El Niño in a changing climate: novel long-term perspectives from Pacific corals and model simulations. El Niño and La Niña events have a profound influence on Australian drought conditions and rainfall. Forecasting is hampered by short climate records, which do not capture the full range of El Niño dynamics. This project aims to generate records of unprecedented length and spatial coverage from key sites across the western and central equatorial Pacific. Five hundred years of continuous, monthly ....El Niño in a changing climate: novel long-term perspectives from Pacific corals and model simulations. El Niño and La Niña events have a profound influence on Australian drought conditions and rainfall. Forecasting is hampered by short climate records, which do not capture the full range of El Niño dynamics. This project aims to generate records of unprecedented length and spatial coverage from key sites across the western and central equatorial Pacific. Five hundred years of continuous, monthly-resolution climate data will be integrated with output from state-of-the-art climate model simulations to distil the key processes that cause El Niño to vary. This project aims to provide major advances in determining the full range of El Niño and La Niña behaviour, leading to improved forecasts of future changes, with consequences for Australia's water security.Read moreRead less
The forgotten role of the ground state in atmospheric photochemistry. This project aims to provide novel solutions to two deficiencies in current atmospheric chemistry models. That is, molecular hydrogen (H2) is underestimated by up to a factor of two, and in polluted areas, HO2 concentrations are underestimated by up to a factor of ten. The project will investigate these solutions and assess their local and global atmospheric impact. By better characterising the atmospheric H2 budget, and the r ....The forgotten role of the ground state in atmospheric photochemistry. This project aims to provide novel solutions to two deficiencies in current atmospheric chemistry models. That is, molecular hydrogen (H2) is underestimated by up to a factor of two, and in polluted areas, HO2 concentrations are underestimated by up to a factor of ten. The project will investigate these solutions and assess their local and global atmospheric impact. By better characterising the atmospheric H2 budget, and the role of ground state reactions in general, the predictive ability of atmospheric models will be improved. This will allow, for example, the outcomes of any change in atmospheric H2 concentration, potentially as part of any future hydrogen economy, to be predicted before they occur. The benefits of this project are global: they allow us to better predict the impact of changes to atmospheric composition – before they occur, and local: Australia’s strengths in physical, theoretical and atmospheric chemistry are reinforced.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100048
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$630,000.00
Summary
Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity. Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity: No single player in the Australian research community can make a large suite of atmospheric composition measurements, while the combined capability of the community is tremendous. Providing a platform to bring this capability together is cost effective and is expected to provide strong scientific return. This defines the requirements for Atmospheric Integrated Res ....Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity. Atmospheric integrated research on burdens and oxidative capacity: No single player in the Australian research community can make a large suite of atmospheric composition measurements, while the combined capability of the community is tremendous. Providing a platform to bring this capability together is cost effective and is expected to provide strong scientific return. This defines the requirements for Atmospheric Integrated Research on Burdens and Oxidative capacity (AIR-BOX) to make a valuable contribution to Australian Atmospheric Science research. This project aims to provide a suite of mobile equipment including a chemical ionisation mass spectrometer, an ultraviolet-visible radiation spectrometer, a mini micropulse lidar, an in situ Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and a cloud condensation nuclei counter. It will be capable of remote and autonomous deployment, real-time data transfer and control, a wide range of tracer measurements, flexible configuration, and physical as well as tracer measurements.Read moreRead less
Reactive Intermediates in Atmospheric and Combustion Chemistry. Reactive intermediates are the key species that determine outcomes of the chemical reaction networks in atmospheric and combustion chemistry. However, most reactive intermediates remain undiscovered. The project aims to discover these intermediates using laser spectroscopy. Current models of atmospheric chemistry cannot account for the carbon balance over forests, nor the formation of secondary organic aerosols. Combustion models st ....Reactive Intermediates in Atmospheric and Combustion Chemistry. Reactive intermediates are the key species that determine outcomes of the chemical reaction networks in atmospheric and combustion chemistry. However, most reactive intermediates remain undiscovered. The project aims to discover these intermediates using laser spectroscopy. Current models of atmospheric chemistry cannot account for the carbon balance over forests, nor the formation of secondary organic aerosols. Combustion models struggle to predict how next-generation fuels burn in modern engines. The successful discovery of these intermediates would allow models to be more accurate and predictive. This will allow scientists, engineers and policy makers to make more informed decisions about atmospheric processes and design more efficient new fuels.Read moreRead less
GBR as a significant source of climatically relevant aerosol particles. Every cloud drop is formed from a microscopic aerosol particle, known as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). In unpolluted environments the CCN particles originate from biogenic sources. Determining the magnitude and driving factors of biogenic aerosol production in different ecosystems is crucial to the development and improvement of climate models. This project aims to determine the mechanisms of new particle production fro ....GBR as a significant source of climatically relevant aerosol particles. Every cloud drop is formed from a microscopic aerosol particle, known as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). In unpolluted environments the CCN particles originate from biogenic sources. Determining the magnitude and driving factors of biogenic aerosol production in different ecosystems is crucial to the development and improvement of climate models. This project aims to determine the mechanisms of new particle production from one of the biggest ecosystems in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. It is expected that the project will establish whether marine aerosol along the Queensland coast is coral-derived and show that this aerosol can affect the CCN concentration and therefore cloud formation and the hydrological cycle.Read moreRead less
The dynamics of turbulent entrainment in sheared convective boundary layers. This project aims to develop general laws to enable the accurate prediction of boundary layer entrainment processes. This will be significant in a wide range of environmental and engineering applications. In particular, the current lack of understanding of this area is a major source of uncertainty in the latest generation of global climate models.
Transforming our research capacity in the analysis of climate extremes. Given their devastating impacts, there is now a critical urgency to understand what drives extreme climate events and make timely predictions of their future risk. The analysis of comprehensive extremes datasets, comprising global observations and output of multi-model simulations, will greatly improve our ability to answer fundamental questions about the nature and variability of extreme climatic events. This project also e ....Transforming our research capacity in the analysis of climate extremes. Given their devastating impacts, there is now a critical urgency to understand what drives extreme climate events and make timely predictions of their future risk. The analysis of comprehensive extremes datasets, comprising global observations and output of multi-model simulations, will greatly improve our ability to answer fundamental questions about the nature and variability of extreme climatic events. This project also ensures the government's continued commitment to managing the risks associated with extreme events as an urgent national priority. It represents a landmark opportunity for Australian leadership of an international collaboration between some of the world's leading climate scientists and climate data and modelling centres.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101191
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
The future intensity of extreme East Coast Lows. This project aims to determine the environmental factors controlling the intensity of extreme East Coast Lows and how their intensity responds to global warming conditions. East Coast Lows are responsible for much of the high-impact weather affecting the east coast of Australia. Understanding the causes behind future climate changes is critical to provide confidence in future projections. This project will use high-resolution climate models that c ....The future intensity of extreme East Coast Lows. This project aims to determine the environmental factors controlling the intensity of extreme East Coast Lows and how their intensity responds to global warming conditions. East Coast Lows are responsible for much of the high-impact weather affecting the east coast of Australia. Understanding the causes behind future climate changes is critical to provide confidence in future projections. This project will use high-resolution climate models that can realistically simulate all the key dynamic processes including atmosphere-ocean interactions. Expected outcomes are adaptation strategies to mitigate the future effect of East Coast Lows on coastal fresh water resources, flooding and erosion.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102645
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The cause of the poleward shift of Earth's storm tracks and jet streams. Why do global climate models shift the atmospheric storm tracks and jet streams poleward in simulations of future climate? This project will determine the underlying causes of the most important circulation change that is projected to occur with increasing greenhouse gases, and will allow much more accurate regional climate projections.
A probabilistic and geometric understanding of transport and metastability in mathematical geophysical flows. Complicated fluid flow is at the heart of physical oceanography and atmospheric science. This project will develop new mathematical technologies to reveal hidden transport barriers around which complicated fluid flow is organised. This project will lead to more accurate circulation predictions from ocean and atmosphere models.