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Cecilia Bitz's HomepageTel: (206) 543-1339office: Atmos Sci & Geophys Bld 502 bitz@atmos.washington.edu I am an Associate Professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Department, an Affiliate Physicist for the Polar Science Center, and part of the Program on Climate Change, all at University of Washington |
My research interests include
- The role of sea ice in the climate system and high-latitude
climate and climate change.
- The predictability of Arctic sea ice.
- The role of aerosols and other short-lived species as a source of
Arctic decadal variability.
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Global coupled climate modeling. I am part of a the PetaApps team, which has run the CCSM4 at very high resolution. Check out our animations of our century long control at 1/10 degree sea ice and ocean. I use the Community Earth System Model.
Presentation giving at
congressional briefing on 20 Mar 2013
My
Publications
You may download Cecilia's Curriculum Vitae in pdf.
Art and Science
At summerschools I
often have students use a sea ice thermodynamic model that I wrote. It
is a good educational tool.
A few more items just for fun
Art and Science
Beaded Anorak Project called "The Melt" with Scott Schuldt
Sea Level Rise Sculpture at Seattle Art Museum
Recent Teaching
- Weather and Climate Prediction ATMS 380 Course web site
- Ice and Climate ATMS 514/ESS 535 Course web site
- Climate Modeling ATMS 559 Course web site
- Atmospheric Motions I, ATMS 441, Course web site
- Climate and Climate Change, ATMS 211, Course web site
- Ice and Climate Modeling, GPHYS/ATMS 514, winter 2001. Course summary and lab modeling project with
downloadable energy balance model.
At summerschools I
often have students use a sea ice thermodynamic model that I wrote. It
is a good educational tool.
- Download a tarfile of the Bitz and
Lipscomb 1999 thermodynamic sea ice model, OR goto a
directory with the individual files
- Draft lecture notes on global
sea ice model and exercises I used with the simple model.
Public Outreach
For the past four years I have participated at the Polar Science Weekend at the Seattle Pacific Science Center. I showed posters on the greenhouse effect and sea ice retreat and demonstrated the art of climate modeling with a simple climate model I wrote for the weekend, see photograph. In 2009 I demonstrated the ice-albedo effect with a spectrometer aimed at different surface types (designed by Bonnie Light), see photograph with the "ocean" in front of me.
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The link at the left lets you
run the simple climate model I wrote for the Polar Science Weekend. You
can explore the climate sensitivity to
greenhouse gases, the solar constant, and ancient distributions of
continental landmasses. It is fun and easy to use. |
A few more items just for fun
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What is wrong with this picture?
The image at left was shown at the end of the Day After Tomorrow, a recent blockbuster movie about climate change. Ice and snow on land cover large areas of North America. Click on the picture or here for a discussion about the impossibility of the sea ice cover! |
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The map of the Arctic with the United States on the left was created by Harry Stern of the University of Washington Polar Science Center. Click on the map or here for a description of the scaling. In September 2007 the ice cover was a record low, the departure from normal was equal to about four times the size of Texas. |