Projects

Selected Projects

Climate, vegetation and fire in the Australian Palaeomonsoon
Interactions between climate, the ocean and land, and the Australian monsoon are complex, as they result from feedbacks that operate on a variety of spatial and temporal scales. We use a synthesis of paleoenvironmental and contemporary data and climate system modeling to understand these interactions over the late Quaternary period. The synthesis will aid in the generation of hypotheses to explain key transition periods in the region's past history, and will be used to reach an improved understanding of climate variability and forcing mechanisms in the region, leading to an enhancement of climate modeling tools used to predict global change.

Dynamics of finite-amplitude interfacial waves
Interfacial waves can occur on a thermocline in a two-layer fluid or over a potential vorticity discontinuity in a rotating fluid. For both of these circumstances weakly-nonlinear theory can be extended to derive finite-amplitude evolution equations which includes the effect of finite-amplitude topography. The full equations can then be integrated numerically, while the hydraulic limit of these equations can be analysed using classical techniques. The aim of this research, which is now focussed on waves in stratified fluids, is to include long-wave effects to determine the consequences for hydraulic solutions and to determine what initial conditions may lead to particular steady-state flows. Project by Dr Simon Clarke.

Fire-weather modelling
The aim of this project is to better understand the dynamics of how fires spread and to couple a physically-based model of a fire to a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model. This work is a joint project by Professor Michael Reeder with Terry Clark (NCAR) and Morwenna Griffiths.

The Gulf Lines Experiment (GLEX)
During October 2002 the Gulf Lines EXperiment (GLEX) was conducted to study the dry season cloud lines that form in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The central aim of the experiment was to take the observations necessary to determine how well these lines can be predicted using the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) Limited Area Prediction System (LAPS).

Gravity wave generation by convection
Todd Lane (NCAR), Terry Clark (NCAR) and Professor Michael Reeder have been examining how deep tropical convection generates gravity waves in a three-dimensional numerical model.

An integrated assessment of climate vulnerabilities and adaptations in Alpine Shire, Victoria
Expectations for increasing temperature, aridity, and variability represent a complex and uncertain challenge to Australian society. Alpine Shire in Victoria is one community facing this challenge. Tourism is the most significant economic sector, with a strong reliance on winter sports. In addition, the region is home to extensive agriculture and manufacturing activities. Almost without exception, major industrial and employment sectors are sensitive to the specific characteristics of the regional climate. This project will contribute to the development of a conceptual and analytical framework for conducting regional climate impact assessments while making concrete contributions to the implementation of adaptive policies in Alpine Shire. To reach this goal, we are : collaborating with Alpine Shire Council and residents to identify key vulnerabilities; developing a comprehensive set of analysis methods, including statistical and physical modeling; and reporting regularly to the community for feedback and re-direction.

Mechanisms driving changes in climate extremes in Australia
Changes in the frequency and/or severity of extreme climate events have the potential to have profound societal and ecological impacts and observations suggest that these changes are already occurring. The primary objective of this work is to identify and analyse the mechanisms which are driving changes in climate extremes in Australia in order to be better prepared for future changes which may occur. Multiple research tools, methods and data are being employed including station observations, re-analyses data, satellite data and model output to help answer fundamental questions about how climate extremes have changed in Australia during the observational record, whether interactions between and changes in large-scale mechanisms are driving observed trends and if changes are related to anthropogenic factors.

The Savanna Fire Experiment (SAFE)
A project to understand the effects of fire on heat, moisture and carbon dioxide fluxes in Australia's tropical savannas.

Sustainable futures of Australian temperate forests: Carbon and water cycling
Australia's forests are a critical natural resource that must be sustainably managed. The project will look at the uptake/release of carbon from old growth and regrowth forests and assess the water budgets of the Melbourne water catchment at Wallaby Creek, Victoria, Australia. It is hoped that this informationation will help researchers understand the current cycles of carbon, water and energy and how these may change over time (hours to centuries).

Trapping of nonlinear internal waves
In near-critical conditions nonlinear undular bores can become trapped within contractions generating quasi-steady "hydraulically-controlled" flows. These types of flows are of importance in lake and channel dynamics and oceanographic flows through straits. The weakly-nonlinear problem can be solved using a combination of analytical and numerical techniques to determine under what conditions flow-controls may form. Research into the finite-amplitude problem for uniformly stratified fluids is ongoing. Project by Dr Simon Clarke.

Other Projects

• Air quality monitoring and analysis
• Arctic Transitions in the Land Atmosphere System
• Central Australian Fronts Experiment
• Changes in synoptic weather patterns in the Arctic and Antarctic over the 21st century
• Climate observation and analysis
• Detection and Attribution of Changes in the Hydrologic Regimes of the Mackenzie, the Kuparuk and the Lena River Basins
• Effect of shear of finite-amplitude waves
• Gravity wave sources over the Southern Ocean
• Greenland: Reanalysis of the Energy Budget of the Ice Sheet (GREBIS)
• Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Variability on the Alaskan North Slope Coastal Region
• Interactions between small scale cyclones and sea ice and their role in the Southern Ocean climate system
• Internal solitary waves with oscillatory tails
• Madden-Julian oscillation
• Maritime Continent Thunderstorm Experiment
• Monash weather station with realtime data
• Nonlinear critical layers
• Nonlinear wave groups
• Simple climate models
• Tropical cloud lines
• Urban Climate Research
• Western Arctic Linkage Experiment - WALE