Windstorms and atmosphere-ocean coupling around Greenland in a changing climate (RENFREWI_U26ENVTS)
Key details
- Application deadline
- 22 July 2026 (midnight UK time)
- Start date
- 1 October 2026
- Location
- UEA
- Mode of study
- Full-time
- Funding type
- Competition funded project (Home students only)
- Programme type
- PhD
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Project description
Dr Tristan Sjoeberg Postgraduate Scholarship
Primary supervisor - Dr Ian Renfrew(opens in a new window)
Scientific background
Arctic climate change and the associated sea-ice retreat are having significant impacts on both the atmosphere, the ocean and their interactions. Atmosphere-ocean surface heat exchange is highest during cold-air outbreaks and high surface wind speeds and thus often associated with mesoscale weather systems such as barrier winds, polar lows, and tip jets, embedded within cold-air masses. As sea-ice retreats, the location of the highest heat fluxes also retreats, which is now contributing to changes in the atmospheric forcing of the Greenland and Iceland Seas and along the major ocean currents of the Nordics Seas, with ramifications for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The challenge for this project is to determine likely future changes in these mesoscale weather systems and assess their impact on the coupled climate system.
Research methodology
The aim of the project is to quantify the impact of high windspeed events on atmosphere-ocean interactions with particular focus on long-term changes in their impact, given sea-ice retreat and changes in the ocean circulation. Specifically:
• Investigate the structure and characteristics of barrier winds off East Greenland using new wintertime observations from a research cruise.
• Carry out numerical weather prediction simulations of barrier wind case studies with the observed sea-ice distribution and with synthesised future sea-ice distributions; examine the impacts on barrier wind structure and associated surface turbulent fluxes.
• Examine the frequency, characteristics and ocean mixed-layer impacts of barrier winds and tip jets in current and future climates via time-slice comparisons from state-of-the-art climate model simulations.
Training
You will use observations from a series of Norwegian-led research cruises of the western Iceland and Greenland Seas. You may have the opportunity to take part in a future cruise. You will have training in using a state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction model – the Met Office Unified Model – and in the use and analyses of the latest climate model output.
Person Specification
A degree in a quantitative science. An interest in data analysis and numerical modelling of weather systems and the climate system is essential, while some experience in coding is desirable.
Shortlisting and interviews will take place shortly after the application deadline, with outcomes communicated to successful candidates by 14 August 2026. Applicants who have not heard by this date should assume that their application has not been taken forward on this occasion.
Entry requirements
The minimum entry requirement is 2:1 in meteorology, oceanography, mathematics, physics, geography or similar.
Funding
This project is in a competition for a funded studentship and is open to Home applicants only. Funding covers tuition fees, an annual tax-free stipend (£21,805 in 2026/27) and an annual research and training allowance of £4,000.
References
i) Renfrew, I.A., R. S. Pickart, et al. 2019: The Iceland Greenland Seas Project, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1795–1817. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0217.1
ii) Harden, B. E., Renfrew, I. A., & Petersen, G. N. (2011). A climatology of wintertime barrier winds off southeast Greenland. Journal of Climate, 24(17), 4701-4717
iii) Moore, G. W. K., Våge, K., Pickart, R. S., & Renfrew, I. A. (2015). Decreasing intensity of open-ocean convection in the Greenland and Iceland seas. Nature Climate Change, 5(9), 877-882.
iv) Moore, G. W. K., Våge, K., Renfrew, I. A., & Pickart, R. S. (2022). Sea-ice retreat suggests re-organization of water mass transformation in the Nordic and Barents Seas. Nature Communications, 13(1), 67.
v) Barrell, C., I. A. Renfrew, J. C. King, S. Abel, and A. D. Elvidge 2023: Projected changes to wintertime air-sea turbulent heat fluxes over the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean, Earth’s Future,11, e2022EF003337. doi:10.1029/2022EF003337