Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Issac M. Held

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Isaac Held is a Senior Scientist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)/NOAA. He is also a Lecturer with Rank of Professor in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program at Princeton University. His research has focused on the general circulation of the atmosphere and on climate change. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2003 and received the Rossby Medal from the American Meteorological Society in 2008.

Global Simulations of Tropical Cyclone Statistics

Interannual variability and the response to global warming

We at GFDL have been experimenting with global "mesoscale" atmospheric models with horizontal grid sizes in the 25 to 50 km range, as have other groups around the world. We have focused in particular on the simulations of tropical cyclone climatology, interannual variability, and response to global warming. I will discuss some of the lessons we have learned from these studies, both about the tropical cyclone problem as well as issues related to convective parameterization. Simulations with realistic model configurations will also be briefly compared to "aqua-planet" simulations on the sphere as well as doubly periodic simulations of rotating radiative-convective equilibrium.

Issac M. Held