| The goal of research in atmosphere, ocean and climate dynamics at Harvard is a better understanding of Earth's weather and climate on time scales from a few days to millions of years.
We study fundamental phenomena controlling the global atmospheric and oceanic circulation. We are particularly interested in sources of variability that result from interactions among the atmosphere, oceans and the biosphere, which are complex and often nonlinear and even chaotic.
Many of the very basic questions in this field remain unanswered
including why the El Nino is irregular; Why there are ice ages; and how far in advance can mean precipitation be predicted. These are problems of great practical importance and solving them presents a fascinating scientific challenge to students with a physics background who are interested in applying what they have learned of physical/ mathematical principles to the study of the natural world.
Examples of ongoing work here at Harvard are programs aimed at improving weather prediction for the next week and improving El Nino prediction for the next year. This work uses advanced methods combining theory, analysis, modeling and observations. |
