Brian Soden

Tropical Climate Change, Climate Modeling, Remote Sensing

My current research activities are concentrated in two areas:

1. To better understand the magnitude of key feedback processes, such as water vapor and clouds, which determine the sensitivity of the climate system to natural and anthropogenic forcings. Differences in the way these climate feedbacks are represented in models are the primary contributor to uncertainties in projections of future climate change.Because of their ability to provide global observations, remotely-sensed measurements are a key focus of my research. Satellite observations of water vapor, clouds, and precipitation are used to understand the mechanisms which drive changes in the hydrological cycle and evaluate their representation in climate models. Results from these comparisons provide key guidance which is necessary to assess model projections of future global warming.
2. To understand the response of extreme weather events to changes in climate from global warming. Specific areas of interest include the response of hurricane activity, including both hurricane frequency/intensity and hurricane tracks; the response of extreme precipitation events; and the response of the atmospheric circulation and extreme wind events.

Publications

1. MSC102 - Weather and Climate

2. <a data-cke-saved-href="" href="" assets="" pdfs="" mpo="" fac="" soden="" msc220.pdf"="">MSC220 - Climate and Global Change

3. MPO632 - Climate Dynamics