Frank Bryan

Introduction

Dr. Bryan is a Scientist in, and Head of, the Oceanography Section of the Climate and Global Dynamics Division. His research focuses on the role of the ocean in the climate system. Two major themes within that focus have been the thermohaline circulation and its response to climate change, and the role of mesoscale eddies in the ocean general circulation. Numerical models have been the primary tool used in his research.

He has been a major contributor to the development of the ocean component of the Community Climate System Model from its inception to the present, and was the architect of the original hub-and-spoke design of the flux coupler. He has applied his expertise in ocean modeling in observing system design studies for the TOPEX, GRACE, and AQUARIUS satellite missions. He has been a member of both US and international working groups and panels for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, the Climate Variability and Predictability Program, the Community Climate System Modeling project, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ocean Topography, and Salinity Science Teams. He co-chaired the NSF ad hoc Committee for a Petascale Earth System Collaboratory. He is currently an editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research.

  • Member, American Geophysical Society
  • Member, American Meteorological Society
  • Member, The Oceanography Society

Publications

  • McClean, J.L., D.C. Bader, F.O. Bryan, M.E. Maltrud, J.M. Dennis, A.A. Mirin, P.W. Jones, Y.Y. Kim, D.P. Ivanova, M, Vertenstein, J.S. Boyle, R.L. Jacobs, N. Norton, A. Craig, and P.H. Worley, 2011: A prototype two-decade fully-coupled fine resolution CCSM simulation. Ocean Modelling, doi:10.1016/jocemod.2011.02.011.
  • Bryan, F.O., R. Tomas, J.M. Dennis, D.B. Chelton, N.G. Loeb, and J.L. McClean: 2010: Frontalscale air-sea interaction in high-resolution coupled climate models. J. Climate, 23, 6277-6291.
  • Maltrud, M.E., F.O. Bryan and S. Peacock, 2010: Boundary impulse response functions in a century-long global eddying ocean simulation. Environ. Fluid Mech. 10, 275-295.
  • Bryan, F.O., N. Nakashiki, Y. Yoshida, and K. Maruyama, 2007: Response of the thermohaline circulation during different pathways toward greenhouse gas stabilization. In: Ocean Circulation: Mechanisms and Impacts, Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 173, A. Schmittner, J. Chiang and S. Hemming (Eds). AGU, Washington, D.C. 351-363.
  • Bryan, F.O., M.W. Hecht and R.D. Smith, 2007: Resolution convergence and sensitivity studies with North Atlantic circulation models. Part I: The western boundary current system. Ocean Modelling, 16(3-4), 141-159.
  • Weese, S.R. and F.O. Bryan, 2006: Climate impacts of systematic errors in the simulation of the path of the North Atlantic Current. Geophs. Res. Lett. 33, L19708, doi:10.1029/2006GL027669.
  • Bryan, F.O., G. Danabasoglu, P.R. Gent, K. Lindsay, 2006: Changes in ocean ventilation during the 21st century in CCSM3. Ocean Modelling, 15, 141-156.
  • Bryan, F.O., G. Danabasoglu, N. Nakshiki, Y. Yoshida, D.-H. Kim, J. Tsutsui, and S.C. Doney, 2006: Response of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and ventilation to increasing CO2 in CCSM3. J. Climate, 19, 2382-2397.