AS
Atmospheric Sciences

Thomas Webb

Thomas Webb is a tropical meteorologist who uses a mixture of computer models, GPS data, satellite information and other experimental techniques. His current research is focussed on volcanic plumes at Piton de la Fournaise, Réunion and he has previously studied convection at Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat. His interests are broad and include meteorological model parameterisation, volcanic processes and interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Thomas supports open-source numerical models for atmospheric research and tweets at @ThomasLWebb

Science Communication – Brexit, Climate Change and the Bluedot Festival

August 26, 2016
Science Communication – Brexit, Climate Change and the Bluedot Festival
Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope at the Bluedot Festival, Cheshire, UK. Image credit (http://www.discoverthebluedot.com/)

Earlier this summer journalists, broadcasters, writers and scientists gathered in Manchester, UK for the Third European Conference of Science Journalists (ECSJ) arranged by two prestigious organisations. Firstly, the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) who provides support to those who write about science and technology in the UK through debates, events and awards. Secondly the European ...[Read More]

How does weather affect volcanoes?

February 23, 2016
How does weather affect volcanoes?
Clouds, volcanic plume and fog around Mount Bromo, Indonesia. (Image credit: Sudiono Muji)

I was taking a plane trip home recently. To kill the time I got talking with the person sitting next to me and naturally one of their first questions was to ask me what I did for a living. To avoid a complicated discussion about the nuances of my research I summarised – ‘I am a volcanic meteorologist’. They were interested and wanted to know all about how volcanoes affect the weather, ...[Read More]

Atmospheric Modelling with Meso-NH

October 12, 2015
Atmospheric Modelling with Meso-NH
Ecole Nationale de Météorologie, Météo-France, Toulouse - site of Meso-NH tutorial. (Image credit: http://www.toulouse-tourisme.com)

Twice a year in Toulouse Meteo-France runs a tutorial on Meso-NH – the non-hydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model of the French research community. Last week I was fortunate enough to attend their autumn 2015 tutorial. But, what is this model and was the tutorial useful? Atmospheric models solve the governing equations for atmospheric motions. This allows us, for example, to forecast future ...[Read More]

What is the biggest air pollution event in the modern era?

June 24, 2015
What is the biggest air pollution event in the modern era?
Centre of the Laki fissure, Iceland today. Credit: Daniele Trippanera (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

It’s hard to think of the scale of the biggest air pollution event in the modern era. Immediately my mind conjures up memories of black and white photographs of the Great London Smog of 1952. Then I start thinking bigger, how about the 1.2 billion vehicles world-wide on the road churning out nitrogen dioxide every single day? Well these are a drop in the ocean compared with bigger industrial pollu ...[Read More]