Research Interests

My research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms governing global atmosphere-ocean dynamics and their long-term impacts on climate. Mathematical models such as General Ciruclation Models and simple models are my preferred research tools. Currently, my research lies in the areas of large-scale atmosphere-ocean processes conducive to extreme weather events and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.

Research Projects

Toward Developing a Seasonal Outlook for the Occurrence of Major U.S. Tornado Outbreaks (NOAA/CPO)

Variability and Predictability of the Atlantic Warm Pool and Its Impacts on Extreme Events in North America (NOAA/CPO)

The Southern Subtropical Anticyclones (NSF)

Management and conservation of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) and other highly migratory fish In the Gulf of Mexico under IPCC climate change scenarios: a study using regional climate and habitat models (NASA)

What Causes the Tropical Atlantic SST Bias in CCSM3? (NSF)

Research Highlights

Climate Control of U.S. Tornado Outbreaks

20th Century Global Ocean-Sea Ice Simulation

Atlantic Warm Pool and U.S. Landfalling Hurricanes

Marine Ecosystem Modeling

Work In Progress

Liu, H., C. Wang, S.-K. Lee and D. B. Enfield, 2012. Atlantic Warm Pool Variability in the CMIP5 Simulations. Submitted

Menary M. C. Roberts, M. Palmer, L. Jackson, R. Wood, S.-K Lee, D. Matei, W. Mueller, 2012. Mechanisms of forced AMOC variability in a state of the art climate model. Submitted.

Publications

[2012]

DiNezio, P. N., B. P. Kirtman, A. C. Clement, S.-K. Lee, G. A. Vecchi and A. Wittenberg, 2012. Mean Climate Controls on the Simulated Response of ENSO to Increasing Greenhouse Gases. Journal of Climate, In-press.

Larson, S., S.-K. Lee, C. Wang, E.-S. Chung, and D. Enfield, 2012. Impacts of Non-canonical El Nino Patterns on Atlantic Hurricane Activity. Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L14706, doi:10.1029/2012GL052595.

Lee S.-K., R. Atlas, D. B. Enfield, C. Wang and H. Liu, 2012. Is There An Optimal ENSO Pattern That Enhances Large-scale Atmospheric Processes Conducive to Major Tornado Outbreaks in the U.S.? Journal of Climate, In-press.

Liu, H., C. Wang, S.-K. Lee and D. B. Enfield, 2012. Atlantic Warm Pool Variability in the IPCC Twentieth-century Climate Simulations. Journal of Climate, 25, 5612-5628, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00376.1.

Liu Y., S.-K. Lee, B. A. Muhling, J. T. Lamkin and D.B. Enfield, 2012. Significant Reduction of the Loop Current in the 21st Century and Its Impact on the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, C05039, doi:10.1029/2011JC007555

Wang, C., S. Dong, A. T. Evan, G. R. Foltz, and S.-K. Lee, 2012. Multidecadal Co-variability of North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, African Dust, Sahel Rainfall and Atlantic Hurricanes. Journal of Climate, 25, 5404-5415, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00413.1.

Wang, C., L. Zhang, S.-K. Lee, 2012. Response of Freshwater and Sea Surface Salinity to Variability of the Atlantic Warm Pool. Journal of Climate, In-press.

[2011]

Lee S.-K., W. Park, E. van Sebille, M. O. Baringer, C. Wang, D. B. Enfield, S. Yeager, and B. P. Kirtman, 2011. What Caused the Significant Increase in Atlantic Ocean Heat Content Since the mid-20th Century? Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL048856. [highlighted in Oct. 6, 2011 issue of Nature as Community Choice]

Lee, S.-K., D. B. Enfield and C. Wang, 2011. Future Impact of Differential Inter-Basin Ocean Warming on Atlantic Hurricanes. Journal of Climate, 24, 1264-1275.

Muhling, B. A., S.-K. Lee, J. T. Lamkin and Y. Liu, 2011. Predicting the Effects of Climate Change on Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Spawning habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. ICES Journal of Marine Science, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsr008.

Wang, C., H. Liu, S.-K. Lee and R. Atlas, 2011. Impact of the Atlantic Warm Pool on United States Landfalling Hurricanes. Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049265. [highlighted in Oct. 21, 2011 issue of Sciecne as Editor's Choice]

[2010]

Lee, S.-K., C. Wang and D. B. Enfield, 2010. On the Impact of Central Pacific Warming events on Atlantic Tropical Storm Activity. Geophysical Research Letters, 37, L17702, doi:10.1029/2010GL044459.

Lee, S.-K. and C. Wang, 2010. Delayed Advective Oscillation of the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation. Journal of Climate, 23, 1254-1261.

Wang C. and S.-K. Lee, 2010. Is Hurricane Activity in One Basin Tied to Another? EOS, 91, 93-94, doi:10.1029/2009ES002729.

Wang, C., S.-K. Lee and C. R. Mechoso, 2010. Inter-Hemispheric Influence of the Atlantic Warm Pool on the Southeastern Pacific. Journal of Climate, 23, 404-418.

Wang, C., H. Liu and S.-K. Lee, 2010. The Record-Breaking Cold Temperatures During the Winter of 2009/10 in the Northern Hemisphere. Atmospheric Science Letters, doi:10.1002/asl.278.

[2009]

DiNezio, P. N., A. C. Clement, G. A. Vecchi, B. J. Soden, B. P. Kirtman and S.-K. Lee, 2009. Climate Response of the Equatorial Pacific to Global Warming. Journal of Climate, 22, 4873-4892.

Lee, S.-K., C. Wang and B. E. Mapes, 2009. A Simple Atmospheric Model of the Local and Teleconnection Responses to Tropical Heating Anomalies. Journal of Climate, 22, 272-284.

Wang C. and S.-K. Lee, 2009. Co-variability of Tropical Cyclones in the North Atlantic and the Eastern North Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L24702, doi:10.1029/2009GL041469.

Wang, C. and S.-K. Lee, 2009. Reply to comment by Joseph J. Barsugli on "Global warming and United States landfalling hurricanes". Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L01706, doi:10.1029/2008GL035111.

[2008]

Lee, S.-K., D. B. Enfield and C. Wang, 2008. Why Do Some El Ninos Have No Impact on Tropical North Atlantic SST? Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L16705, doi:10.1029/2008GL034734.

Lee, S.-K. and C. Wang, 2008. Tropical Atlantic Decadal Oscillation and Its Impact on the Equatorial Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics: A Simple Model Study. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 38, No. 1, 193-212.

Wang, C. and S.-K. Lee, 2008. Global Warming and United States Landfalling Hurricanes. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 35, No. L02708, doi:10.1029/2007GL032396.

Wang, C., S.-K. Lee and D. B. Enfield, 2008. Atlantic Warm Pool Acting as a Link between Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Activity. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q05V03, doi:10.1029/2007GC001809. (In the special issue of "Interactions between climate and tropical cyclones on all timescales")

Wang, C., S.-K. Lee and D. B. Enfield, 2008. Climate Response to Anomalously Large and Small Atlantic Warm Pools During the Summer. Journal of Climate, 21, 2437-2450.

[2007]

Lee, S.-K., D. B. Enfield and C. Wang, 2007. What Drives Seasonal Onset and Decay of the Western Hemisphere Warm Pool? Journal of Climate, Vol. 20, No. 10, 2133-2146.

Wang, C. and S.-K. Lee, 2007. Atlantic Warm Pool, Caribbean Low-Level Jet, and Their Potential Impact on Atlantic Hurricanes. Geophysical Research Letter, Vol. 34, No. L02703, doi:10.1029/2006GL028579.

Wang, C., S.-K. Lee and D. B. Enfield, 2007. Impact of the Atlantic Warm Pool on the Summer Climate of the Western Hemisphere. Journal of Climate, Vol. 20, No. 20, 5021-5040.

[2006]

Enfield, D. B., S.-K. Lee and C. Wang, 2006. How Are Large Western Hemisphere Warm Pools Formed?. Progress in Oceanography, Vol. 70, No. 2-4, 346-365.

Pelegri, J. L., J. H. Churchill, A. D. Kirwan, Jr., S.-K. Lee, R. E. Munn and N. R. Pettigrew, 2006. Gabriel T. Csanady: Understanding the Physics of the Ocean. Progress in Oceanography, Vol. 70, No. 2-4, 91-112.

Wang, C., D. B. Enfield, S.-K. Lee and C. W. Landsea, 2006. Influences of Atlantic Warm Pool on Western Hemisphere Summer Rainfall and Atlantic Hurricanes. Journal of Climate, Vol. 19, No. 12, 3011-3028.

[2005]

Enfield, D. B. and S.-K. Lee, 2005. The Heat Balance of the Western Hemisphere Warm Pool. Journal of Climate, Vol. 18, No. 14, 2662-2681.

Lee, S.-K., D. B. Enfield and C. Wang, 2005. Ocean General Circulation Model Sensitivity Experiments on the Annual Cycle of Western Hemisphere Warm Pool. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 110, No. C09004, doi:10.1029/2004JC002640.

[2004]

Thacker, C. W., S.-K. Lee and G. R. Halliwell Jr., 2004. Assimilating 20 years of Atlantic XBT Data into HYCOM: A First Look. Ocean modeling, Vol. 7, No. 2, 183-210.

[2001]

Lee, S.-K., J. L. Pelegri and J. Kroll, 2001. Slope Control in Western Boundary Currents. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 31, No. 11, 3,349-3,360.

Lee, S.-K., 2001. On the Structure of Supercritical Western Boundary Currents. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, Vol. 33, 303-319.

[1999]

Lee, S.-K. and G. T. Csanady, 1999. Warm Water Formation and Escape in the Upper Tropical Atlantic Ocean: Part I. A Literature Review. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 104, No. c12, 29,561-29,571.

Lee, S.-K. and G. T. Csanady, 1999. Warm Water Formation and Escape in the Upper Tropical Atlantic Ocean: Part II. A Numerical Model Study. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 104, No. c12, 29573-29590.

Lee, S.-K., 1999. Self-excited Variability of the East Korean Warm Current: A Quasi-Geostrophic Model Study. Journal of Korean Society of Oceanography , Vol. 34, No. 1, 1-21.

[1994]

Lee, S.-K. and G. T. Csanady, 1994. Instability Waves in the Gulf Stream Front and its Thermocline Layer. Journal of Marine Research, Vol. 52, 837-863.

Recent Photos

This photo was taken by Ms. Kay Chung on December 4 2010 in my office.

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