MON01: Precipitation in shallow convection during cold-air outbreaks over the Southern Ocean

Supervisors: Dr Francisco Lang (francisco.lang@monash.edu), Dr Yi Huang (yi.huang4@unimelb.edu.au)

Large uncertainties exist in the frequency and intensity of precipitation over the Southern Ocean in weather and climate models, which limit our abilities to simulate the coupled Southern Ocean climate system. Observations from the R/V Investigator have revealed that intense precipitation is commonplace within shallow convection residing in post-frontal conditions and during cold-air outbreaks. These events, however, are poorly captured by either satellite observations or numerical models.

Using unique observations from recent field campaigns, this project aims to quantify the amount of precipitation associated with different low-level cloud morphologies during cold-air outbreaks over the Southern Ocean. Attempts will also be made to evaluate ERA-5 reanalysis and/or ACCESS forecast precipitation products.

Requirements: a self-motivated student with a background in meteorology and experience programming in Python or similar for data analysis.