Zhiming Kuang Assistant Professor Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences  and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences  Harvard University

20 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel:  617 495 2354 Fax:  617 495 7660 lastname at fas.harvard.edu

Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 2003.
B.S. Peking University, 1996.

CV(updated 05/27/05)

EPS 208: Physics of Climate (graduate)

Applied math 111: Introduction to scientific computing (undergraduate)

Fall 2006, Topics in Tropical Dynamics (graduate)

The main goal of my current research is to better understand and simulate how tropical convection interacts with the large-scale flow. This interaction is key to the tropical circulation, particularly the rainfall distribution and its variability. These are important issues to society. Variations in the Asian monsoon rain, for example, can bring droughts or floods and affect the lives of billions of people. Despite its well appreciated importance, our understanding of how tropical convection interacts with the large-scale flow remains poor, so is our ability to simulate this interaction. In our research, we use novel high resolution numerical model experiments, together with observational data analysis, to guide development of theoretical models. We are keen in applying our results to improve predictions, for example, those of the Asian monsoon and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Besides the meteorological implications of tropical convection, I'm also interested in its role in global chemistry.

• Harvard Climate Group
• MIT-Harvard Climate Courses

• Nie J., W. R. Boos, Z. Kuang, Observational Evaluation of a Convective Quasi-Equilibrium View of Monsoons, J. Climate, submitted

• Romps, D. M., Z. Kuang, Nature versus nurture in shallow convection, J. Atmos. Sci., submitted

• Boos, W. R., Z. Kuang, Comparative effects of plateau heating and orographic insulation on South Asian monsoon strength, Nature, revised

• Kuang, Z., Linear response functions of a cumulus ensemble to temperature and moisture perturbations and implication to the dynamics of convectively coupled waves, J. Atmos. Sci., in press, (pdf)

• Romps, D. M., Z. Kuang, Do undiluted convective plumes exist in the upper tropical troposphere? J. Atmos. Sci., in press (pdf)

• Romps, D. M., Z. Kuang, Overshooting convection in tropical cyclones, Geophys. Res. Letts., 36, L09804, doi:10.1029/2009GL037396. (2009). (pdf) 

• Waliser, D. E., J. F. Li, C. P. Woods, R. T. Austin, J. Bacmeister, J. Chern, A. Del Genio, J. H. Jiang, Z. Kuang, H. Meng, P. Minnis, S. Platnick, W. B. Rossow, G. L. Stephens, S. Sun-Mack, W. Tao, A. M. Tompkins, D. G. Vane, C. Walker, and D. Wu (2009), Cloud ice: A climate model challenge with signs and expectations of progress, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D00A21, doi:10.1029/2008JD010015 (2009) (pdf) :

• Andersen, J. A., Z. Kuang, A toy model of the instability in the equatorially trapped convectively coupled waves on the equatorial beta plane, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 65, 3736-3757, (2008) (pdf) 

• Peters, M. E., Z. Kuang, C. Walker, Analysis of atmospheric energy transport in ERA40 and implications for simple models of the mean tropical circulation, Journal of Climate, 21, 5229-5241, (2008). (pdf) 

• Kuang, Z., A moisture-stratiform instability for convectively coupled waves, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 65, 834-854, (2008). (pdf)(Corrigendum) 

• Kuang, Z., Modeling the interaction between cumulus convection and linear waves using a limited domain cloud system resolving model, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 65, 576-591, (2008). (Abstract) (pdf) 

• Kuang, Z., and D. L. Hartmann, Testing the FAT hypothesis in a cloud-resolving model, Journal of Climate, 20, 2051-2057, (2007). (Abstract)(pdf) 

• Kuang, Z., and C. S. Bretherton, A mass flux scheme view of a high-resolution simulation of a transition from shallow to deep cumulus convection, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 63, 1895-1909 (2006). (Abstract)(pdf) 

• Kuang, Z., P. N. Blossey, C. S. Bretherton, A new approach for 3D cloud resolving simulations of large scale atmospheric circulation, Geophys. Res. Letts., Vol. 32, No. 2, L02809, 10.1029/2004GL021024, (2005). (Abstract)(pdf) 

• Kuang, Z. and C. S. Bretherton, Convective influence on the heat balance of the tropical tropopause layer: A cloud-resolving model study, J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 2919-2927, (2004). (Abstract)(pdf)

• Kuang, Z., The norm dependence of singular vectors, J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 2943-2949, (2004). (Abstract)(pdf) (Note a press error: in the line after Eq. A2 and in the last part of Eq. A3, L should read Lw)

• Crisp, D. and co-authors (including me), The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) mission, Advances in Space Research, 34, 700-709, (2004). (pdf)

• Notholt, J., Z. Kuang, C. P. Rinsland, G. C. Toon, M. Rex, N. Jones, T. Albrecht, H. Deckelmann, J. Krieg, C. Weinzierl, H. Bingemer, R. Weller, and O. Schrems, Enhanced Upper Tropical Tropospheric COS: Impact on the Stratospheric Aerosol Layer, Science, 300, 307-310, (2003). (Abstract and fulltext)

• Kuang, Z., G. C. Toon, P. O. Wennberg, Y. L. Yung, Measured HDO/H2O ratios across the tropical tropopause, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, No. 7, 10.1029/2003GL017023, (2003). (Abstract)(pdf)

• Kuang, Z., J. S. Margolis, G. C. Toon, D. Crisp, Yuk. L. Yung, Spaceborne measurements of atmospheric CO2 by high-resolution NIR spectrometry of reflected sunlight: an introductory study, Geophys. Res. Lett.,29, 1716-1720, (2002). (Abstract)(pdf)

• Kuang, Z. and Y. L. Yung, Reflectivity variations off the Peru Coast: evidence for indirect effect of anthropogenic sulfate aerosols on clouds, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 2501-2504, (2000).

• Kuang, Z. and Y. L. Yung, Observed albedo decrease related to the spring snow retreat, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 1299-1302, (2000).

• Kuang, Z., Y. Jiang, Y. L. Yung, Cloud optical thickness variations during 1983-1991: Solar cycle or ENSO? Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1415-1417, (1998).