Thomas Caton Harrison
Polar Climate Scientist
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Thomas Caton Harrison
Polar Climate Scientist
Biography
I am a polar climate scientist whose research focuses on Antarctica’s coastal winds: their variability, drivers and representation in climate models. A goal of this research is to understand and improve projections of coastal winds for the coming decades. A realistic representation of these winds in model simulation is needed as they have a key role in Southern Ocean circulation, including transport of warmer water towards ice shelves. They also influence sea ice and coastal ecosystems.
In my doctoral research I investigated the winds responsible for emission of mineral dust from the remote central Sahara. I used infrared satellite measurements to characterise dust storms, showing the central role of convective storms and the effect of orography upon low-level jets in this dust source region of global importance.
Research interests
Collaborations
Caton Harrison, T., Washington, R., Engelstaedter, S., Jones, R.G., Savage, N.H.. (2021) Influence of Orography Upon Summertime Low-Level Jet Dust Emission in the Central and Western Sahara. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126. 24 pp. 10.1029/2021JD035025
Caton Harrison, T., Washington, R., Engelstaedter. (2020) Satellite-Derived Characteristics of Saharan Cold Pool Outflows During Boreal Summer. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126. 3 pp. p.e2020JD033387
Caton Harrison, T., Washington, R., Engelstaedter. (2019) A 14‐year climatology of Saharan dust emission mechanisms inferred from automatically tracked plumes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124. 16 pp.9665-9690
Publications from NERC Open Research Archive
2024
Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, Holmes, Caroline R. ORCID record for Caroline R. Holmes, Lu, Hua ORCID record for Hua Lu, Martineau, Patrick, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips. (2024) Antarctic extreme seasons under 20th and 21st century climate change. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 7 (). 12 pp. 10.1038/s41612-024-00822-y
Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Davrinche, Cécile, Dutrieux, Pierre ORCID record for Pierre Dutrieux, Gilbert, Ella ORCID record for Ella Gilbert, Haigh, Michael ORCID record for Michael Haigh, Jones, Julie M., Kent, Elizabeth C. ORCID record for Elizabeth C. Kent, King, John ORCID record for John King, Lu, Hua ORCID record for Hua Lu, Price, Ruth ORCID record for Ruth Price, Schmidt, Christina, Vignon, Étienne, Wiener, Valentin. (2024) Advances and Next Steps in Observing and Modeling Antarctica’s Coastal Winds. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 105 (). 7 pp. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0247.1
Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, King, John C. ORCID record for John C. King, Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Lu, Hua ORCID record for Hua Lu. (2024) Dynamics of extreme wind events in the marine and terrestrial sectors of coastal Antarctica. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 150 (). 21 pp. 10.1002/qj.4727
Jena, Babula, Turner, John ORCID record for John Turner, Reeves-Francois, Tylei, Bajish, C. C, Holmes, Caroline ORCID record for Caroline Holmes, Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips, Wang, Zhaomin. (2024) Occurrence of an unusual extensive ice-free feature within the pack ice of the central Weddell Sea, Antarctica. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 7 (). 8 pp. 10.1038/s41612-024-00700-7
2022
Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, Biri, Stavroula ORCID record for Stavroula Biri, Bracegirdle, Thomas J. ORCID record for Thomas J. Bracegirdle, King, John C. ORCID record for John C. King, Kent, Elizabeth C. ORCID record for Elizabeth C. Kent, Vignon, Étienne, Turner, John ORCID record for John Turner. (2022) Reanalysis representation of low-level winds in the Antarctic near-coastal region. Weather and Climate Dynamics, 3 (). 23 pp. 10.5194/wcd-3-1415-2022
Turner, John ORCID record for John Turner, Holmes, Caroline ORCID record for Caroline Holmes, Caton Harrison, Thomas ORCID record for Thomas Caton Harrison, Phillips, Tony ORCID record for Tony Phillips, Jena, Babula, Reeves-Francois, Tylei, Fogt, Ryan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. ORCID record for Elizabeth R. Thomas, Bajish, C.C.. (2022) Record low Antarctic sea ice cover in February 2022. Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (). 11 pp. 10.1029/2022GL098904
2021
Caton Harrison, T. ORCID record for T. Caton Harrison, Washington, R., Engelstaedter, S., Jones, R.G., Savage, N.H.. (2021) Influence of Orography Upon Summertime Low-Level Jet Dust Emission in the Central and Western Sahara. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126 (). 24 pp. 10.1029/2021JD035025