NCAS-Climate, University of Reading  
 
 

Mike Blackburn
NCAS-Climate, University of Reading
 





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Biography


 

I am a (retired) research scientist in the climate directorate of the NERC-funded National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), based in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading.

My research interests are in using global atmospheric models to understand aspects of large-scale atmospheric variability and the systematic comparison of such models to understand differences in their behaviour. I have been a coordinator of the Aqua-Planet Experiment Project (APE) and an investigator in projects to understand the organisation of tropical convection (Cascade) and how variations in solar irradiance affect climate (SOLCLI).

I came to Reading in 1979 to study for a PhD on atmospheric energetics with the then Head of Department Professor Bob Pearce. I have worked in Meteorology at Reading since then, initially in the Atmospheric Modelling Group, where I developed the group's global dynamical model into a simple climate model and used it to investigate the role of moisture in mid-latitude weather systems and in the organisation of tropical convection.

In 1987 I joined the UK Universities Global Atmospheric Modelling Programme (UGAMP) at its inception, converting the ECMWF weather forecast model for simulations of present-day climate and variability. This climate model grew into the UGAMP-GCM, which was used until the mid 1990s throughout the UK Universities.

In 1993 the UGAMP group at Reading became the Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling (CGAM), now part of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). During this period I continued to use GCMs and more idealised dynamical models to investigate climate variability and the dependence of simulated climate on modelling choices in the dynamical core and physical parameterisations.

On the left are some examples of recent work, and links to models.


Publications


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National Centre for Atmospheric Science
Mike Blackburn   05 May 2020
NCAS-Climate
Department of Meteorology
University of Reading
PO Box 243, Reading RG6 6BB, UK

University of Reading