![Amato T. Evan
Assistant Researcher
Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS)
University of Wisconsin at Madison
608.263.3951
amato.evan@ssec.wisc.edu
Curriculum Vitae [PDF]](Amato_T_Evan_files/shapeimage_2.png)
News
September 4th, 2008: Looks like this summer (so far) ended up having below average dust storm activity (image of average May through August tropical North Atlantic dust optical depth). My prediction of near -to slightly above- average dust storm activity was wrong for all months except August (which was normal). Furthermore, my current analysis shows a positive SST anomaly due to dust. I am currently working on an update to my prediction and hope to improve the methodology and error analysis. Finally, here’s a recent article in Popular Mechanics about dust and TCs.
June 25th, 2008: There has been an incredibly persistent amount of Atlantic African dust cover this June. There have been several major outbreaks. Some notable storms are June 15 & June 21 (from MODIS Rapid Response). Undoubtedly all this dust will have an impact on ocean temperature this summer, which is already looking cooler than average (from RSS).
May 23rd, 2008: There has been some press coverage of my recent summertime dust forecast products, including New Scientist, Florida Public Radio [audio], and Reuters.
May 21st, 2008: I am experimenting with a forecast for dust optical depth over the Atlantic main [hurricane] development region, and a estimation of how much that dust activity will cool ocean temperatures there during the 2008 hurricane season [go to the forecast page].
February 22nd, 2008: I am a moderator of a new mailing list for the Aerosols, Clouds, Precipitation and Climate Initiative (ACPC), part of the iLEAPS. Consider joining and participating if you are interested in aerosols and how they interact with clouds, precipitation, and climate.
Peer-Review Publications
Bennartz, R., R. Preusker, C. O’dell & A. T. Evan (2007) Observational constraints on the first indirect aerosol effect. Science, to be submitted.
Evan, A. T., D. J. Vimont, R. Bennartz, J. P. Kossin & A. K. Heidinger (2008) The dominant role of aerosols in the evolution of tropical Atlantic Ocean temperature, Nature Geosciences, in revision.
Evan, A. T., A. K. Heidinger, and Y. Liu (2008) Cloudiness, State of the Climate in 2007, Horvitz, A., ed., Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 89 (7), pp. S23-S26.
Evan, A. T. (2008) Aerosols, State of the Climate in 2007, Horvitz, A., ed., Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 89 (7), pp. S31-S32.
Evan, A. T., R. Bennartz, V. Bennington, H. Corrada-Bravo, A. K. Heidinger, N. M. Mahowald, C. S. Velden, G. Myhre & J. P. Kossin (2007) Ocean temperature forcing by aerosols across the Atlantic tropical cyclone development region. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q05V04, doi:10.1029/2007GC001790, in press. [PDF]
Ramankutty, N., A. T. Evan, C. Monfreda, and J. A. Foley (2008), Farming the planet: 1. Geographic distribution of global agricultural lands in the year 2000, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 22, GB1003, doi:10.1029/2007GB002952. [PDF]
Evan, A. T., N. Mahowald & L. Remer (2007) Aerosols, State of the Climate in 2006, Horvitz, A., ed., Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 88 (6), pp. S23-S25. [PDF] -- or read the entire report here.
Heidinger, A. K., A. T. Evan & B. Baum (2007) Cloudiness, State of the Climate in 2006, Horivtz, A., ed., Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 88 (6), pp. S17-S18. [PDF] -- or read the entire report here.
Evan, A. T. (2007) Comment on “How Nature Foiled the 2006 Hurricane Forecasts.” EOS Trans., 88(26), pp. 271. [PDF] The original, longer document [PDF]
Evan, A. T., A. K. Heidinger & D. J. Vimont (2007) Arguments against a physical long-term trend in global ISCCP cloud amounts. Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L04701, doi:10.1029/2006GL028083. [PDF]
Evan, A. T., J. Dunion, J. Foley, A. Heidinger & C. Velden (2006) New evidence for a relationship between Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and African dust outbreaks. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L19813, doi:10.1029/2006GL026408. [PDF]
Evan, A. T., A. K. Heidinger, and M. J. Pavolonis (2006), Development of a new over–water advanced very high resolution radiometer dust detection algorithm, Int. J. Remote Sens, 27(18), pp. 3903-3924. [PDF]
Evan, A. T., A. K. Heidinger, and P. Knippertz (2006), Analysis of winter dust activity off the coast of West Africa using a new 24-year over-water advanced very high resolution radiometer satellite dust climatology, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D12210, doi:10.1029/2005JD006336. [PDF]
Selected Science Communication
Our recent G-Cubed paper on how African dust outbreaks affect seasonal hurricane activity through ocean temperature modulation was picked up by UPI, and covered in Science Daily, among other outlets.
Nature featured the Evan et al., 2007 GRL article in the Research Highlights [PDF] section of the March 1st edition (446 pp. 4–5). News @ Nature.com published a longer story online --A cloudy view of cloudiness.
Our 2006 GRL paper on the connections between African dust storms and North Atlantic hurricanes received excellent press cover! Here is a link to the story from USA Today --Study suggests African dust storms may reduce hurricane frequency-- or you can listen to an interview on Voice of America Radio --Researchers Say West African Dust Storms May Limit Atlantic Hurricanes.
At SAGE, my work with the land-use research group on mapping the global patterns of agriculture was covered by many news outlets. Read the story written by National Geographic News --Farming Claims Almost Half Earth's Land, New Maps Show.
The JGR study on the interannual variability of West African dust storms was covered in CO2 Science --Winter Dust Activity off the Coast of West Africa
