David Houghton
Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Ph.D., University of Washington, 1963
Research Scientist: NCAR (1963-68)
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
1225 West Dayton Street
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-0776Challenging problems are being addressed for a wide range of time and space scales.
Research on large scale focuses on the ocean-atmosphere climate system. Simulations from global models with an interactive ocean are provoking new ideas and questions on low-frequency oscillations in the ocean-atmosphere climate system. Integrations spanning 100 years with a low resolution model highlight significant variability including that for decadal time scales even when "external" forcing parameters such as the solar constant, atmospheric dust, and trace gas concentrations in the atmosphere are kept fixed. Processes related to the seasonal cycle are well resolved in the simulations providing an opportunity to investigate climate dynamics for this time scale where there are major variations in the basic thermodynamic forcing of the atmosphere.
The availability of satellite and other new observational platforms offers the possibility to pursue research on mesoscale dynamics. The structuring and nature of precipitation systems remains a key mesoscale problem of interest. Carefully planned studies with mesoscale numerical models have made it possible to identify the relevance of theories, such as symmetric instability, for mesoscale phenomena and the impact of mesoscale structure in initial conditions. Soon it should be possible to make significant advances in our understanding of dynamically forced ageostrophic motions, sometimes manifest as gravity waves, and to better understand the processes in rapidly developing middle latitude cyclone systems including the relationships between synoptic scale flows, such as the jet stream, and frontal structure and precipitation.
See also: Synoptic meteorology, Climate and climate change, and Large scale dynamics.
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Selected Publications:Lee, D.K., and D.D. Houghton, 1984a: A quantitative study of satellite winds for mesoscale meteorology. Monthly Weather Review, 112, 990-1004.
Lee, D.K. And DD Houghton, 1984b: Impact of mesoscale satellite wind data on numerical model simulations. Monthly Weather Review, 112, 1005-1016.
Otto-Bliesner, B.L., And DD Houghton, 1986: Sensitivity of the seasonal climate of a general circulation model to ocean surface conditions and solar forcing. Journal of Geophysical Research, 91, 6682-6694.
Ni, Y.Q., B.L. Otto-Bliesner, and DD Houghton, 1986: The effects of topography on the atmospheric energetics in a low-resolution general circulation model. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 43, 1535-1543.
Gallimore, R.G., And DD Houghton, 1987. Approximation of ocean heat storage by ocean-atmosphere energy exchange: Implications for seasonal cycle mixed layer ocean formulations. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 17, 1214-1231.
Jascourt, S.D., S.S. Lindstrom, C.J. Seman and DD Houghton, 1988: An observation of banded convective development in the presence of weak symmetric stability. Monthly Weather Review, 116, 175-191.
Houghton, DD, R.G. Gallimore, and L.M. Keller, 1991. Stability and variability in a coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model: results of 100-year simulation. Journal of Climate, 4, 557-577.
Pokrandt, P.J., G.T. Tripoli and DD Houghton, 1996: Processes leading to the formation of mesoscale waves in the Midwest cyclone of 15 December 1987. Mon. Wea. Rev., 124, 2726-2752.
Zhu, Y. and DD Houghton, 1996: The impact of the Indian Ocean SST on the large-scale Asian summer monsoon and the hydrological cycle. Int'l J. of Climatology, 16, 617-632.
Bhatt, U.S., M.A. Alexander, D.S. Battisti, DD Houghton, L.M. Keller, 1998: Atmosphere-Ocean Interaction in the North Atlantic: Near-surface climate variability. Journal of Climate, 11, 1615-1632.
