Highlights for 05/2013
May 22, 2013 at 12:00 AM
AOS 270
WHEN: |
Wednesday, May 22 |
WHO: |
Alyson Santoro, University of Maryland |
TIME: |
Noon |
WHERE: |
La Kretz Hall Suite 300 |
| TOPIC: |
" The Microbial Nitrogen Cycle in a Changing Ocean: Linking Genomes and Geochemistry" |
Abstract:
"The perturbation of the global nitrogen cycle is one of the most significant human influences on the marine environment, and is exacerbated by growing human populations along the coast. As we drastically, and potentially irreversibly, alter the global nitrogen cycle, many basic questions about the microbes driving it remain unanswered. This talk will discuss how molecular biology and stable isotope geochemistry can be combined to discover new microbial metabolisms, track microbial activity in the ocean, and inform predictions of how microbes will respond to a changing ocean. "
May 22, 2013 at 12:00 AM
AOS 270
WHEN: |
Wednesday, May 22 |
WHO: |
Nick Nidzieko, University of Maryland |
TIME: |
3:30pm |
WHERE: |
Math Science 7124 |
| TOPIC: |
" Observations of 'sub-grid scale mixing' in coastal ecosystems" |
Abstract:
"Although estuaries and kelp forests are among the most productive habitats per unit area on the planet, their role in global biogeochemical cycles is poorly constrained. Much of this uncertainty is due to the wide range of physical forcing (tides, wind, etc.) that collectively affect residence time and material fluxes. In order to improve parametereization of processes in these critical--yet often sub-grid scale--habitats, the dominant physics must be known at daily, episodic, and seasonal time scales. High-frequency, long-term observations are essential to this end. Two examples highlighting the importance of such observations will be presented: the first example shows how fortnightly modulation of lateral exchange between the main channel and fringing intertidal areas affects net ecosystem metabolism in an estuary; the second example shows how submesoscale eddies generated at an upwelling front contribute to cross-shore flushing of a kelp forest."
May 18, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Save the Date: Alumni Day is May 18, 2013
| 9:30 - 10:15 a.m. |
REGISTRATION |
|
9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
KIDS’ ZONE |
|
10:15 - 11 a.m. |
OPENING KEYNOTE BY GUY KAWASAKI M.B.A. ’79 |
|
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
BRUIN NETWORKING EXPO |
|
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
TASTE OF PAULEY |
See the Full Schedule
May 15, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Oppenhiem Lecture Series
WHEN: |
Wednesday, May 15 |
WHO: |
Alex Hall, AOS-UCLA |
TIME: |
7:00pm |
WHERE: |
Lenart Auditorium, Fowler Museum at UCLA |
| TOPIC: |
"LA's Climate Future: What's Coming and What Choices We Face" |
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED: RSVP by May 8, 2013
Abstract:
"Scientists have been warning about the global impacts that climate change will bring over the coming decades, but what do those impacts mean for Los Angeles? Do they spell doom for life as we know it in our California paradise? To answer these questions, Professor Alex Hall will present the results of his ground-breaking research on the local impacts of global climate change. By downscaling global climate models to very high resolutions, Prof. Hall's work predicts the changes that will take place across the Los Angeles landscape, from warmer temperatures and more frequent extreme heat events to reduced snowfall in the region's mountain ranges. Attendees will come away with an understanding of the coming changes and the decisions we must make to adapt to the inevitable effects and prevent the avoidable ones.
"
May 15, 2013 at 12:00 AM
AOS 270
WHEN: |
Wednesday, May 15 |
WHO: |
Geoff Vallis, Princeton University |
TIME: |
3:30pm |
WHERE: |
Math Science 7124 |
| TOPIC: |
"Probabilistic Estimates of Transient Climate Sensitivity" |
Abstract:
"I will present semi-empitical estimates of the transient climate sensitivity (which is the short-term response of the average surface temperature to a given increase in greenhouse gases) that try to take into account two major sources of uncertainty: internal variability in the climate record and uncertainty in the forcing over the last century. The estimates are made using a very simple global energy balance model with parameters constrained by the historical record. I will also argue that the transient climate sensitivity is in fact a much more relevant quantity than the equilibrium climate sensitivity, even in the long term."
May 15, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Oppenhiem Lecture Series
WHEN: |
Wednesday, May 15 |
WHO: |
Alex Hall, AOS-UCLA |
TIME: |
7:00pm |
WHERE: |
Lenart Auditorium, Fowler Museum at UCLA |
| TOPIC: |
"LA's Climate Future: What's Coming and What Choices We Face" |
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED: RSVP by May 8, 2013
Abstract:
"Scientists have been warning about the global impacts that climate change will bring over the coming decades, but what do those impacts mean for Los Angeles? Do they spell doom for life as we know it in our California paradise? To answer these questions, Professor Alex Hall will present the results of his ground-breaking research on the local impacts of global climate change. By downscaling global climate models to very high resolutions, Prof. Hall's work predicts the changes that will take place across the Los Angeles landscape, from warmer temperatures and more frequent extreme heat events to reduced snowfall in the region's mountain ranges. Attendees will come away with an understanding of the coming changes and the decisions we must make to adapt to the inevitable effects and prevent the avoidable ones.
"
May 14, 2013 at 12:00 AM
AOS 271
WHEN: |
Tuesday, May 14 |
WHO: |
Geoff Vallis, Princeton University |
TIME: |
3:30pm |
WHERE: |
Math Science 7124 |
| TOPIC: |
"'A New Theory of the Meridional Overturning Circulation of the Ocean" |
Abstract:
"I will present a theory of the oceanic MOC and associated deep stratification.
The theory includes the effects of wind, eddies, and diapycnal mixing, and predicts the deep stratification and overturning streamfunction in terms of the surface forcing and other parameters of the problem. The theory describes both the middepth and abyssal cells of an overturning circulation representing North Atlantic Deep Water and Antarctic Bottom Water. The theory makes explicit predictions about how the stratification and overturning circulation vary with the wind strength, diapycnal diffusivity and mesoscale eddy effects."
May 09, 2013 at 12:00 AM
AOS 271
WHEN: |
Thursday, May 9 |
WHO: |
Paul Loikith |
TIME: |
3:30pm |
WHERE: |
Math Science 7124 |
| TOPIC: |
"Extreme Temperatures over North America: Evaluating the Fidelity of Regional Climate Model Hindcast Experiments" |
Abstract:
"Changes in extreme temperatures due to anthropogenic global warming are expected to have severe climate impacts on society. In order to better constrain uncertainty in climate model projections of future changes in extremes, it is essential to evaluate model fidelity in simulating extremes against observations. With this goal in mind, this work focuses on the development and implementation of novel evaluation metrics of daily surface temperature probability distribution function (PDF) characteristics and structure in six regional climate model hindcast experiments over North America. All model experiments were performed as contributions to the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) and are evaluated against two high-resolution reanalysis products. In many cases, model PDFs have biases of the same sign at both tails and the median of the distribution indicative of a shift in the PDF towards warmer or colder temperatures relative to reanalysis and independent of PDF shape. In general, wintertime variance is higher in models than in reanalysis in the northern portion of the domain, while variance is lower than reanalysis in the south. The models generally capture spatial patterns of temperature skewness in winter, with some differences in skewness magnitude. There is weaker agreement between datasets for summertime skewness, especially at lower latitudes, with models and reanalyses varying considerably. The model error identified using this holistic approach to PDF evaluation suggests extreme temperatures may not be properly simulated in some regions even where mean temperature bias is low. Results from this work will allow for future investigation of mechanisms associated with model error. "
May 08, 2013 at 12:00 AM
AOS 270
WHEN: |
Wednesday, May 8 |
WHO: |
Chris Holloway, University of Reading |
TIME: |
3:30pm |
WHERE: |
Math Science 7124 |
| TOPIC: |
"Simulating deep atmospheric convection over large tropical domains" |
Abstract:
"The organization of convection, and the interaction between the convective scale and larger scale motions, remain a challenging set of problems in atmospheric science. Global weather and climate model grid scales are too coarse to directly simulate convective-scale motions, and large-scale tropical rainfall patterns and circulations simulated by these models are still very sensitive to details of convective parameterizations. Here, limited-area models that explicitly simulate deep convective motions over large domains are presented as tools to study phenomena such as the MJO and convective aggregation. These simulations are compared to GCMs and observations in an effort to better understand scale interactions and improve global model representation of convective processes."