Daniel Partridge

I am a Senior Lecturer in Atmospheric Science engaged in climate change research with a focus on the interaction between aerosols and clouds. I work with both detailed cloud-scale process level models and global climate modelling to further understand the complex processes governing the impact aerosols have on cloud properties and subsequently the climate system. Google Scholar profile.

Website

Find out about my research in Aerosols, Clouds and Climate on our dedicated research webpage.

Research Interests

• Aerosol – Cloud Interactions: Cloud microphysics and aerosol life cycle simulation.
• Global climate modelling: Evaluation and development of representation of aerosol-cloud interactions.
• Lagrangian trajectory modelling: Deriving aerosol source-receptor relationships using climate models & in-situ observations.

Current Research

General circulation models (GCMs) are the only tools at our disposal for predicting future climate, however, the current representation of aerosols, clouds, and aerosol-cloud radiative effects carries large uncertainties that directly affect GCM predictions, such as climate sensitivity. Despite decades of research, reducing these uncertainties has proved extremely challenging.

Accordingly, the goal of my research is to improve the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions in GCMs and subsequently reduce the uncertainties in the aerosol-cloud forcing of climate.

My current and future research plans focus on the development and application of novel computational strategies that robustly link observations with models for improved understanding and representation of atmospheric processes relevant for aerosol-cloud interactions in GCMs. In these efforts we collaborate strongly with the UK Met Office Hadley Centre, a world-renowned climate modelling centre.

Novel Strategies for Evaluating Climate Models

We have recently developed a novel GCM Lagrangian trajectory framework which allows us to derive and evaluate GCM representation of source receptor relationships for aerosol sources (e.g. sea spray aerosol) and sinks (e.g. precipitation) robustly against observations. We are currently applying this modelling framework to the Arctic, a region which we know is particularly sensitive to perturbations of the radiative budget. During the last century the temperature increase in the Arctic has been observed to be twice the global average. This “Arctic amplification” is not fully understood, but it likely relates to the complex feedbacks surrounding sea ice, clouds and aerosols.

PhD Students

Paul Kim: Application of a novel trajectory approach to improve understanding of the role of aerosols in the Arctic.

Emanuele Tovazzi: Investigation into the importance of marine aerosol sources for accurate predictions of Arctic climate change.                           

Ellie Duncan: Untangling natural aerosol processes in Polar Regions by implementing novel machine learning techniques.

Postdoctoral research associates/fellows

Paul Bowen: NERC CLOSURE Project

Jamie Knight: NERC CLOSURE Project

Prerita Agarwal: Horizon Europe CleanCloud Project

I am always open to hearing from prospective PhD students and Postdoctoral researchers who are genuinely interested and passionate to work in an interdisciplinary setting within the field of atmospheric science.