required to advance progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Substantial uncertainty persists in projections of precipitation under climate change. A widely observed impact, pronounced in the tropics, is the intensification of precipitation comprising a transition towards fewer but heavier rainfalls. How does this transition impact terrestrial water balances? How might these changes influence freshwater demand? I will interrogate these questions and review mounting empirical evidence from the tropics of the resilience to climate change of groundwater resources, which act as a natural inter-annual store of freshwater supporting adaptation to the amplification climate extremes. Presented evidence includes case studies and local-to-regional scale analyses from tropical Africa and the Bengal Basin of South Asia. Outcomes emphasize the interconnected nature of surface water and groundwater as well as the value of groundwater as a natural, distributed store of freshwater. This insight provides a platform to explore more equitable and sustainable water development pathways resilient to climate change. |
UTIG Seminar Series: Cornelia Rasmussen, UTIGApril, 26 2024Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AMLocation: PRC 196/ROC 1.603 Speaker: Cornelia Rasmussen, Research Associate, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics Host: Krista Soderlund Title: The Emerging Field Of Position-Specific Isotope Analysis: Applications in chemical forensics, exobiology, geo- and environmental sciences Abstract: Complex organics can be found all over our solar system and within each living thing on our planet, be it as part of its physiology or as a contaminant. However, different processes can lead to the formation of chemical identical molecules. This makes answering a number of scientific questions challenging. One example is distinguishing between biotic and abiotic molecules, hence hindering life detection on early Earth but especially on other planetary bodies, such as on Mars, Titan, Enceladus and on meteorites where organics have been detected. Moreover, tracing molecules as they move through the environment can be demanding, yet is essential in studying the flow of organic molecules as well as correlating pollutants with their source. Novel tools to address these challenges are currently being developed. Especially, the emerging field of position-specific isotope analysis is beginning to grant access to the unique intramolecular carbon (13C/12C) isotope fingerprint preserved in complex molecules. This fingerprint can be applied in various scientific disciplines, ranging from forensics to exobiology, geo- and environmental sciences, including geo health. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) has the potential to become a key player in this research area, as it allows the analysis of organics within complex mixtures, all without the need to fragment the molecule into single carbon units or the combustion of the molecule of interest. We have been developing several NMR tools that allow us to investigate the intramolecular carbon isotope distribution within various molecule classes and to test the central hypothesis that the position-specific carbon isotope distribution within complex organics depends on a molecule’s source and formation history. |
Planetary Habitability Seminar SeriesApril, 29 2024Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PMLocation: PMA 15.216B UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability Seminar Series. See website for speaker schedule and more details: View Events Join remotely: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/94052130734 In person: Classroom 15.216B, Physics, Math and Astronomy Bldg. UT Austin, Department of Astronomy 2515 Speedway, Stop C1400 Austin, Texas 78712-1205 |
UTIG Discussion Hour: Kristian Chan - PhD Talk (UTIG)April, 30 2024Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PMLocation: ROC 2.201 |