News

Climate science winter school - July 9-13, 2012, Uni Melb

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:53:32 +1000

Climate science winter school
July 9-13, 2012. School of Earth Sciences, Melbourne University

Be part of the ARC Centre of Excelllence's first winter school

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science will host its first annual winter school on July 9-13 at the School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne. This is a high-level education program for honours and graduate students interested in climate science. Most students will have an undergraduate background in maths, physics or computational science. The winter school will provide a broad overview of the key areas of climate science in the Centre’s main research programs. Researchers will explain how the Centre uses physics, maths, biology and hydrology, coupled with high performance computers to understand the processes and phenomena associated with climate science, climate variability and climate change.

Sessions of the winter school will be dedicated to the key drivers of Australian climate including tropical convection, climate extremes and land surface and ocean processes.

The school will also feature sessions on the modelling and data tools used in the Centre, particularly the ACCESS modelling system and CMIP5 data sets. Centre of Excellence staff based at Universities and partner organizations will deliver lectures.

The school is open to anyone, and funding is available to support attendance. However, priority will be given to honours and graduate students working on climate science problems. The number of places is strictly limited.

To register, email a one page CV and a half page statement on why you want to attend to Anna Haley at anna.haley@monash.edu.au by April 30. Successful applicants will be notified by May 15.

Presidentâ��s Column - April 2012

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:11:16 +1000

Our membership has remained fairly stable over the last decade, at about 500. A priority for AMOS in the current year is to try to increase our membership, and a sub-committee led by Michael Hewson of the Brisbane Centre will be looking at ways to make that happen. In particular, our membership is currently very weak amongst operational meteorologists.

We also hope to strengthen the new category of Professional Member, and to increase the role of the category of Fellow in recognising the most distinguished members of the profession in Australia. Strengthening the organisation in Tasmania, where we have a reasonable membership but no currently active Regional Centre, will also be important.

As the first Bureau of Meteorology-based President in a couple of decades, addressing the shortfall of membership in operational areas will be a major focus. We would welcome any suggestions from those of you who are in, or have been in, operational areas as to how we can make AMOS more relevant to people in that field (most of whom work fixed shifts and can’t easily get to our regular meetings and conferences). There are a number of areas in which there has long been a close partnership between the Bureau and AMOS – not least that the Bureau provides us with office space, as well as our involvement in the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal, and the Weather Calendar. There may well be further partnership opportunities coming up this year – watch this space…

I plan to get to most of the Regional Centres this year, and hope to catch up with as many of you as possible; I have already had the pleasure of meeting with the Brisbane Centre this week. We have a strong community in the atmospheric and oceanographic sciences in Australia covering a very diverse range of interests, and we hope that AMOS as a professional society will be able to encompass that range.

Blair Trewin
April 2012

Presidentâ��s column â�� February 2012

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:27:00 +1000

I write this first column as President of an organisation which is in good shape. A large part of the credit for this goes to my predecessor. Neville Nicholls’ most significant legacy as President was through leading a lot of unglamorous but essential work, to place AMOS on a much sounder administrative and financial footing, taking us from a set of structures and systems which might have been adequate for a small organisation but had proven inadequate for what we had become, to a framework which meets the requirements, internal and external, of an organisation which turns over a couple of hundred thousand dollars in a normal year. He was able to provide this leadership, and no small amount of hands-on work, at the same time as carrying out the high-pressure and time-consuming task of being a Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Extremes (something which will be about to hit the streets in full by the time you read this). The Society owes a great deal to Neville, and to those who have supported him in this work (particularly Jeanette Dargaville, who has gone well beyond the call of duty in her position as Administrative Officer), and I am sure all of you will join me in extending the Society’s thanks to him.

The main event of recent weeks has been the National Conference, exceptionally well-organised at the University of New South Wales by Jason Evans and his team – they have certainly left the organisers of the 2013 conference in Melbourne something to live up to. The conference, with about 330 registrations, is the largest standalone conference we have yet run. The National Conference has grown dramatically in recent years – it is only six years ago that we struggled to get much over 100, and two years ago we topped 250 for the first time. It has now become the major high point of the national calendar for the fields which we cover, and has attracted an exceptionally wide range of papers covering all aspects of the atmospheric and oceanographic sciences. It also remains open to scientists at all stages of their careers, from the most senior to students just starting out on their careers. Many of us – at least those of us who are young enough that our entry to the arena happened after the conference came into existence – made our conference debut at an AMOS National Conference, and I hope it will always be a receptive forum to those who are entering this environment for the first time.

I will have more to say next month about our plans for this year. One item which will be a priority for us this year is to build our membership, and I commend Michael Hewson’s discussion paper in the Bulletin which will be coming out shortly.

Blair Trewin

AMOS Conf 2012 - Student Prize Winners

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:22:52 +1000

As one of my final duties as conference convener I am happy to announce the winners of the student prizes, who will each receive a $250 prize.

Best student oral presentation is awarded to Adele Morrison (Australian National University) for her talk titled "Interplay between the zonal momentum balance and overturning in the Southern Ocean".

Best student poster presentation is awarded to Felicity Graham (University of Tasmania) for her poster titled "Application of the ENSO Unified Oscillator theory to an ocean-only model".

Many other students gave excellent presentations making this a difficult decision. In particular, we would like to give honorary mentions to:

Isabella Rosso (Australian National University)
Ben Elliston (University of New South Wales)
Stuart Browning (Macquarie University)
Nicolas Engerer (Australian National University)

Congratulations to all these students! I'm sure there will be many excellent presentations in the future from them.

Cheers,
Jason

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Jason Evans
AMOS 2012 Conference Convener

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Presidentâ��s Column, January 2012: Xmas Day Storm, Melbourne 2011

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:32:27 +1000

The photo above shows my backyard late on Xmas Day afternoon in 2011. The hailstorm is the “best” I have seen in Melbourne in the 60 years I have lived here. It continued for over 10 minutes, with many hailstones close to the legendary “golf ball” size. There was no damage at my house, although I was very worried about the family cars parked in my drive, but elsewhere in western and northern Melbourne there was a lot of damage. Some damage was from the hail (including car sales yards where many cars were parked outside with no cover) or the heavy rains.

The synoptic map for that morning, from the Bureau of Meteorology archive of weather maps (http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/charts/charts.browse.pl), is shown below. The “cause” of the hailstorm, the deep trough lying across Australia, is evident. So it is not surprising that the Bureau predicted the stormy weather that day.

I think it would be great if AMOS could include, on our web pages, features about such exciting recent weather events, including in-depth discussion about their causes and the predictions of such events. These could also be included in BAMOS, to complement Blair Trewin’s continuing series “Charts from the Past”. What we need are volunteers to write such articles. Please let us know if you are interested in contributing such an article, or articles.

What we need are volunteers to write such articles. Please let us know if you are interested in contributing such an article, or articles.

Neville Nicholls

HG Nelson confirmed as AMOS 2012 Conference Dinner Speaker!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:46:29 +1000

HG Nelson confirmed as Conference Dinner Speaker!

The AMOS 2012 Conference Dinner will be taking place at 7pm on Wednesday, 1 February 2012 at historic Luna Park on Sydney Harbour's foreshore.

The evening will commence with pre-dinner drinks, which will be served next to the Ferris Wheel (weather permitting). Dinner tickets include admission to the Wheel, which will be available for our exclusive use.

The dinner itself will be served in the heritage-listed Crystal Ballroom, which enjoys panoramic views over the Harbour. Enjoy a sumptuous three-course meal, complete with unlimited soft drinks, beer and wine.

None other than HG Nelson himself will be the after-dinner speaker. In his own unique style, he will share with us his take on the climate change issue including his experiences as a presenter of the "Steaming Toad".

Tickets for this memorable event cost just $100. However, they are selling fast and there are only limited places available, so purchase now before it's too late!

If you have already registered and require a second ticket, please contact Jeanette by email on admin_officer@amos.org.au or call 0404 471 143.

REMINDER: Standard Registrations for AMOS Conference 2012 close on 13 January 2012. After that date, Late Registration fees apply. Go to www.amos.org.au to register (AMOS members please login to receive discount).

JOB ALERT - CSIRO - Climate Projections Project Officer

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:39:09 +1000

Climate Projections Project Officer
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Contribute to the development of regional climate projections
Be part of the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Program
Join our team at CSIRO - Australia's premier science & technology research organisation!

This role is for a project scientist in Climate Variability and Change Program in the area of climate projections. The role will contribute to the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Program (PACCSAP).

This role will advance the science of regional climate projections, with a focus on the Pacific in the 21st century. The research will involve analysis of observed data and the outputs from global climate model simulations and regional downscaling simulations. The successful candidate will contribute to representing uncertainty in climate projections, and tailoring projection products to needs of users. They will collaborate with scientists in other disciplines who are undertaking impacts, adaptation and vulnerability projects.

The successful candidate will have completed a BSc in climate science or an equivalent field. They will have a good understanding of climate change science including observations, processes, causes of observed changes, projections and potential impacts. They will have the ability to analyse and evaluate climate model data and develop climate projections. A strong background in the application of mathematics to climate data and their physical interpretation is essential. They will also collaborate with colleagues in the research team, which involves scientists in CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and several universities. Good communication skills are essential.

Location: Aspendale, Victoria
Salary: $55K - $70K plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: 17 months approx. (to June 2013)
Ref No: VIC03000

To be successful you will have:

Significant experience in the analysis of climate observations and climate model results.
Strong computing skills: This will require experience with UNIX-based computers, well-developed programming skills in modern Fortran or similar languages, scripting languages such as Python, data archiving and experience with Microsoft Office software, statistical analysis software, and data visualisation software.
Ability to apply established techniques for evaluating climate model data and generating regional climate change projections. This will primarily involve analysis of very large datasets comprised of climate model output and climate observations, and consultation with users of climate projection products.
Demonstrated ability to liaise and collaborate with scientists from other agencies and take responsibility for project milestones.

About CSIRO

Australia is founding its future on science and innovation. Its national science agency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is a powerhouse of ideas, technologies and skills for building prosperity, growth, health and sustainability. It serves governments, industries, business and communities.

For more information on The Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Program please visit our: Website

Find out more! For further information and to apply online please visit our website at CSIRO CAREERS, choose "Jobs Search" and insert Reference Number VIC03000 where indicated.

Applications close 31 January 2012

JOB ALERT - CSIRO - Science Program Manager

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:38:06 +1000

Science Program Manager
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Exciting opportunity to apply your Project Management Skills
Work on problems affecting the Australia-Pacific region
And make a real impact – working towards improving Australia’s climate and environment!

The Pacific - Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning Program (PACCSAP) is part of the Australian Government’s International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ICCAI) to meet high priority climate change adaptation needs in vulnerable countries in the Pacific and East Timor. The $32 million PACCSAP is funded by Australian Aid (formerly AusAid) and will undertake research into the effects of climate change and develop the capacity of Pacific Island country and East Timor scientists, decision-makers and planners to access and apply information and tools to identify and develop in-country adaptation responses.

Applications are invited for an experienced Science Program Manager to guide and be responsible for the overall coordination and delivery of the Bureau/CSIRO contribution to PACCSAP. You will be responsible for a management team involved in the coordination, administration and communication activities of PACCSAP. You will also take the lead in training and capacity development for partner country stakeholders, effectively communicating the PACCSAP science to partner countries and other interested parties.

Travel within Australia and internationally will be required.

Location: Aspendale, Victoria Australia
Salary: $119K - $132K per annum plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Ref No: VIC03039
Tenure: This contract duration is expected to be 3 years. The contract length will be confirmed with the successful applicant at the time of job offer and is dependent on the employee's commencement date

To be successful you will have a:

Tertiary Qualifications in Science
Demonstrated experience in project management, especially in developing countries, and involving complex projects with numerous countries, partners and stakeholders in a research environment
Demonstrated experience with stakeholder engagement and management, especially overseas stakeholders
An ability to build and maintain effective and productive relationships with internal and external staff, and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds
Excellent people management and organisational skills and the ability to organise resources to meet deadlines

About CSIRO
Australia is founding its future on science and innovation. Its national science agency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is a powerhouse of ideas, technologies and skills for building prosperity, growth, health and sustainability. It serves governments, industries, business and communities.

For more information on The Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Program please visit our: Website

Find out more! For further information and to apply online for the position of Science Program Manager please visit our website at CSIRO CAREERS, choose "Jobs Search" and insert Reference Number VIC03039 where indicated.

Applications close 6 February 2012

JOB ALERT - CSIRO - Climate Projections Research Scientist

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:40:18 +1000

Climate Projections Research Scientist
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

• Exciting opportunity to apply your mathematical skills

• Work on climate change issues affecting the Australia-Pacific region

• Develop climate change projections that will underpin adaptation planning

CSIRO is seeking to appoint an experienced a Research Scientist to join the Climate Variability and Change Program in the area of climate projections. You will contribute to two well established research programs: The Australian Climate Change Science Research Program and the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Program

In this role you will advance the science of regional climate projections, with a focus on Australia and the Pacific in the 21st century. The research will involve analysis of observed data and the outputs from global climate model simulations and regional downscaling simulations.

You will develop methods for representing uncertainty in climate projections, and for tailoring projection products to needs of users. You will lead projects aimed at providing novel climate change projection products for clients and collaborate with scientists in other disciplines as part of impacts, vulnerability and risk assessment projects.

Location: Aspendale, Victoria Australia
Salary: $86K - $93K per annum plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Ref No: VIC03002
Tenure: Indefinite/Ongoing

To be successful you will have a:

A PhD in climate science or an equivalent field.
Significant experience in the analysis of climate observations and climate model results.
Significant experience and a strong background in application of mathematics to climate data and their physical interpretation.
Demonstrated experience with UNIX-based computers, well-developed programming skills in modern FORTRAN or similar scripting languages; and experience in scripting languages such as Python, data archiving, Microsoft Office software, statistical analysis software, and data visualisation software.
Effective written and oral communication skills, including demonstrated experience in publishing papers in scientific journals and presenting material at workshops, scientific conferences and to more general audiences.

Find out more! For further information and to apply online for the position of Climate Projections Research Scientist please visit our website at CSIRO CAREERS, choose "Jobs Search" and insert Reference Number VIC03002 where indicated.

Applications close 21 January 2012

Presidentâ��s Column - Dec 2012: IPCC Special Report - SREX

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:20:21 +1000

President’s Column, December 2012: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to advance Climate Change Adaptation (also known as “SREX”).

The Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the SREX was released on Friday 18 November, after a meeting in Kampala of delegates from the 194 countries that are members of the IPCC approved it, sentence-by-sentence and by consensus (ie with no dissenting delegations). The SPM has had some media coverage since its release. But it is clear that many people do not understand how the IPCC prepares its reports and assessments. So I thought I should provide some details of the preparation of the SREX.

SREX consists of nine chapters prepared by separate author teams, plus an SPM prepared by representatives of these chapter teams. I was one of the two Coordinating Lead Authors (CLA) of Chapter 3, “Changes in Climate Extremes and Their Impacts on the Natural Physical Environment”. Sonia Seneviratne from ETH in Switzerland was the other CLA. We also had 12 Lead Authors (LAs) and 28 Contributing Authors (CAs) involved in writing the chapter. The 12 Lead Authors came from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Iran, Japan, Norway, UK, and USA. All members of the author team had published peer-reviewed scientific papers on climate and weather extremes.

Work started in late 2009. We had four meetings of the author team, in Panama City, Geneva, Hanoi, and the Gold Coast, but most of the work was done through email. The final version of the Chapter is over 70,000 words plus about 900 references. Because there has been some criticism of the IPCC for using “grey” literature we limited our sources almost entirely to the peer-reviewed literature.

There were four rounds of review: an informal review, an expert review, a combined expert/government review, and finally a second government review (the last of these focussed solely on the SPM). We received, over the four rounds of review, about 5000 review comments on Chapter 3 material. We had to document our response to every review comment, and indicate what changes we made in response to the review. There were two Review Editors (from Russia and Argentina), also experts in weather and climate extremes, who had to check if we were responding appropriately and if we had made the changes we indicated we would. Eventually all the review comments, plus our responses, will be available publically.

The IPCC will never win the Nobel Prize for Literature. An international writing team of 14 scientists is not conducive to the preparation of stylish prose. As well, a very formal process of assessing possible changes in a specific extreme was applied throughout the SREX. So the text is littered with terms such as “likely”, and “low confidence”, each of which has a specific meaning. The Executive Summary of Chapter 3 uses these terms more than 50 times, in about two pages of text. This makes the Chapter, I have to admit, a rather boring read.

After the Chapters were written, a selection of the most important statements from the nine chapters was combined into the SPM. The approval process carried out in Kampala aims to ensure that the SPM delivers a clear message that can be understood by the target audience (ie to improve the clarity of the scientists’ writing). However, no changes can be made to the SPM that do not reflect the science in the underlying Chapters. So the CLAs are at the approval meeting to ensure that the final version of the SPM is consistent with the Chapters. The approval meeting can also request that the selection of statements included in the SPM from the Chapters be changed, as long as such changes do not result in the SPM being inconsistent with the Chapters.

The writing process is much tougher than would be the case if a small number of scientists were writing a book for a commercial publisher, because of the large writing team, the need to apply very formal assessment language, the need to restrict sources to the peer-reviewed literature, the rigid deadlines, the requirement to respond in writing to thousands of review comments from hundreds of reviewers, and the recognition that even a single typo will leave the IPCC (and the authors) open to abuse and attack. It is a challenge – and it is a relief to complete the task and return to the simpler task of writing and publishing scientific papers in the peer-reviewed literature.

SREX is the fourth IPCC assessment/report for which I have been either a CLA or LA. Each has been more time-consuming and challenging than the last. Many of my weekends, most evenings, and every vacation over the past two years have been disrupted by SREX work. As is the case with most IPCC authors I received no payment for the work. I have had to fit it around my “day job”. It will have no effect whatsoever on my career, and it has taken me to places I never wanted to visit. So why do it? I see IPCC as a duty and a challenge. I have been a climate researcher for 40 years, and it is my responsibility to communicate climate science so that politicians and others can base their decisions on the science, rather than on the opinion of a radio shock-jock or journalist. And I see it as a challenge to produce a document that accurately assesses the literature, in a consensus with my 13 co-authors.

The SREX SPM is available now from the IPCC web site; the underlying chapters are being copy-edited and will be available in February.