Chris Bretherton

breth@atmos.washington.edu

Office

704 Atmospheric Science-Geophysics Building

206-685-7414 (phone), 206-685-9302 (fax)

Mailing Address

University of Washington

Department of Atmospheric Sciences

Box 351640

Seattle, WA 98195-1640

I am a professor in the UW Departments of Atmospheric Science and Applied Mathematics, where I teach diverse classes on weather, atmospheric turbulence and cumulus convection, geophysical fluid dynamics, numerical methods, and classical analysis of ODEs and PDEs. I direct the University of Washington Program on Climate Change, which organizes graduate courses, seminars, a summer institute, and research on climate science and its relevance to our society and future.

Research interests

Atmospheric convection
Boundary layer cloudiness
Numerical modelling

Vitae in pdf format.

Publications.

For most publications, clicking on the authors will take you to an electronic abstract from the journal publisher. Subscribers can download an 'authoritative' copy of articles from that link. As a convenience to others, pdf copies of the full text of these articles for your personal noncommercial use are also included below. For a few publications which do not have an electronic abstract, clicking on the author will give you the full article. These are copyrighted by the publisher. For American Meteorological Society, these are posted subject to the AMS disclaimer, which you should read before downloading them. Other publishers have similar disclaimers.

Prior to 2007.
Bretherton, C. S., P. N. Blossey, and J. Uchida, 2007: Cloud droplet sedimentation, entrainment efficiency, and subtropical stratocumulus albedo. Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L03813, doi:10.1029/2006GL027648. Full text copy.
Blossey, P. N., C. S. Bretherton, J. Cetrone, and M. Khairoutdinov, 2007: Cloud-resolving model simulations of KWAJEX: Model sensitivities and comparisons with satellite and radar observations. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 1488-1508. Full text copy.
Bretherton, C. S., 2007: Challenges in Numerical Modeling of Tropical Circulations. In The Global Circulation of the Atmosphere, T. Schneider and A. H. Sobel, Eds., Princeton University Press, pp. 302-330.
Zhu, P., J. T. Kiehl, J. J. Hack, and C. S. Bretherton, 2007: Climate sensitivity of tropical and subtropical marine low cloud amount to ENSO and global warming due to doubled CO2. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D17108, doi:10.1029/2006JD008174. Full text copy.
Comstock, K. K., S. E. Yuter, R. Wood, and C. S. Bretherton, 2007: The three-dimensional structure and kinematics of drizzling stratocumulus. Mon. Wea. Rev., 135, 3767-3784. Full text copy.
Wyant, M., and coauthors, 2007: A single-column model intercomparison of a heavily drizzling stratocumulus-topped boundary layer. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D24204, doi:10.1029/2007JD008536. Full text copy.
Teixeira, J., and coauthors, 2008: Parameterization of the atmospheric boundary layer: A view from just above the inversion. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, 453-458. Full text copy.
Bretherton, C. S., and S. Park, 2008: A new bulk shallow cumulus model and implications for penetrative entrainment feedback on updraft buoyancy. J. Atmos. Sci., 65, 2174-2193. Full text copy.
Wood, R., K. K. Comstock, C. S. Bretherton, C. Cornish, J. Tomlinson, D. R. Collins, and C. Fairall, 2008: Open cellular structure in marine stratocumulus cloud sheets. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D12207, doi:10.1029/2007JD009371. Full text copy.
Zhang, M., and C. S. Bretherton, 2008: Mechanisms of low cloud climate feedback in idealized single-column simulations with the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM3). J. Climate, 21, 4859-4878. Full text copy.
Meideiros, B. P., B. Stevens, Held, I. M., M. Zhao, D. L. Williamson, J. G. Olson, and C. S. Bretherton, 2008: Aquaplanets, climate sensitivity and low clouds. J. Climate, 21, 4974-4991. Full text copy.
Caldwell, P., and C. S. Bretherton, 2009: Response of a subtropical stratocumulus-capped mixed layer to climate and aerosol changes. J. Climate, 22, 20-38. Full text copy.
Bretherton, C. S., and D. L. Hartmann, 2009: Large-scale controls on cloudiness. Peer-reviewed book chapter for Perturbed Clouds in the Climate System: Their Relationship to Energy Balance, Atmospheric Dynamics and Precipitation, eds. J. Heintzenberg and R. J. Charlson. Strungmann Forum Reports, vol. 2, MIT Press. 217-234.
Siebesma, A. P., J.-L. Brenguier, C. S. Bretherton, W. W. Grabowski, J. Heintzenberg, B. Kaercher, K. Lehmann, J. C> Petch, P. Spichtinger, B. Stevens and F. Stratmann, 2009: Cloud-controlling factors. Peer-reviewed book chapter for Perturbed Clouds in the Climate System: Their Relationship to Energy Balance, Atmospheric Dynamics and Precipitation, eds. J. Heintzenberg and R. J. Charlson. Strungmann Forum Reports, vol. 2, MIT Press. 269-290.
Caldwell, P., and C. S. Bretherton, 2009: Large eddy simulation of the diurnal cycle in Southeast Pacific stratocumulus. J. Atmos. Sci., 66, 432-449. Full text copy.
Ackerman, A. S., and coauthors, 2009: Large-eddy simulations of a drizzling, stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layer. Mon. Wea. Rev., 137, 1083-1110. Full text copy.

Some Publications in Review or Press.

Lopez, M. A., D. L. Hartmann, P. N. Blossey, R. Wood, C. S. Bretherton, and T. L. Kubar, 2009: A test of the simulation of tropical convective cloudiness by a cloud-resolving model. J. Climate, submitted 9/07, revised and accepted.

Back, L. E, and C. S. Bretherton, 2009: On the relationship between SST gradients, boundary layer winds and convergence over the tropical oceans. J. Climate, submitted 12/07, revised and accepted.

Back, L. E, and C. S. Bretherton, 2009: A simple model of climatological precipitation and vertical motion patterns over the tropical oceans. J. Climate, submitted 12/07, revised.

Hannay, C., D. L Williamson, J. J Hack, J. T. Kiehl, J. G. Olson, S. A. Klein, C. S. Bretherton, and M. Koehler, 2009: Evaluation of forecasted Southeast Pacific stratocumulus in the NCAR, GFDL and ECMWF models. J. Climate, submitted 1/08, revised and accepted.

Bretherton, C. S., and S. Park, 2009: A new moist turbulence parameterization in the Community Atmosphere Model. J. Climate, submitted 3/08, revised 10/08, accepted.

Park, S. and C. S. Bretherton, 2009: The University of Washington shallow convection and moist turbulence schemes and their impact on climate simulations with the Community Atmosphere Model. J. Climate, submitted 3/08, revised 10/08 and 12/08, accepted.

Petch, J. C., P. N. Blossey, and C. S. Bretherton, 2009: Differences in the lower troposphere in two- and three-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulations of deep convection. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., submitted 5/08, revised and accepted.

Hohenegger, C., P. Brockhaus, C. S. Bretherton and C. Schar, 2009: The soil moisture-precipitation feedback in simulations with explicit and parameterized convection. J. Climate, submitted 4/08, revised.

Wyant, M. C., C. S. Bretherton, and P. N. Blossey, 2009: Understanding subtropical low cloud response to a warmer climate in a superparameterized climate model. Part I: Regime sorting and physical mechanisms. Journal of Advancing Modeling Earth Systems, submitted 8/08, revised 3/09.

Blossey, P. N., C. S. Bretherton, and M. C. Wyant, 2009: Understanding subtropical low cloud response to a warmer climate in a superparameterized climate model. Part II: Column modeling with a cloud-resolving model. Journal of Advancing Modeling Earth Systems, submitted 8/08, revised 3/09.

For Browsing

Climate Process Team (CPT) on low-latitude cloud feedbacks on climate sensitivity. This was a multi-institution NSF/NOAA-sponsored project (10/03-9/06) to try to better understand the differences in cloud feedbacks on climate sensitivity in three leading US climate models (NCAR, GFDL, and NASA-GMAO), and to use recent findings from observations and process models to reduce uncertainties in climate sensitivity by improving the representation of cloud microphysics, turbulence and moist convection, and radiative transfer in cloudy atmospheres in these models.

VOCALS, the VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study, is a subprogram of the International CLIVAR VAMOS (Variability of the American MOnsoon Systems). VOCALS coordinates modeling, data analysis, and field activities between researchers across the Americas studying Southeast Pacific upper ocean dynamics and boundary layer clouds and their role in the tropical coupled ocean-atmosphere-land climate system, in order to improve the forecasting skill of weather and climate prediction models on all timescales.

VOCALS Science Plan (pdf - 18 Jan. 2005)
VOCALS Implementation Plan (pdf - 18 Jan. 2005)
VOCALS Process Study Brief for CLIVAR Jan. 2005 SSC meeting (pdf)
UCAR/JOSS VOCALS site (data, presentations, etc.)
VOCALS report at VAMOS Planning Meeting 7, Apr. 2004, Guayaquil (ppt)
Summary for the US CLIVAR SSC on VOCALS (Jan. 2005) (ppt)

Presentations on EPIC (East Pacific Investigation of Climate) and its field experiment of Sep-Oct 2001. Also see summary papers by Raymond et al. 2003 (JAS) and Raymond et al. 2004 (BAMS) and Bretherton, et al. 2004 (BAMS), as well as numerous other specialized papers in my publication list above.

EPIC 2001 stratocumulus cruise highlights (ppt from AGU, 12/02)
EPIC 2001 stratocumulus cruise integrated dataset for modelers (netcdf file of 3 hourly data over a 6-day period, 16-21 October 2001, giving forcings and observed cloud/boundary layer characteristics useful for driving a SCM or LES). Beautifully documents a fairly well-mixed subtropical Sc regime with a strong and regular diurnal cycle of cloud thickness and early-morning drizzle. Compiled by Peter Caldwell, Univ. of Washington, based on data from NOAA/ETL, U. Washington, ECMWF, and NCEP.

Home page for the Boundary Layer Clouds Working Group of GCSS. GCSS is the GEWEX Cloud System Study, an international collaborative effort to use high-resolution models of cloud systems to improve parameterizations in global forecast and climate models. Since its founding in 1993, this working group has conducted a series of very successful intercomparisons of eddy-resolving models, 1D column models, and observations of a diverse range of cloud-topped boundary layers.

UW ASTEX (The Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment 1992) anonymous ftp archive (click on README file for more info) and the ASTEX Lagrangian modellers data set.

Home page for UW's contribution to EOS (the Earth Observing System) . This is a NASA sponsored program designed to improve our understanding of the climate system through an integrated program of new satellite measurements and analyses on which Dr. Bretherton is a co-PI.