My work covers many aspects of mid- and high latitude atmospheric dynamics, in particular fronts, jets and orography and air-ice-sea interaction. Some key results from my work are summarized here.

Jets, blocking and storm track variability

• The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) does not represent southern mid-latitude variability, but rather variability over Antartica and along its coast line (Spensberger et al. 2020, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0224.1).
• Jet variability does not necessarily follow geopotential variability (Spensberger and Spengler 2020, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0715.1).
• The stronger a jet, the less does it vary in position around its climatological mean, and the more does it favour anticyclonic wave breaking (Woollings et al. 2018, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0286.1).
• The same blocking high pressure can lead to concurrent heat waves in different regions through different mechanisms (Spensberger et al. 2020, doi: 10.1002/qj.3822)

Air-ice-sea interaction

• Increasing atmospheric resolution and a sharper sea-ice edge invigorates the atmospheric water cycle in a cold-air outbreak (Spensberger and Spengler 2021, doi: 10.1029/2020JD033610).
• The temperature contrast along the SST fronts affects the atmosphere primarily in the absence of cyclones and fronts (Tsopouridis et al. 2021, discussion paper doi: 10.5194/wcd-2020-50; Reeder et al. 2021, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-20-0118.1).
• Year-to-year variability in the heat loss to the atmosphere over the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas is driven by atmospheric variability, and associated with variations in the occurrence of cyclones and cold-air-outreaks (Smedsrud et al. 2021, submitted to Reviews of Geophysics, preprint doi: 10.1002/essoar.10506171.1).

Frontal dynamics

• It is useful to distinguish not only between cold and warm fronts, but also between fronts that are more/less (a) kinematically intense, (b) affected by moist processes and (c) associated with surface fluxes (Spensberger and Sprenger 2018, doi: 10.1002/qj.3199).

Impact of orography on synoptic systems

• The Scandinavian mountains had only a minor influence on the evolution of the New Year's Day Storm 1992, although the mountain range separated the cyclone core from the cyclone's warm sector (Spensberger and Schemm 2020, doi: 10.5194/wcd-1-175-2020).
• We lack a satisfactory conceptual model to describe and explain cyclogenesis in the lee of the Rocky Mountains (Spensberger et al. 2017, doi: 10.1175/MWR-D-16-0195.1).

Idealised modelling

• I am the main developer of the quasi-geostrophic and primitive-equation model Bedymo (manuscript submitted to GMD).

Newspaper article

• Er ekstremsommeren tegn på klimaendringer? (14 August 2018 in Bergens Tidende).

Online articles

• The dispatchers of knowledge (11 April 2014 on SciSnack).
• Ice can flow like ketchup (8 October 2013 on SciSnack).

Current supervision activities

• Co-supervision of 2 ongoing PhD projects

Completed supervision activities

• Effective main supervision of master project (Trond Thorssteinson 2013)
• Co-supervision of master projects (Angus Munro 2011, Kristian Alvsvåg 2014, Hilde Marie Vaaga 2015, Marit Dagny Kristine Jenssen 2017, Kjersti Konstali 2019)
• 3-month student project through Arts & Science collaboration (Qinglin "Collin" You 2020)
• Main supervision of 3-month Bachelor project (Dario Peyer 2016)
• Main supervision of 2-3 month master-level internship projects (2018-2020)

Current teaching activities

• Lecturer in short block courses: Introduction to python for PhD students and staff
  (Course materials available on github)

Previous teaching activities

• Teaching assistant in Large-scale atmospheric dynamics
• Teaching assistant in Mesoscale atmospheric dynamics

Conference lecture

• Andrea Marcheggiani; Helen Dacre; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2025). Diabatic processes on synoptic timescales drive variability in midlatitude storm tracks. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2019). Influence of the SST Front and Jet Stream on the evolution of Cyclones. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2019). How do Extratropical Cyclones respond to the North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature Front?. (external link)
• Natacha Galmiche; Helwig Hauser; Thomas Spengler et al. (2021). Revealing Multimodality in Ensemble Weather Prediction. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Camille Li; Thomas Spengler (2022). Separating eddy driven and subtropical jets in reanalyses. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2018). Influence of the Northern Hemisphere Sea Surface Temperature Fronts and Jet Stream on the evolution of Cyclones. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler; Camille Li (2015). Relating objectively detected jet axes, blocks and wave-breaking events. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2025). Influence of Diabatic Heating on Cyclone Forecast Bias. (external link)
• Kjersti Konstali; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2023). Air-Sea interactions during Cold Air Outbreaks in a coupled Mixed Layer Model. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Heather Regan; Guillaume Boutin et al. (2023). Attribution of air-ice-sea interactions to cyclones, fronts, and cold-air outbreaks. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Sebastian Schemm (2017). Front-orography interactions during the landfall of the New Year Day’s Storm 1992. (external link)
• Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger; Camille Li (2016). Upper Tropospheric Jet Axis Detection: Winter 2013/2014 and Northern Hemispheric Variability. (external link)
• Andrea Marcheggiani; Helen Dacre; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2025). Baroclinicity variability in storm tracks along western boundary currents. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Camille Li; Thomas Spengler (2023). Separating eddy-driven and subtropical jets in reanalyses. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Kjersti Konstali; Thomas Spengler (2023). Detecting Moisture Pathways: Linking Atmospheric Rivers and Warm Moist Intrusions. (external link)
• Thomas Spengler; Helen F. Dacre; Clemens Spensberger (2024). Contribution of cyclones, fronts, and atmospheric rivers to the maintenance of the North Atlantic storm track. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2013). Deformation: A new diagnostic for the evolution of large-scale flow. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael Sprenger (2018). Beyond Cold and Warm: An Objective Classification for Maritime Mid-Latitude Fronts. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael Sprenger (2018). Beyond Cold and Warm: An Objective Classification for Maritime Mid-Latitude Fronts. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2025). Features Forecast Errors associated with Synoptic Weather Features. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael Sprenger; Sebastian Schemm (2018). A new objective front type classification and its application to better understand front-orography interactions. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Kristine Flacké Haualand; Thomas Spengler (2024). Instantaneously detecting subtropical and eddy-driven jets resolves conundrum about mid-winter suppression. (external link)
• Kjersti Konstali; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2024). Air-Sea interactions during Cold Air Outbreaks in a coupled Mixed Layer Model. (external link)
• Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2022). Sensitivity of air-sea heat exchange to lead width and orientation as well as model resolution. (external link)
• Jonathan Winfield Rheinlænder; Einar Olason; Richard Davy et al. (2022). Breaking Up is Hard to Do – Simulating Extreme Sea-Ice Breakup Events in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Jonathan Winfield Rheinlænder; Einar Olason; Heather Regan et al. (2022). Breaking up is hard to do – Simulating extreme sea-ice breakup events in the Arctic. (external link)
• Andrea Marcheggiani; Thomas Spengler; Helen F. Dacre et al. (2024). Contribution of Cyclones, Fronts, and Atmospheric Rivers to the Maintenance of the North Atlantic Storm Track. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Camille Li; Thomas Spengler (2022). Separating eddy driven and subtropical jets in reanalyses. (external link)
• Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger; Camille Li (2016). Upper Tropospheric Jet Axis Detection: Winter 2013/2014 and Northern Hemispheric Variability. (external link)
• Michael J Reeder; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2018). The effect of SST gradients on atmospheric frontogenesis. (external link)
• Camille Li; Erica Madonna; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2019). North Atlantic jet stream variability across weather to climate time scales. (external link)
• Franziska Weyland; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2022). Climatology of sea ice changes attributed to cyclones, fronts, and cold-air outbreaks. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2019). How do Extratropical Cyclones respond to the North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature Front?. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2019). Influence of the North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature Front and Jet Stream on the Evolution of Cyclones. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael Sprenger (2017). Beyond Cold and Warm: An Objective Classification for Maritime Mid-Latitude Fronts. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael Sprenger (2017). Beyond Cold and Warm: An Objective Classification for Maritime Mid-Latitude Fronts. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler; Camille Li (2015). Disentangling the co-variability of the jet location and intensity. (external link)

Media feature article

• Clemens Spensberger (2018). Er ekstremsommeren tegn på klimaendringer?. (external link)

Lecture

• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2023). Detecting lifecycles of atmospheric fronts: Climatology and characteristics. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger (2022). Model sensitivities of heat exchange in cold-air outbreaks and through leads. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger (2022). Weather events driving changes in sea ice concentration. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2022). Tracking Weather Fronts. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2025). Influence of Diabatic Heating on Cyclone Forecast Bias. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2022). Frontal Life Cycles – Detection and Climatology. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2023). Detecting Lifecycles of Atmospheric Fronts: Characteristics and Climatology. (external link)

Conference poster

• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler; Camille Li (2015). Relating objectively detected jet axes, blocking and wave-breaking events. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler; Camille Li (2015). Disentangling the co-variability of the jet location and intensity. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2022). Towards an Objective Climatology of Frontal Life Cycles. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Magnusson Linus et al. (2023). Attribution of Forecasts Errors to Weather Features in the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5). (external link)
• Jonathan Winfield Rheinlænder; Anton Korosov; Einar Olason et al. (2022). Simulating extreme winter sea-ice breakup in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Jonathan Winfield Rheinlænder; Richard Davy; Einar Olason et al. (2022). Breaking Up is Hard to Do – Simulating Extreme Sea-Ice Breakup in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2024). Attribution of forecast errors to weather features in the ERA5. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2024). A Climatology of Frontal Life Cycles. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2024). Forecast Error Attributed to Synoptic Features. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2021). Towards a Climatology of Frontal Life Cycles. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2018). Influence of the SST Fronts on the evolution of North Atlantic Storms. (external link)
• Johannes Lutzmann; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2020). Lifecycle of fronts of mid-latitude cyclones and their role in maintaining extratropical storm tracks PhD Candidate (Supervisor: Thomas Spengler). (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2019). How do Extratropical Cyclones respond to the North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature Front?. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2023). Attribution of Forecasts Errors to Weather Features in the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5). (external link)

Academic article

• Øyvind Seland; Mats Bentsen; Dirk Jan Leo Oliviè et al. (2020). Overview of the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM2) and key climate response of CMIP6 DECK, historical, and scenario simulations. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2020). Smoother versus sharper Gulf Stream and Kuroshio sea surface temperature fronts: effects on cyclones and climatology. (external link)
• Michael J Reeder; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger (2021). The Effect of Sea Surface Temperature Fronts on Atmospheric Frontogenesis. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2021). Sensitivity of Air-Sea Heat Exchange in Cold-Air Outbreaks to Model Resolution and Sea-Ice Distribution. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael John Reeder; Thomas Spengler et al. (2020). The connection between the Southern Annular Mode and a feature-based perspective on Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude winter variability. (external link)
• Andrea Marcheggiani; Helen Dacre; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2025). Weather features drive free‐tropospheric baroclinicity variability in the North Atlantic storm track. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger (2024). WCD Ideas: Teleconnections through weather rather than stationary waves. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Erica Madonna; Maxi Boettcher et al. (2020). Dynamics of concurrent and sequential Central European and Scandinavian heatwaves. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Camille Li; Thomas Spengler (2023). Linking Instantaneous and Climatological Perspectives on Eddy-Driven and Subtropical Jets. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2020). Characteristics of cyclones following different pathways in the Gulf Stream region. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2014). A new look at deformation as a diagnostic for large-scale flow. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Trond Thorsteinsson; Thomas Spengler (2022). Bedymo: A combined quasi-geostrophic and primitive equation model in σ coordinates. (external link)
• Kjersti Konstali; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2025). Atmospheric Fronts Drive Future Changes in Extratropical Extreme Precipitation. (external link)
• Leonidas Tsopouridis; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2020). Cyclone Intensification in the Kuroshio Region and its relation to the Sea Surface Temperature Front and Upper‐Level Forcing. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Kjersti Konstali; Thomas Spengler (2025). Moisture transport axes: a unifying definition for tropical moisture exports, atmospheric rivers, and warm moist intrusions. (external link)
• Kjersti Konstali; Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler et al. (2024). Global Attribution of Precipitation to Weather Features. (external link)
• Clio Michel; Erica Madonna; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2021). Dynamical drivers of Greenland blocking in climate models. (external link)
• Henrik Auestad; Clemens Spensberger; Andrea Marcheggiani et al. (2024). Spatio-temporal averaging of jets obscures the reinforcement of baroclinicity by latent heating. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Sebastian Schemm (2020). Front–orography interactions during landfall of the 1992 New Year's Day Storm. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Guillaume Boutin; Heather Regan et al. (2026). Limited Overall Impact of Cyclones on Arctic Sea Ice Tendencies throughout All Seasons. (external link)
• Qidi Yu; Clemens Spensberger; Linus Magnusson et al. (2025). Forecast Errors Attributed to Synoptic Features. (external link)
• Emily Grace Simmonds; Kwaku Peprah Adjei; Christoffer Wold Andersen et al. (2022). Insights into the quantification and reporting of model-related uncertainty across different disciplines. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler; Camille Li (2017). Upper-Tropospheric Jet Axis Detection and Application to the Boreal Winter 2013/14. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Michael Sprenger (2018). Beyond cold and warm: An objective classification for maritime mid-latitude fronts. (external link)
• Kjersti Konstali; Thomas Spengler; Clemens Spensberger et al. (2024). Linking Future Precipitation Changes to Weather Features in CESM2-LE. (external link)
• Jonathan Winfield Rheinlænder; Richard Davy; Einar Olason et al. (2022). Driving Mechanisms of an Extreme Winter Sea Ice Breakup Event in the Beaufort Sea. (external link)
• Tim Woollings; Elizabeth A. Barnes; Brian Hoskins et al. (2018). Daily to decadal modulation of jet variability. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Thomas Spengler (2020). Feature-Based Jet Variability in the Upper Troposphere. (external link)
• Clemens Spensberger; Joseph Egger; Thomas Spengler (2017). Synoptic Systems interacting with the Rocky Mountain Barrier: Observations and Theories. (external link)

Academic literature review

• Lars Henrik Smedsrud; Morven Muilwijk; Tor Eldevik et al. (2022). Nordic Seas Heat Loss, Atlantic Inflow, and Arctic Sea Ice cover over the last century. (external link)

Academic book chapter

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

Research report

• Clemens Spensberger; Madlen Kimmritz (2020). Monthly means of instantaneous diagnostics for key atmospheric processes - Mind the KAP. (external link)

Doctoral thesis (PhD)

• Clemens Spensberger (2015). New approaches to investigate the influence of orographic and dynamic blocking on large-scale atmospheric flow. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Ongoing projects

• Particpant in Atmosphere‐Sea Ice interactions in the new Arctic (ARIA) 2021-2024 funded by the Research Council of Norway.
• Participant in Atmosphere-Ocean-Ice interactions (AOI) 2018-2021 funded by the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research.

Previous projects

• Co-lead of Bjerknes Fast Track Initiative 2020 to the internal ERA-5 renalysis repository more accessible for climate-oriented analyses.
• Lead of Bjerknes Fast Track Initiative 2019 (MIND the KAP) to make detected weather events directly available as output from the locally-developed climate model.
• Lead of post doc mobility project (FRIO) on Front-Orography interactions 2015-2018.