School of Earth and Environment
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Steven Dobbie Dr Steven Dobbie

Lecturer: Atmospheric Physics; Director of ICAS; Study Abroad Coordinator for Env

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 36725
Email address: j.s.e.dobbie@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 11.101

Link to personal page

Biography

Dr Steven Dobbie has extensive research expertise in modeling of clouds, aerosols, and radiation. His training was in solar radiative transfer and optics which he applied to atmosphere. Through works investigating the coupling of radiation, dynamics, and microphysics (aerosol and cloud), Steven has illuminated the importance and complexity of this coupling with application to various cloud types. In a series of papers on stratocumulus layers with absorbing black carbon pollution, the work has shown for the first time the sensitivity of aerosol to the absorption in the layer, including illustrating that the semi-direct climate forcing effect has an opposite trend to what was previously thought for high pollution levels. Particular focus has been on cirrus cloud which has culminated in his appointment as chair of GEWEX Cloud System Study (GCSS) cirrus group. In conjunction with a PhD student, he has implemented an international inter-comparison of models with a first international comparison of high resolution models with detailed observations. Through his work as a co-investigator on the COSIC project, with collaborators at Leeds, Manchester, Reading, UK Met Office, and DLR, he is part of the team that is aiming to make the first estimate of the climate radiative forcing of contrails evolving into background cirrus. He also is co-investigator of a NERC case training award with the Met Office studying arctic stratus utilising the ASCOS observations taken in the summer of 2008.

In 2003, Steven extended his research area to include experimental studies of ice nucleation that could feed through to his modeling activities. This work began with a PhD project that led to the development of a novel thermal gradient diffusion chamber that was used to study nucleation of mineral dust. This has been recently extended through collaboration with Ben Murray in Chemistry (Leeds) with a shared PhD student project and further joint funding from ERC in part to support the development of the chamber and modeling studies using the results.

He is an active member of the NERC Peer Review College including sitting on standard grant, fellowship, and services review group panels, and he reviews for several leading atmospheric journals. At Leeds, he is Co-Director of the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS) and Coordinator of the Study Abroad Programme.

He currently supervises four PhD research students and co-supervises one research fellow. He can supervise projects on:

  • Cirrus, stratus, etc., cloud modeling using a range of models, including 1D detailed models, LEM, and global models,
  • Coupling of dynamics, radiation, and microphysics for various cloud types,
  • Semi-direct (effects of absorbing pollution) and indirect cloud climate forcing of stratocumulus clouds,
  • Experimental investigations of ice nucleation,
  • Contrail modelling,
  • Parameterisation of cloud, aerosol, or radiation processes for climate models.

Qualifications

B.Sc. Physics, University of Toronto; M.Sc. and Ph.D Physics, Dalhousie University.

Memberships/Fellowships

F.R.M.Soc

Research Interests

Modelling of atmospheric radiation, clouds, and aerosols.

Publications