🎄12 Days of HPC
Earths Jet streams - How Santa is really able to get around the World in one night
During the month of December we’re featuring blog posts from researchers from across the University of Leeds showcasing the fantastic work they do using our High Performance Computing system. Follow us @RC_at_Leeds to keep up to date with our 12 days of HPC blog series.
What’s your name?
Jacob Perez
What department do you work in?
CDT in Fluid Dynamics
What research question are you trying to answer?
Jet streams are very fast (80 to 140 miles per hour) moving winds high up in our atmosphere, and they have a downstream influence on the weather on the surface. In my research, I am investigating the regime behaviour of the polar jet stream over the North Atlantic and trying to understand what are the main drivers behind them. For example, a few years ago we had the storm named the “Beast from the East” and this was caused by warming high up in our atmosphere which caused the polar jet stream to weaken, bringing in the storm from the Arctic.
How does HPC help your research?
I use the HPC to run state of the art climate models which represent the Earth’s climate. This allows me to simulate different climate states, such as a warming climate or a world with no mountains, and investigate how these different situations affect the polar jet stream.
What is the potential impact of your research?
By improving our understanding of the position of the jet stream we will improve our ability to predict the weather. This can have huge impacts on warning people early enough of a hazardous storm approaching.
In your personal opinion what’s the coolest thing about your research?
The coolest thing is seeing how the jet stream influences the weather and being able to have a prediction for the future state of our weather and climate. If you would like to talk more about my research please contact me! My email is scjp@leeds.ac.uk
What’s your favourite christmas film?
Its a split between Elf or the Grinch
