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.
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
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