I will give an overview on my research activities at the Bureau of Meteorology with more details on variability and trends of the Hadley Circulation and flash droughts.

Expansion of the Hadley Circulation was first mentioned in the literature in the 1990s and has since gained paramount interest and publications. To date, the consensus is that the Hadley Circulation is expanding and is so at a faster rate in the Southern Hemisphere. However, there is still no agreement on the amount of expansion nor on its intensity. The uncertainly is primarily dependant on the choice of metrics and datasets used to measure the strength and width of the Hadley Circulation. More recent research has been focusing on the regional aspects of changes in the Hadley Circulation, with the Indo-Pacific sector being the main contributor. Understanding the regional impacts of Hadley Circulation expansion is crucial to relate global and local climate changes.

My current topic of research is on a type of agricultural drought that is distinctive by its rapid intensification, defined as flash drought. This research is part of a broader program NACP. NACP (Northern Australian Climate Program) is a collaboration between the Queensland Government (under their Drought and Climate Adaptation Program) and the Meat and Livestock Australia Donor Company to fund the University of Southern Queensland and program partners for a range of research, development and extension projects to improve the capacity of the red meat industry and to manage drought and climate risk across northern Australia.

Flash drought is a relatively new concept first coined by in the US following the 2012 drought event where large precipitation deficits combined with record-high temperatures and abundant sunshine led to very rapid drought development across the central United States. It is only in 2018, that Australia used this term to qualify a drought event in south Queensland, that developed so fast that local cattle producers reported they were caught by surprise and did not have time to deploy any of the traditional drought coping mechanisms.

Date : Mardi 3 janvier à 11h
Lieu : A l’ENS, en salle Froidevaux-E314 – 24 rue Lhomond