Schubert Research Group

Wayne H. Schubert

Professor

Phone: 970-491-8521
Fax: 970-491-8449
Office: ATS 303A
Email: waynes [at] atmos.colostate.edu

Download vita [PDF]

Education:

1966
B.A. Meteorology
University of California, Los Angeles
1968
M.S. Meteorology
University of California, Los Angeles
1973
Ph.D. Meteorology
University of California, Los Angeles

Career Overview:

Professor Wayne Schubert joined the Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science Faculty in 1973 after completing his PhD from the UCLA department of atmospheric sciences under the guidance of Professor Akio Arakawa. At Colorado State Wayne has taught primarily classes in atmospheric dynamics and numerical weather predition.

Professor Schubert has been honored by the AMS for his outstanding contributions to the science and by CSU for his superb teaching and student advising efforts. Wayne has served as the co-chief editor of the Journal of Atmospheric Science and as the publications commissioner for the American Meteorological Society journals.

Research Interests:

Atmospheric Dynamics, Numerical Weather Prediction, and Tropical Meteorology

Among the many aspects of hurricane dynamics which are still poorly understood are the spiral bands which are often seen in the cloud patterns, the rather irregular shapes sometimes seen in the eye (polygonal eyewalls), and the oscillatory or looping paths (trochoidal track oscillations) sometimes taken by hurricanes. Efforts are being made to develop a unified dynamical understanding of these phenomena. The primary tools are simple theoretical models and numerical simulation.

Exclusively in the West Pacific and Indian Oceans, there are occasions of nearly simultaneous formation of two tropical cyclones straddling the equator at about the same longitude and between 10 degrees N and 10 degrees S. These storms are called twin tropical cyclones, reflecting their symmetry about the equator. Since the flow around the northern cyclone is counterclockwise and the flow around the southern cyclone is clockwise, strong westerly winds can be produced at the equator. These winds can set up ocean currents which advect warm, West Pacific water into the East Pacific. This effect contributes to El Nino, which has global consequences. A systematic modeling study of twin cyclones is being made.

Marine boundary layer research involves simulation of cloud top evaporative instability using a moist convection model and computation of heat and moisture budgets over stratocumulus regimes using atmospheric sounding data.

Publications:

Complete list of publications.