Department of Atmospheric Sciences – in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

El Niño research earns Christina Karamperidou early career scientist award

Christina Karamperidou, SOEST associate professor of atmospheric sciences, was honored with an Early Career Scientist Award by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).

Climate change to produce more rainbows

Climate change will increase opportunities to see rainbows, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa. The study’s authors estimate that by 2100, the average land location on Earth will experience about 5% more days with rainbows than at the beginning of the 21st century.

Passion for storms strengthens UH research into severe thunderstorms

Dr. Steven Businger, Professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Department at UHM and the projects’ lead, and his associates conducted field experiments in Colorado, where Merage has a ranch south of Denver. Their latest investigation, “The anatomy of a series of cloud bursts that eclipsed the U.S. rainfall record,” was published in Monthly Weather Review in April 2022. It detailed the essential role of steep mountainous terrain in producing a series of supercell thunderstorms that stalled out over Kauaʻi in April 2018.

Graduate students awarded ARCS Foundation scholarships

Terrence J. “TJ” Corrigan, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, George and Mona Elmore ARCS Award, is a storm chaser. He will aim Stereo Atmospheric Motion Monitor cameras at the Ko‘olau range to gauge the interplay of wind and topography. His goal is to predict when simple tradewind showers will evolve into severe rotating thunderstorms, such as the 2018 supercell thunderstorm over Kaua‘i that shattered previous 24-hour U.S. rainfall records.

Assessing El Niño ‘flavors’ to unravel past variability, future impact

As with many natural phenomena, scientists look to past climate to understand what may lie ahead as Earth warms. By assessing so-called ‘flavors’ of El Niño events in past climate records and model simulations, researchers have a clearer picture of El Niño patterns over the past 12,000 years and are able to more accurately project future changes and impacts of this powerful force. The study, by scientists at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and University of Colorado Boulder, was published recently in Nature Communications.

Professor Pao-Shin Chu publishes new book on climate variability and tropical cyclones

UH Mānoa ATMO Professor Pao-Shin Chu publishes new book "Climate Variability and Tropical Cyclone Activity" with NOAA collaborator Hiroyuki Murakami through the Cambridge Press. This book presents a comprehensive summary of research on tropical cyclone variability at various time scales, from intraseasonal and interannual to interdecadal and centennial. It covers the fundamental theory, statistics, and numerical modeling techniques used when considering climate variability in relation to tropical cyclone activity.

Check Out the Book

Aloha! Welcome to the home page of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. We are entering our second half century providing education in the atmospheric sciences here at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Since 1988 we have been part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). To learn about our educational programs and our exciting research and service activities follow the links at left. For more information about the history and structure of the department, please visit our About the Department page.

The department also maintains an online Weather Server displaying real-time weather observations, including information on current weather conditions, and forecasts for Hawai’i, the central Pacific region, and the continental United States.