2018 PhD, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Thesis: “Contributions to Estimating Top-Of-Atmosphere Radiative Fluxes using EarthCARE’s BroadBand Radiometer” (Magna cum laude), Advisor: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Fischer
2014. M. Sc., Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Thesis: “Analysis of radiance co-registration methods for the multi-angular BBR in the framework of the EarthCARE mission”, Advisor: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Fischer
Florian Tornow
(Post Doc)
| Email: | florian.tornow@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 212.678.5631 |
| Org Code: | 611 |
| Address: |
NASA/GISS Mail Code 611 New York, NY 10025 |
| Employer: | TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY |
Research Interests
Clouds and Satellite-based Estimates of their Albedo
Earth Science: Solar RadiationClouds reflect large portions of incoming sunlight back to space. To quantify this portion (termed cloud albedo) satellite-borne radiometry of Earth’s atmosphere is essential. Since clouds reflect sunlight unevenly into different space-facing directions and a satellite is only able to capture one of these directions at a time, assumptions are necessary of much reflected radiation went into all unobserved directions. So called angular distribution models rely on past satellite observations to statistically capture reflection patterns for different cloud properties and states of Earth’s surface. In my recent work (Tornow et al., 2020) I developed a novel semi-statistical angular distribution model that incorporates additional cloud microphysical and atmospheric properties and that may improve determining clouds’ albedo from satellite (Tornow et al., 2021a).
Cloud Microphysical Processes
Earth Science: Aerosols & CloudsThe life of clouds is in large parts determined at the smallest scales. In my current work, I’m using large-eddy simulations to investigate how clouds, which form during marine cold air outbreaks, evolve as they interact with aerosols from within the boundary layer as well as the free troposphere that contributes through entrainment. In our latest work, we assess the role of frozen hydrometeors to accelerate the cloud transition from overcast to broken state (Tornow et al., 2021b).
Positions/Employment
Associate Research Scientist
Columbia University - New York
June 2022 - Present
Post-doctoral research scientist
Columbia University, Columbia University Center for Climate System Research and NASA GISS - New York, NY
December 2019 - June 2022
Research Assistant
Institute for Space Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin - Berlin, Germany
September 2014 - November 2019
Intern
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium - Brussels, Belgium
May 2014 - August 2014
Student Assistant
Institute for Space Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin - Berlin, Germany
February 2012 - February 2014
Education
Publications
Refereed
2026. "Seeking TOA SW flux closure over semi-synthetic 3D cloud fields: exploring the accuracy of two angular distribution models.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 19 (3): 935-947 [10.5194/amt-19-935-2026] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "High Accumulation Mode Aerosol Concentration and Moderate Aerosol Hygroscopicity Limit Impacts of Recent Particle Formation on Northwest Atlantic Post‐Frontal Clouds.", Geophysical Research Letters, 52 (18): e2025GL116020 [10.1029/2025gl116020] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "The NASA ACTIVATE Mission.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 106 (8): E1517-E1538 [10.1175/bams-d-24-0136.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Measurement report: A survey of meteorological and cloud properties during ACTIVATE’s postfrontal flights and their suitability for Lagrangian case studies.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25 (9): 5053-5074 [10.5194/acp-25-5053-2025] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Effect of Ice Number Concentration on the Evolution of Boundary Layer Clouds During Arctic Marine Cold‐Air Outbreaks.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130 (3): [10.1029/2024jd041282] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Can general circulation models (GCMs) represent cloud liquid water path adjustments to aerosol–cloud interactions?.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24 (23): 13633-13652 [10.5194/acp-24-13633-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Aerosol size distribution properties associated with cold-air outbreaks in the Norwegian Arctic.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24 (20): 11791-11805 [10.5194/acp-24-11791-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Microphysical Evolution in Mixed-Phase Midlatitude Marine Cold-Air Outbreaks.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 81 (10): 1725-1747 [10.1175/jas-d-23-0203.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "General circulation models simulate negative liquid water path–droplet number correlations, but anthropogenic aerosols still increase simulated liquid water path.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24 (12): 7331-7345 [10.5194/acp-24-7331-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "On the impact of a dry intrusion driving cloud-regime transitions in a midlatitude cold-air outbreak.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, [10.1175/jas-d-23-0040.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Wintertime synoptic patterns of midlatitude boundary layer clouds over the western North Atlantic: Climatology and insights from in‐situ ACTIVATE observations.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, [10.1029/2022jd037725] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Large-Eddy Simulations of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds Associated with Cold-Air Outbreaks during the ACTIVATE Campaign. Part II: Aerosol–Meteorology–Cloud Interaction.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 80 (4): 1025-1045 [10.1175/jas-d-21-0324.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Dilution of Boundary Layer Cloud Condensation Nucleus Concentrations by Free Tropospheric Entrainment During Marine Cold Air Outbreaks.", Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (11): [10.1029/2022gl098444] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "On Assessing ERA5 and MERRA2 Representations of Cold‐Air Outbreaks Across the Gulf Stream.", Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (19): [10.1029/2021gl094364] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Preconditioning of overcast-to-broken cloud transitions by riming in marine cold air outbreaks.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 21 (15): 12049-12067 [10.5194/acp-21-12049-2021] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Shortwave Radiance to Irradiance Conversion for Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Observations: A Review.", Remote Sensing, 13 (13): 2640 [10.3390/rs13132640] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Changes in TOA SW Fluxes over Marine Clouds When Estimated via Semi-Physical Angular Distribution Models.", Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 38 (3): 669–684 [10.1175/jtech-d-20-0107.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Using two-stream theory to capture fluctuations of satellite-perceived TOA SW radiances reflected from clouds over ocean.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 13 (7): 3909-3922 [10.5194/amt-13-3909-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "On the Use of Geophysical Parameters for the Top-of-Atmosphere Shortwave Clear-Sky Radiance-to-Flux Conversion in EarthCARE.", Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 36 (4): 717-732 [10.1175/jtech-d-18-0087.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "EarthCARE’s Broadband Radiometer: Uncertainties Associated with Cloudy Atmospheres.", Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 35 (11): 2201-2211 [10.1175/jtech-d-18-0083.1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Top-of-Atmosphere Shortwave Anisotropy over Liquid Clouds: Sensitivity to Clouds’ Microphysical Structure and Cloud-Topped Moisture.", Atmosphere, 9 (7): 256 [10.3390/atmos9070256] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "An improved method to estimate reference cloud-free images for the visible band of geostationary satellites.", International Journal of Remote Sensing, 38 (23): 7220-7241 [10.1080/01431161.2017.1372859] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "On the use of simulated photon paths to co‐register top‐of‐atmosphere radiances in EarthCARE radiative closure experiments.", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 141 (693): 3239-3251 [10.1002/qj.2606] [Journal Article/Letter]