Professor Yi Huang

Atmospheric Radiation and Physical Climatology, McGill University

Abstract:
Radiation is a crucial shaping factor of the Earth climate. Predicting climate change requires in-depth understanding of the changes in the radiation budget termed as “forcings” and “feedbacks”. Radiative kernel is a broadly used technique for diagnosing radiative forcing and feedback, thanks to its conceptual simplicity and computational efficiency. In this talk, I will first introduce a new set of radiative kernels, which are produced based on the global reanalysis data ERA5 and can be used for diagnosing not only the radiation fluxes at the Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface but also the radiative heating rates inside the atmosphere. Examples will be given to illustrate the use of the new kernels and insights gained about climate change, for example, in a newly discovered Arctic “radiator fins” phenomenon. Then, I will provide a critical review of issues intrinsic to the kernel method and discuss ways forward to improve the dissection of radiation budget.

Bio:
Yi Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University, Canada. He obtained his Ph.D. at Princeton University and was a Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University before joining the faculty at McGill. His research is focused on atmospheric radiation. On the theory side, he is known for his discovery and explanation of the logarithmic nature and unique patterns of greenhouse gas radiative forcing. On the application side, he has led the development of new techniques of satellite and ground-based remote sensing. He is a science co-Lead of the Canadian satellite mission, the High-altitude Aerosols, Water vapour and Clouds (HAWC).

邀請人：李時雨