Gerald Mace, Ph.D.

 

Professor, Atmospheric Sciences 

Atmospheric Sciences
University of Utah
135 S 1460 East Rm 819 (WBB)
Salt Lake City, Ut 84112-0110

Office: 601 WBB
Office Phone: (801) 585-9489
Email: jay.mace@utah.edu
Website: http://www.inscc.utah.edu/~u0476903/web/home.html

Selected Publications:

Cluster analysis of tropical clouds using Cloudsat data  (Journal Article), 2007
[citation] 

Global hydrometeor occurrence as observed by Cloudsat; Initial observations from Summer 2006  (Journal Article), 2007
[citation] 

Hydrometeor Detection using Cloudsat - an earth orbiting 94 GHz Cloud Radar  (Journal Article), 2007
[citation] 

Impact of dynamics and atmospheric state on cloud vertical overlap  (Journal Article), 2007
[citation] 

Convective formation of pileus cloud near the tropopause  (Journal Article), 2006
[citation] 

Research Statement

Understanding the role of clouds and cloud processes in the earth's climate system.

Evidence now firmly establishes that our species is altering the global climate through the combustion of fuels that warm the earth's atmosphere. The climate of the Earth is a highly complex and nonlinear system that does not necessarily respond in a simple or even predictable way. For instance, computer model simulations suggest that an increase in certain clouds in the upper troposphere could enhance global warming while an increase in certain cloud types in the lower troposphere could offset the warming. Currently, the leading climate models differ substantially in their predicted global warming and even more significantly, they differ widely in the predicted regional changes. Several leading scientific organizations including the World Meteorological Organization and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have identified the influences of clouds as the leading cause of this uncertainty. We are currently quite active in this research arena.

Courses I Teach

ATMOS 1020 Climate Change
ATMOS 5210 Physical Meteorology