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Thomas Spengler

Thomas Spengler

Stilling

Professor, Director of the Research School on Changing Climates in the coupled Earth System and President of the International Commission on Dynamical Meteorology

Tilhørighet

E-post
thomas.spengler@uib.no
Besøksadresse
Geophysical Institute Allegaten 70
5020 Bergen
Rom: 229
Postadresse
Postboks 7803
5020 Bergen

Thomas Spengler

Stilling

Professor, Director of the Research School on Changing Climates in the coupled Earth System and President of the International Commission on Dynamical Meteorology

Tilhørighet

Forskergrupper

Forskning

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
Formidling

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 People. More information about the project can be found on https://nestesteg.w.uib.no/.

Undervisning

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:

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

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

 

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.

Publikasjoner
Poster
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Nettsider (opplysningsmateriale)
Vitenskapelig Kapittel/Artikkel/Konferanseartikkel
Errata
Vitenskapelig oversiktsartikkel/review
Mastergradsoppgave
Sammendrag/abstract
Short communication
Populærvitenskapelig artikkel
Doktorgradsavhandling

Se en full oversikt over publikasjoner i Cristin

Prosjekter

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.

Kompetanse

Employment history

2014–today Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway: Professor for Dynamic Meteorology

Jul-Dec 2015 School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK: Visiting Research Scientist

2010–2014 Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway: Associate Professor for Dynamic Meteorology

2009–2011 Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA Postdoctoral: Research Associate

Feb 2009 Monash Weather and Climate, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia: Visiting Scientist

2008-2009 Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Postdoctoral Research Assistant

2005–2008 Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Doctoral Research Assistant

2004-2005 Meteorological Institute Munich, University of Munich, Germany: Research assistant

 

Professional Organisations

2011–today International Commission on Dynamic Meteorology (ICDM) of the International Association for Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), since 2019 elected presidenc of ICDM

2013–today Atmospheric Working Group (AWG) of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), from 2015 until 2019 elected Chair of the AWG

 

Awards and Nominations

2013 Best Lecturer at the Faculty for Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bergen

2013 Nominee for the IAMAS Early Career Science Medal