Jennifer Kay

Process-based understanding of climate physics and dynamics

We have a number of active projects that combine models and observations to improve understanding of the processes controlling climate change and variability. For example, we are comparing the influence of forcing and feedbacks on idealized global warming and global cooling experiments with funding from my NSF CAREER award. We are also a part of a $35 million NASA Earth Ventures mission called Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE). In this 2018-2023 project, we will launch two small CubeSat satellites to make measurements Arctic radiation at far-infrared wavelengths and improve understanding of Arctic energy budgets. With funding from the NASA CloudSat and CALIPSO science team, we assessing the observability of and the mechanisms underlying hydrologic cycle changes with global warming.  We are particularly interested in mid- and high-latitude clouds and precipitation changes with warming including coupled interactions with the ocean and cryosphere.  Using single model large initial conditions ensembles, we are examining the influence of multi-decadal Pacific climate variability on climate teleconnections to the mid-latitudes.  Illustrative of our broad research interests, we also research science communication strategies including quantifying engagement in climate change science education and outreach.