Climate Variability and Change Analysis Research Topics

Current work includes investigations of:

• Climatology of the planetary boundary layer (Seidel et al. 2010, Zhang et al. 2011, Seidel et al. 2012)
• Stratospheric temperature changes (Thompson et al. 2012)
• Changes in U.S. cloudiness uncertainties in radiosonde measurements (Sun et al. 2010)
• Comparisons between observed and modeled changes in the vertical temperature profile (Lanzante and Free 2008, Santer et al. 2008, Seidel et al. 2012)

Past work includes the following topics:

• Widening of the tropical belt (Seidel and Randel 2007, Seidel et al. 2008)
• Stratospheric manifestation of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (Free and Seidel 2009)
• Surface and upper-air temperature and humidity (Free 2011, Free and Seidel 2005, Fu et al. 2004, Lanzante et al. 2003, Levitus et al. 2001, Ramaswamy et al. 2001, Ross et al.2002, Santer et al. 2005, Shine et al. 2001, Seidel et al. 2004), and clouds (Seidel and Durre 2003, Sun et al. 2007)
• The Arctic Oscillation and the polar vortex (Angell 2006, Li and Wang 2003)
• The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (Angell 2001, Seidel et al. 2004)
• Extremes of temperature and humidity, and heat wave occurrences (Gaffen and Ross 1998, Wang and Gaffen 2001)
• Climatology and variability of the tropical tropopause (Randel et al. 2000, Seidel et al. 2001, Seidel and Randel 2006, Wang et al. 2012)
• Effects of volcanoes on climate (Free and Angell 2002, Free and Lanzante 2009)
• Variability and trends in tropical convective available potential energy (CAPE) and in the potential intensity of hurricanes (Gettelman et al. 2002, Free et al. 2004)
• Relationships between temperature changes over mountain locations and in the free troposphere (Seidel and Free 2003, Pepin and Seidel 2005)
• The diurnal cycle in upper-air temperature (Seidel et al. 2005)
• Changes in tropospheric and stratospheric ozone (Angell 1998, Angell and Free 2009)