Profile

I am a meteorologist focusing on the combination of theory, observations, and modelling, specialized on scales ranging from meso, synoptic, to large-scale flow and participated and coordinated several field campaigns.

Since 2015, I am the director of the RCN funded Norwegian Research School on Changing Climates in the Coupled Earth System (CHESS).

I am currently leading research projects focusing on atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions in higher latitudes as well as air-sea interactions and cyclone development in the midlatitude storm tracks.

In 2012, I was elected as a member of the International Commission for Dynamic Meteorology (ICDM) and was elected President of ICDM in 2019. From 2015-2019, I was the elected as Chair of the Atmospheric Working Group of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), and a member from 2013-2021. Since 2022, I am the elected Leader of the Norwegian Geophysical Society.

I was awarded the prize for best lecturer of the academic year 2012/2013 at the Faculty for Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bergen and nominated for the IAMAS early career scientist medal in 2013.

I lead a science outreach project together with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in which we featured four concerts as part of the regular concert series for the season 2019-2020. The themes of the four concerts are: Space, Ocean, Climate, and Humankind. More information about the project can be found on https://nestesteg.w.uib.no/.

Research areas

• Atmopshere-Ocean-Ice Interactions
• Jet Stream Dynamics and Variability
• Polar Lows
• Teleconnections
• Baroclinic and Diabatic Intensification of Extratropical Cyclones
• Heat Lows
• Orographic Slope and Valley Winds
• Flow over and around Topography
• Convection

I lead a science outreach project together with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in which we feature four concerts as part of the regular concert series for the season 2019-2020. The themes of the four concerts are: Space, Ocean, Climate, and Humankind. More information about the project can be found on https://nestesteg.w.uib.no/.

Courses:

Introduction to Methods in Weather Forecasting (GEOF321)

Dynamics of the Atmosphere (GEOF326)

Advanced Atmospheric Dynamics (GEOF352)

Mesoscale Dynamics (GEOF328)

Seminar in Atmospheric Sciences (GEOF351)

Polar Meteorology and Climate (AGF-213)

The Arctic Atmospheric Boundary Layer and Local Climate Processes (AGF-350)

 

Supervision

I regularly supervisor Master and PhD students as well as postdoctoral research fellows. So far, I have supervised 29 Master students, 14 PhD students, and 8 Postdocs.

PhD Students

Qidi Yu: Forecast errors associated with diabatic processes in weather systems. 2022-2025

Rhituja Bhorade: Air-Sea Interactions associated with Cold Air Outbreaks. 2023-2024

Natacha Galmiche: Multimodality in ensemble forecasts. 2019-2024

Kjersti Konstali: Precipitation attribution and climate change. 2020-2024

Johannes Lutzmann: Detection and classification of frontal lifecycles. 2020-2024

Kristine Flacké Haualand: Diabatic intensification of baroclinic evolution and the role of surface fluxes. 2016-2020

Leonidas Tsopouridis: Air-sea interaction processes in the Gulf Stream and Kurishio Rregions. 2016-2020

Sunil Pariyar: Intraseasonal rainfall variability and the extreme rainfall in the western Tropical Pacific. 2015-2019

Denis Sergeev: Observations and Modeling of Polar Lows with Focus on Predictability and Genesis. 2014-2018

Clemens Spensberger: New approaches to investigate the influence of orographic and dynamic blocking on large-scale atmospheric flow. 2011-2015

Annick Terpstra: Dynamical perspectives on the formation and intensification of polar lows. 2011-2014

Mathew Reeve: Monsoon onset in Bangladesh: reconciling scientific and societal perspectives. 2010-2015

Stefan Keiderling: Jet Dynamics, Evolution, and Forcing. 2013-2017

Qi Kong: Interactions of Cyclones with steep Topography. 2011-2013

 

Master students

Jeroen Oostdam: Dynamic differences between clustered and non-clustered cyclones. 2024-2025

Markus Løkken: Influence of diabatic processes and surface fluxes on the development of reverse shear polar lows. 2024-2025

Sigrid Galtvik: Dynamical attribution of global precipitation in current and future climates. 2024-2025

Christoffer Høvås: Sensitivity of cyclone clusters to diabatic processes. 2024-2025

Hannah van der Zande: Introducing a sea ice component in an idealised coupled model. 2023

Johanne Ordahl: Detection of sea ice breakup events and the influence of atmospheric forcing. 2023-2024

Henrik Larsen: Impact of mobile sensors on road weather forecasting. 2022-2023

Susanne Olsen: Influence of diabatic processes on cyclone clusters and cyclone lifecycles. 2022-2023

Kjersti Konstali: A Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean-Ice Mixed Layer Model for Cold Air Outbreaks. 2018-2019

Lars Andreas Selberg: Dynamics and Predictability of extreme winter storm Nina. 2015-2016

Kristine Flacké Haualand: Diabatic intensification of baroclinic evolution. 2015-2016

Ståle Dahl-Eriksen: Influence of SST gradients on cyclones and storm tracks. 2015-2016

Magnus Haukeland: Polar Low Climatology and Impact on Norway: Present and Future. 2015-2016

Musa Ssemujju: Early Season Rainfall in North-East Bangladesh. 2015-2016

Matthias Gottschalk: An idealized study on the influence of the sea ice edge on the development of polar lows. 2015

Ragnhild Nordhagen: Forecast Challenges associated with Cold Pools in Norwegian Valleys. 2013-2014

Linda Green: Influence of Surface Fluxes on Polar Low Development: Idealised Simulations. 2013-2014

Bas Creeze: Polar low detection and tracking. 2013

Trond Thorsteinsson: The development and evaluation of an idealized ocean model for the Bergen Dynamic Model. 2013

Angus Munro: What can flow deformation tell us about Rossby wave breaking in the atmosphere? 2012-2013

Espen Karlsen: Extreme precipitation in Norway: Present and Future Changes based on Regional Climate Simulations. 2012-2013

Stefan Keiderling: Low Level Jet Streams at the Sea Ice Edge - Numerical Simulations using WRF. 2012-2013

Cecilie Villanger: Exteme winds in Norway - an analysis based on observations and reanalyses. 2012-2013

Elin Tronvoll: Cyclone Interaction with the Topography of Greenland: A Catalog of Cyclone Motion. 2011-2012

Poster

• Yu, Qidi; Spensberger, Clemens; Magnusson, Linus et al. (2024). Attribution of forecast errors to weather features in the ERA5. (external link)
• Yu, Qidi; Spensberger, Clemens; Magnusson, Linus et al. (2024). Forecast Error Attributed to Synoptic Features. (external link)
• Lutzmann, Johannes; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2024). A Climatology of Frontal Life Cycles. (external link)
• Chripko, Svenya; Spengler, Thomas (2023). Effect of marine cold air outbreaks on water masses and circulation in the Nordic Seas. (external link)
• Yu, Qidi; Spensberger, Clemens; Linus, Magnusson et al. (2023). Attribution of Forecasts Errors to Weather Features in the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5). (external link)
• Yu, Qidi; Spensberger, Clemens; Magnusson, Linus et al. (2023). Attribution of Forecasts Errors to Weather Features in the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5). (external link)
• Rheinlænder, Jonathan Winfield; Davy, Richard; Olason, Einar et al. (2022). Breaking Up is Hard to Do – Simulating Extreme Sea-Ice Breakup in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Rheinlænder, Jonathan Winfield; Korosov, Anton; Olason, Einar et al. (2022). Simulating extreme winter sea-ice breakup in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Lutzmann, Johannes; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2022). Towards an Objective Climatology of Frontal Life Cycles. (external link)
• Duscha, Christiane Anabell; Kähnert, Marvin; Palenik, Juraj et al. (2021). Probing atmospheric convection in a local valley system. (external link)
• Lutzmann, Johannes; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2021). Towards a Climatology of Frontal Life Cycles. (external link)
• Lutzmann, Johannes; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2020). Lifecycle of fronts of mid-latitude cyclones and their role in maintaining extratropical storm tracks PhD Candidate (Supervisor: Thomas Spengler). (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2019). How Do Latent Cooling and Surface Heat Fluxes Influence Baroclinic Development in an Idealised Framework?. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2019). Local versus Remote Influence of Surface Fluxes in Idealised Baroclinic Development. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2019). Diabatic Effects on Baroclinic Development. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2019). How do Extratropical Cyclones respond to the North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature Front? . (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Weijenborg, Christian (2018). Maintenance of Baroclinicity: Global Climatology of the Slope of Isentropic Surfaces and their Tendencies. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Weijenborg, Christian (2018). Global Climatology of Baroclinicity and its Variations: Role or Air-Sea Interactions. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Midlatitude Storm Development and Intensification. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Effects of Surface Fluxes and Latent Heating on Extratropical Cyclones in an Idealised Linear Framework. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spengler, Thomas; Spensberger, Clemens (2018). Influence of the SST Fronts on the evolution of North Atlantic Storms. (external link)
• Ogawa, Fumiaki; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Difference between Mean and Instantaneous Wind Direction associated with Air-Sea Fluxes. (external link)
• Michel, Clio; Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Polar Mesoscale Cyclone Climatology for the Nordic Seas. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spengler, Thomas; Ogawa, Fumiaki (2017). Influence of the Gulf Stream Sea Surface Temperature Front on the evolution of Storms. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2017). Latent heating and surface fluxes in baroclinic development. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2017). Impact of moisture on storm development. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spengler, Thomas (2017). Air-Sea Interaction Processes along the Gulf Stream region. (external link)
• Stiller-Reeve, Mathew Alexander; Stephenson,, David; Spengler, Thomas (2017). New Tools for Comparing Beliefs about the Timing of Recurrent Events with Climate Time Series Datasets. (external link)
• Michel, Clio; Spengler, Thomas (2016). Climatology and Genesis Environment of North Atlantic Polar Lows. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas; Li, Camille (2015). Relating objectively detected jet axes, blocking and wave-breaking events. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas; Li, Camille (2015). Disentangling the co-variability of the jet location and intensity. (external link)
• Michel, Clio; Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2015). Present and future climatologies of polar lows over the Norwegian Sea. (external link)
• Michel, Clio; Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2015). Environmental Conditions for Polar Lows in the Nordic Seas. (external link)
• Keiderling, Stefan; Wettstein, Justin; Li, Camille et al. (2014). Tropical Diabatic Heating and its Influence on the Extratropical Jets during Winter . (external link)
• Michel, Clio; Spengler, Thomas; Terpstra, Annick (2014). Climatology and dynamical aspects of polar lows over the Nordic Seas. (external link)
• Kong, Qi; Spengler, Thomas; Shapiro, Melvyn A. et al. (2014). Two types of westerly Greenland tip jets. (external link)
• Keiderling, Stefan; Spengler, Thomas (2013). Low Level Jet Streams at the Ice Edge-Numerical Studies using WRF. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Shapiro, Melvyn A.; Papritz, Lukas (2013). Synoptic Evolution and Dynamic Characteristics of the Extreme Norwegian Winter Storm Dagmar. (external link)
• Keiderling, Stefan; Spengler, Thomas (2013). Low Level Jet Streams at the Ice Edge-Numerical Studies using WRF. (external link)
• Terpstra, Annick; Moore, Richard W; Spengler, Thomas (2012). The Diabatic Rossby Vortex as a mechanism for polar low initiation and intensification. (external link)

Academic article

• Konstali, Kjersti; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas et al. (2024). Global Attribution of Precipitation to Weather Features. (external link)
• Okajima, S.; Nakamura, H.; Spengler, Thomas (2024). Midlatitude Oceanic Fronts Strengthen the Hydrological Cycle Between Cyclones and Anticyclones. (external link)
• Lin, Ting; Spengler, Thomas; Rutgersson, Anna et al. (2024). Impact of sea spray-mediated heat fluxes on polar low development. (external link)
• Auestad, Henrik; Spensberger, Clemens; Marcheggiani, Andrea et al. (2024). Spatio-temporal averaging of jets obscures the reinforcement of baroclinicity by latent heating. (external link)
• Konstali, Kjersti; Spengler, Thomas; Spensberger, Clemens et al. (2024). Linking Future Precipitation Changes to Weather Features in CESM2-LE. (external link)
• Ogawa, Fumiaki; Spengler, Thomas (2024). Influence of mid-latitude sea surface temperature fronts on the atmospheric water cycle and storm track activity. (external link)
• Duscha, Christiane Anabell; Palenik, Juraj; Spengler, Thomas et al. (2023). Observing atmospheric convection with dual-scanning lidars. (external link)
• Svensson, Gunilla; Murto, Sonja; Shupe, Matthew D. et al. (2023). Warm air intrusions reaching the MOSAiC expedition in April 2020- The YOPP targeted observing period (TOP). (external link)
• Woollings, Tim; Li, Camille; Drounard, Marie et al. (2023). The role of Rossby waves in polar weather and climate. (external link)
• Outten, Stephen; Li, Camille; King, Martin Peter et al. (2023). Reconciling conflicting evidence for the cause of the observed early 21st century Eurasian cooling. (external link)
• Marcheggiani, Andrea; Spengler, Thomas (2023). Diabatic effects on the evolution of storm tracks. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Li, Camille; Spengler, Thomas (2023). Linking Instantaneous and Climatological Perspectives on Eddy-Driven and Subtropical Jets. (external link)
• Renfrew, Ian A.; Huang, Jie; Semper, Stefanie et al. (2022). Coupled atmosphere–ocean observations of a cold-air outbreak and its impact on the Iceland Sea. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Thorsteinsson, Trond; Spengler, Thomas (2022). Bedymo: A combined quasi-geostrophic and primitive equation model in σ coordinates. (external link)
• Watanabe, Shun-ichi I.; Niino, Hiroshi; Spengler, Thomas (2022). Formation of maritime convergence zones within cold air outbreaks due to the shape of the coastline or sea ice edge. (external link)
• Rheinlænder, Jonathan Winfield; Davy, Richard; Olason, Einar et al. (2022). Driving Mechanisms of an Extreme Winter Sea Ice Breakup Event in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Geerts, Bart; Giangrande, Scott E.; McFarquhar, Greg M. et al. (2022). The COMBLE Campaign: A Study of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds in Arctic Cold-Air Outbreaks. (external link)
• Reeder, Michael J; Spengler, Thomas; Spensberger, Clemens (2021). The Effect of Sea Surface Temperature Fronts on Atmospheric Frontogenesis. (external link)
• Stoll, Patrick; Spengler, Thomas; Terpstra, Annick et al. (2021). Polar lows - moist-baroclinic cyclones in four different vertical wind shear environments. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2021). Sensitivity of Air-Sea Heat Exchange in Cold-Air Outbreaks to Model Resolution and Sea-Ice Distribution. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2021). Relative importance of tropopause structure and diabatic heating for baroclinic instability. (external link)
• Bui, Hai Hoang; Spengler, Thomas (2021). On the Influence of Sea Surface Temperature distributions on the Development of Extratropical Cyclones. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Reeder, Michael John; Spengler, Thomas et al. (2020). The connection between the Southern Annular Mode and a feature-based perspective on Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude winter variability. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2020). Characteristics of cyclones following different pathways in the Gulf Stream region. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2020). Cyclone Intensification in the Kuroshio Region and its relation to the Sea Surface Temperature Front and Upper‐Level Forcing. (external link)
• Weijenborg, Christian; Spengler, Thomas (2020). Diabatic Heating as a Pathway for Cyclone Clustering Encompassing the Extreme Storm Dagmar. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2020). Feature-Based Jet Variability in the Upper Troposphere. (external link)
• Palenik, Juraj; Spengler, Thomas; Hauser, Helwig (2020). IsoTrotter: Visually Guided Empirical Modelling of Atmospheric Convection. (external link)
• Tsopouridis, Leonidas; Spengler, Thomas; Spensberger, Clemens (2020). Smoother versus sharper Gulf Stream and Kuroshio sea surface temperature fronts: effects on cyclones and climatology. (external link)
• Pariyar, Sunil Kumar; Keenlyside, Noel; Sorteberg, Asgeir et al. (2020). Factors affecting extreme rainfall events in the South Pacific. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2020). Direct and Indirect Effects of Surface Fluxes on Moist Baroclinic Development in an Idealized Framework. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2019). How does latent cooling affect baroclinic development in an idealized framework?. (external link)
• Ogawa, Fumiaki; Spengler, Thomas (2019). Prevailing Surface Wind Direction during Air-Sea Heat Exchange. (external link)
• Heinemann, Günther; Claud, Chantal; Spengler, Thomas (2019). Polar low workshop. (external link)
• Sergeev, Denis; Renfrew, Ian A.; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Modification of Polar Low Development by Orography and Sea Ice. (external link)
• Schäfler, Andreas; Craig, George; Wernli, Heini et al. (2018). The North Atlantic waveguide and downstream impact experiment. (external link)
• Egger, Joseph; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Non-Uniqueness of Attribution in Piecewise Potential Vorticity Inversion. (external link)
• Michel, Clio; Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2018). Polar Mesoscale Cyclone Climatology for the Nordic Seas Based on ERA-Interim. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas; Li, Camille (2017). Upper-Tropospheric Jet Axis Detection and Application to the Boreal Winter 2013/14. (external link)
• Egger, Joseph; Hoinka, Klaus-Peter; Spengler, Thomas (2017). Inversion of potential vorticity density. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Claud, Chantal; Heinemann, Günther (2017). Polar Low Workshop Summary. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Egger, Joseph; Spengler, Thomas (2017). Synoptic Systems interacting with the Rocky Mountain Barrier: Observations and Theories. (external link)
• Woollings, Tim; Papritz, Lukas; Mbengue, Cheikh et al. (2016). Diabatic heating and jet stream shifts: A case study of the 2010 negative North Atlantic Oscillation winter. (external link)
• Schultz, David; Spengler, Thomas (2016). Comment on "Incorporating the Effects of Moisture into a Dynamical Parameter: Moist Vorticity and Moist Divergence". (external link)
• Reeve, Mathew Alexander; Stephenson,, David; Spengler, Thomas (2016). New Tools for Comparing Beliefs about the Timing of Recurrent Events with Climate Time Series Datasets. (external link)
• Papritz, Lukas; Spengler, Thomas (2016). A Lagrangian climatology of wintertime cold air outbreaks in the Irminger and Nordic seas and their role in shaping air-sea heat fluxes. (external link)
• Sergeev, Denis; Renfrew, Ian A.; Spengler, Thomas et al. (2016). Structure of a shear-line polar low. (external link)
• Yanase, Wataru; Niino, Hiroshi; Watanabe, S. et al. (2016). Climatology of polar lows over the Sea of Japan using the JRA-55 reanalysis. (external link)
• Terpstra, Annick; Michel, Clio; Spengler, Thomas (2016). Forward and reverse shear environments during polar low genesis over the North East Atlantic. (external link)
• Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2015). An initialization method for idealized channel simulations. (external link)
• Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas; Moore, Richard (2015). Idealised simulations of polar low development in an Arctic moist-baroclinic environment. (external link)
• Papritz, Lukas; Spengler, Thomas (2015). Analysis of the slope of isentropic surfaces and its tendencies over the North Atlantic. (external link)
• Egger, Joseph; Hoinka, Klaus-Peter; Spengler, Thomas (2015). Aspects of potential vorticity fluxes: Climatology and impermeability. (external link)
• Reeder, Michael J; Spengler, Thomas; Musgrave, Ruth (2015). Rossby waves, extreme fronts, and wildfires in southeastern Australia. (external link)
• Reeve, Mathew Alexander; Syed, Mohammed Abu; Spengler, Thomas et al. (2015). Complementing scientific monsoon definitions with social perception in Bangladesh. (external link)
• Spensberger, Clemens; Spengler, Thomas (2014). A new look at deformation as a diagnostic for large-scale flow. (external link)
• Reeve, Mathew Alexander; Spengler, Thomas; Chu, Pao-Shin (2014). Testing a flexible method to reduce false monsoon onsets. (external link)
• Potter, Sam; Spengler, Thomas; Held, Isaac M. (2013). Reflection of Barotropic Rossby Waves in Sheared Flow and Validity of the WKB Approximation. (external link)
• Reuder, Joachim; Ablinger, Markus; Ágústsson, Hálfdán et al. (2012). FLOHOF 2007: an overview of the mesoscale meteorological field campaign at Hofsjokull, Central Iceland. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Egger, Joseph (2012). Potential vorticity attribution and causality. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Egger, Joseph; Garner, Stephen T (2011). How does rain affect surface pressure in a one-dimensional framework?. (external link)
• Smith, Roger K; Spengler, Thomas (2011). Dynamics of Heat Lows over elevated terrain. (external link)
• Kristjansson, Jon Egill; Barstad, Idar; Aspelien, Trygve et al. (2011). The Norwegian IPY-THORPEX. Polar Lows and Arctic Fronts during the 2008 Andøya Campaign. (external link)
• Moore, Richard W; Martius, Olivia; Spengler, Thomas (2010). The Modulation of the Subtropical and Extratropical Atmosphere in the Pacific Basin in Response to the Madden Julian Oscillation. (external link)
• Våge, Kjetil; Spengler, Thomas; Davies, Huw C et al. (2009). Multi-event analysis of the westerly Greenland tip jet based upon 45 winters in ERA-40. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Egger, Joseph (2009). Comments on "Dry-Season Precipitation in Tropical West Africa and Its Relation to Forcing from the Extratropics". (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Ablinger, Markus; Schween, Jan H. et al. (2009). Thermally driven Flows at an asymmetric valley exit: Observations and Model Studies at the Lech Valley exit. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Smith, Roger K (2008). The dynamics of heat lows over flat terrain. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Reeder, Michael J; Smith, Roger K (2005). The Dynamics of Heat Lows in Simple Background Flows. (external link)
• Jackson, Gordon E; Smith, Roger K; Spengler, Thomas (2002). The Prediction of low-level convergence lines over northeastern Australia. (external link)

Website (informational material)

• Kong, Yuen Man; Spengler, Thomas (2022). Finally – Thank you for a fantastic CHESS Annual Meeting on Hurtigruten after 2 years’ delay!. (external link)
• Trabolt, jens; Spengler, Thomas (2022). Termik-praktikere møder termik-forskere. (external link)
• Kong, Yuen Man; Spengler, Thomas (2021). Hybrid CHESS Annual Meeting 2021 successfully concluded!. (external link)
• Haualand, Kristine Flacké; Spengler, Thomas (2019). Report: Winter School on the Influence of Diabatic Processes on Atmospheric Development. (external link)

Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

• Galmiche, Natacha; Hauser, Helwig; Spengler, Thomas et al. (2021). Revealing Multimodality in Ensemble Weather Prediction. (external link)

Academic literature review

• Renfrew, Ian Alasdair; Pickart, RS; Våge, Kjetil et al. (2019). The Iceland Greenland seas project. (external link)

Errata

• Michel, Clio; Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2019). Corrigendum: Polar mesoscale cyclone climatology for the Nordic seas based on ERA-Interim. [J. Climate, 31, (2018) (2511-2532) doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0890.1. (external link)

Abstract

• Spengler, Thomas; Renfrew, Ian A.; Terpstra, Annick et al. (2016). High-latitude dynamics of atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions. (external link)

Masters thesis

• Haukeland, Magnus; Spengler, Thomas; Michel, Clio (2016). Climatology of polar lows impacting Norway. (external link)
• Lars Andreas, Norheim Selberg; Spengler, Thomas; Moore, Richard (2016). Dynamics and Predictability of the Extreme Extratropical Cyclone Nina. (external link)
• Green, Linda Elisabeth; Spengler, Thomas; Terpstra, Annick (2014). Influence of surface fluxes of polar low development: idealised simulations. (external link)
• Spengler, Thomas; Crezee, Sebastiaan (2013). An objective climatology of Polar Lows: structure and forcing mechanism. (external link)
• Villanger, Cecilie; Spengler, Thomas (2013). Extreme winds in Norway - an analysis based on observations and reanalyses. (external link)
• Keiderling, Stefan; Spengler, Thomas (2013). Low Level Jet Streams at the Ice Edge-Numerical Studies using WRF. (external link)
• Tronvoll, Elin; Spengler, Thomas (2012). Cyclone Interaction with the Topography of Greenland. (external link)

Short communication

• Jung, Thomas; Doblas-Reyes, Franscisco J.; Goessling, Helge et al. (2015). Polar lower-latitude linkages and their role in weather and climate prediction. (external link)

Popular scientific article

• Spengler, Thomas (2015). Iskantens ekstreme klima. (external link)
• Reeve, Mathew Alexander; Spengler, Thomas; Lunde, Torleif Markussen et al. (2012). Hva er egentlig monsunen?. (external link)

Doctoral dissertation

• Terpstra, Annick; Spengler, Thomas (2014). Dynamical perspectives on the formation and intensification of polar lows. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Bias Attribution Linking Moist Dynamics of Cyclones and Storm Tracks (BALMCAST)

2020-2025 (12 Mio NOK)

Summary

There is a dichotomy between theoretical understanding and modeling of weather and climate, where the former mainly assumes a dry atmosphere while the latter relies on parameterizations of physical processes, especially related to moisture and phase changes that can yield a significant feedback on the dynamics. With prevailing model biases in jet streams and storm tracks often being tied to these processes, we thus lack a theoretical underpinning that can aid a physical attribution and alleviation of these biases. For example, while the development of cyclones is traditionally thought to reduce the midlatitude temperature gradient that gives rise to storm development, latent heating within these storms enhances the temperature gradient, sometimes even yielding a net increase. These cycles are most likely associated with events of cyclone clustering with significant socio-economic impact. While the mechanisms by which cyclone lifecycles alter temperature gradients must be determined by frontal dynamics, we lack a detailed understanding of the interplay between processes along fronts and their relation to cyclone clustering as well as storm track intensity and variability. We therefore propose to develop a framework combining moist dynamics across fronts, cyclones, and the storm track.

Our framework will clarify the pertinent mechanisms and the role of frontal lifecycles and cyclone development in storm track variability and thereby aid our understanding of prevailing model biases. It will also contest our understanding of cyclone development, as our new paradigm allows for cyclones to increase temperature gradients. As our new moist storm track model will explain the positioning, intensity, and variability of storm tracks in terms of moist processes, it will allow us to physically attribute model biases and formulate alternative hypotheses about the cause for future shifts of storm tracks.

 

Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions over Key Regions of the Arctic and Their Linkages to Midlatitudes (ARCLINK)

2022-2026 (10 Mio NOK)

Summary

State-of-the-art weather and climate prediction models suffer from significant errors due to misrepresentations in both atmosphere-ocean interactions and atmospheric weather patterns. We aim to improve models by identifying processes and weather events leading to significant forecast errors. Our findings will guide model development in the polar regions with benefits for global weather and climate models. In particular, we will focus on atmosphere-ocean interactions during cold air outbreaks, which are large excursions of cold polar air masses over the relatively warmer ocean. These cold air outbreaks comprise the majority of the overall atmosphere-ocean heat exchange in the polar regions. Several recent and upcoming field campaigns provide valuable data to assess the fidelity of our models.

As the aforementioned weather events are connected to the larger-scale setting of the atmospheric circulation, we will investigate coupling mechanisms between the polar and lower latitudes. Particular focus will be on incursions of heat and moisture into the Arctic. It has recently been argued that these incursions are becoming more frequent with climate change, though a thorough assessment of the representation of these events in our weather and climate models is still lacking. We will characterize these teleconnection events to identify and attribute model errors.

Our results will explain errors in weather and climate models associated with atmosphere-ocean heat exchange and the representation of weather events. Given the importance of the atmosphere-ocean heat exchange in the subpolar regions, our findings will leave a profound impact on the weather and climate research community.