Current Research

I am interested in the role of clouds in the climate system, especially low-level clouds that interact with the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The way I study these clouds is mostly by using large-scale models. The problem with this approach is that boundary layer clouds are much smaller than grid cells in this class of model, meaning that clouds have to be represented by simplified schemes (“parameterizations”). Much of my current research seeks to understand the strengths and weaknesses of these cloud schemes. In particular, I use a short-term forecast framework called CAPT (Cloud-Associated Parameterization Testbed) to evaluate the clouds in the Community Atmosphere Model. Another approach I take uses a zonally symmetric, water-covered configuration of climate models called an aquaplanets. This simplified picture of the atmosphere provides an excellent laboratory for understanding the role of tropical clouds in the climate system, and also provides a useful framework for comparing different models.

 

Recent Publications

B. Medeiros, C. Deser, R. A. Tomas, and J. E. Kay: Arctic inversion strength in climate models, submitted to J. Climate.

B. Medeiros, L. Nuijens, C. Antoniazzi, and B. Stevens: Low-latitude boundary layer clouds as seen by CALIPSO, submitted to J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.

B. Medeiros and B. Stevens: Revealing differences in GCM representations of low clouds Climate Dynamics, in press. doi:10.1007/s00382-009-0694-5.

Zhang, Y.Y., B. Stevens, B. Medeiros, and M. Ghil. 2009: Low-Cloud Fraction, Lower-Tropospheric Stability, and Large-Scale Divergence. Journal of Climate, 22, 4827-4844, doi:10.1175/2009JCLI2891.1.

Medeiros, B., B. Stevens, I. M. Held, and M. Zhao, D. L. Williamson, J. G. Olson, and C. S. Bretherton, 2008: Aquaplanets, climate sensitivity, and low clouds. Journal of Climate, 21, 4974-4991 doi:10.1175/2008JCLI1995.1.

Rauber, R. and co-authors, 2007: In the Driver's Seat: RICO and Education. Bull. Amer. Soc. Meteor. doi:10.1175/BAMS-88-12-1929.

Medeiros, B., A. Hall, and B. Stevens, 2005: What controls the mean depth of the PBL? Journal of Climate, 18 (16), p. 2877-2892. doi:10.1175/JCLI3417.1.

Karner, D. B., J. Levine, B.P. Medeiros, and R.A. Muller, 2002: Constructing a stacked benthic d18O record. Paleoceanography, 17(3), p. 2-1 to 2-17. doi:10.1029/2001PA000667.

 

Education

Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, 2007.

M.A. University of California, Los Angeles, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, 2003.

B.A. University of California, Berkeley, Physics, 2000.