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Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Gregory S Elsaesser

(RESEARCH SCIENTIST)

Gregory S Elsaesser's Contact Card & Information.
Email: gregory.s.elsaesser@nasa.gov
Phone: 212.678.5596
Org Code: 611
Address:
NASA/GISS
Mail Code 611
New York, NY 10025
Employer: TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Brief Bio


Gregory Elsaesser's research focuses on the use of observations from multiple satellites (Aqua AIRS, GPM, TRMM) and NASA/DOE field campaigns to improve our understanding of convection and the environment in which it is developing. Knowledge gained is used to improve GISS-ModelE Earth system model (ESM) parameterizations. He maintains a close connection with the satellite observational product development community, currently serving as the NASA Co-Chair for Obs4MIPs, and maintaining the widely-used Multisensor Advanced Climatology of Liquid Water Path (MAC-LWP) record for improved cloud LWP observations in stratocumulus regimes and constraints on total LWP observations in deep convective regions.


Regarding GISS ESM development, Dr. Elsaesser recently advanced representation of convective ice and liquid and detrainment of condensate into stratiform clouds, leading to improvement in global cloud condensate simulation in the GISS Model E3 ESM. He also leads the effort at GISS to use machine learning to automate tuning of the ModelE ESM atmosphere (beginning with Model E3).

Education


(2011) Ph.D. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

Dissertation: "Tropical rainfall regimes and their evolution on hourly to daily timescales"; Advisor: C. Kummerow


(2006) M. S. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

Thesis: "A parametric optimal estimation retrieval of the non-precipitating parameters over the global oceans"; Advisor: C. Kummerow


(2002) B. S. Atmospheric Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Professional Societies


American Meteorological Society

2003 - Present


American Geophysical Union

2010 - Present

Professional Service


(2023-present) Organizing Committee Member, Analysis of PPEs in Atmospheric Research (APPEAR) Virtual Seminar Series, International Participation (https://sites.google.com/view/appearseminarseries/)


(2020-present) Co-Chair and Steering Committee Member, obs4MIPs (https://pcmdi.github.io/obs4MIPs/)


Service as a Manuscript Reviewer for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP), Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT), Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Climate Dynamics, Geophysical Research Letters, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, Journal of Climate, Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, Journal of Hydrometeorology, Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, Monthly Weather Review, Nature Communications, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, and Weather and Forecasting. 


Service as a Proposal Reviewer for DOE, NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Center Poland (NCN)

Awards


(2018) NASA-GISS Best Institute Publication Award of 2017 for  "An Improved Convective Ice Parameterization for the NASA GISS Global Climate Model and Impacts on Cloud Ice Simulation" (1st of 180 publications)


(2017) Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Reviewer Prize

Selected Publications


Refereed

2025. "Extratropical Cloud Feedback Constrained by Cloud Sources and Sinks in Cyclones.", Journal of Climate, 38 (24): 7285-7300 [10.1175/jcli-d-24-0607.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "The U.S. DOE ARM User Facility Establishes a New Site for Studies of Land-Aerosol-Cloud Interactions in the Southeastern U.S.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, [10.1175/bams-d-25-0072.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Optimizing Topographic Boundary Conditions for East Pacific Climate Simulation.", Journal of Climate, 38 (11): 2497-2524 [10.1175/jcli-d-24-0316.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "A Simple Emulator That Enables Interpretation of Parameter‐Output Relationships, Applied to Two Climate Model PPEs.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 17 (5): [10.1029/2024ms004766] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Lifecycle‐Type Matters for Extratropical Cyclone Precipitation Production.", Geophysical Research Letters, 52 (8): e2025GL115153 [10.1029/2025gl115153] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Using Machine Learning to Generate a GISS ModelE Calibrated Physics Ensemble (CPE).", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 17 (4): [10.1029/2024ms004713] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "The Global Seasonal Relationship between Satellite-Observed Cold Pools and Rainfall.", Journal of Climate, 38 (4): 989-1003 [10.1175/jcli-d-23-0218.1] [Article in Book]

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. "An extensible perturbed parameter ensemble for the Community Atmosphere Model version 6.", Geoscientific Model Development, 17 (21): 7835-7853 [10.5194/gmd-17-7835-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Estimating the Impact of a 2017 Smoke Plume on Surface Climate Over Northern Canada With a Climate Model, Satellite Retrievals, and Weather Forecasts.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129 (15): [10.1029/2023jd039396] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Meteorology Modulates the Impact of GCM Horizontal Resolution on Underestimation of Midlatitude Ocean Wind Speeds.", Geophysical Research Letters, 51 (13): [10.1029/2024gl108512] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Buffering of Aerosol‐Cloud Adjustments by Coupling Between Radiative Susceptibility and Precipitation Efficiency.", Geophysical Research Letters, 51 (11): [10.1029/2024gl108663] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "TROPESS-CrIS CO single-pixel vertical profiles: intercomparisons with MOPITT and model simulations for 2020 western US wildfires.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17 (9): 2611-2624 [10.5194/amt-17-2611-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Constraints on Southern Ocean Shortwave Cloud Feedback From the Hydrological Cycle.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129 (6): [10.1029/2023jd040489] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "A CloudSat–CALIPSO view of cloud and precipitation in the occluded quadrants of extratropical cyclones.", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 1-21 [10.1002/qj.4648] [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. "Dominant Cloud Controlling Factors for Low‐Level Cloud Fraction: Subtropical Versus Extratropical Oceans.", Geophysical Research Letters, 50 (19): [10.1029/2023gl104496] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Muted extratropical low cloud seasonal cycle is closely linked to underestimated climate sensitivity in models.", Nature Communications, 14 (1): 5586 [10.1038/s41467-023-41360-0] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Automated identification of occluded sectors in midlatitude cyclones: Method and some climatological applications.", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 149 (754): 1990-2010 [10.1002/qj.4491] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Model spread in tropical low cloud feedback tied to overturning circulation response to warming.", Nature Communications, 13 (1): 7119 [10.1038/s41467-022-34787-4] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Checkerboard patterns in E3SMv2 and E3SM-MMFv2.", Geoscientific Model Development, 15 (15): 6243-6257 [10.5194/gmd-15-6243-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Constraining Clouds and Convective Parameterizations in a Climate Model Using Paleoclimate Data.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14 (8): [10.1029/2021ms002893] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "A Simple Model for Tropical Convective Cloud Shield Area Growth and Decay Rates Informed by Geostationary IR, GPM, and Aqua/AIRS Satellite Data.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127 (10): [10.1029/2021jd035599] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Extratropical Shortwave Cloud Feedbacks in the Context of the Global Circulation and Hydrological Cycle.", Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (8): [10.1029/2021gl097154] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Future Climate Change under SSP Emission Scenarios with GISS‐E2.1.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14 (7): e2021MS002871 [10.1029/2021ms002871] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Evolution of Tropical Cyclone Properties Across the Development Cycle of the GISS‐E3 Global Climate Model.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14 (1): [10.1029/2021ms002601] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Improved Convective Ice Microphysics Parameterization in the NCAR CAM Model.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126 (9): [10.1029/2020jd034157] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "CMIP6 Historical Simulations (1850‐2014) with GISS‐E2.1.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 13 e2019MS002034 [10.1029/2019ms002034] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "A Regime-Oriented Approach to Observationally Constraining Extratropical Shortwave Cloud Feedbacks.", Journal of Climate, 33 (23): 9967-9983 [10.1175/jcli-d-19-0987.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Environmental Controls on Tropical Mesoscale Convective System Precipitation Intensity.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 77 (12): 4233-4249 [10.1175/jas-d-20-0111.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "GISS‐E2.1: Configurations and Climatology.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 12 (8): [10.1029/2019ms002025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "A Second-Order Closure Turbulence Model: New Heat Flux Equations and No Critical Richardson Number.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 77 (8): 2743-2759 [10.1175/jas-d-19-0240.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Untangling causality in midlatitude aerosol–cloud adjustments.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 20 (7): 4085-4103 [10.5194/acp-20-4085-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Strong Dependence of Atmospheric Feedbacks on Mixed‐Phase Microphysics and Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions in HadGEM3.", Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 11 (6): 1735-1758 [10.1029/2019ms001688] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Evaluating models' response of tropical low clouds to SST forcings using CALIPSO observations.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19 (5): 2813-2832 [10.5194/acp-19-2813-2019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Cloud feedbacks in extratropical cyclones: insight from long-term satellite data and high-resolution global simulations.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19 (2): 1147-1172 [10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Practice and philosophy of climate model tuning across six US modeling centers.", Geoscientific Model Development, 10 (9): 3207-3223 [10.5194/gmd-10-3207-2017] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "An Improved Convective Ice Parameterization for the NASA GISS Global Climate Model and Impacts on Cloud Ice Simulation.", Journal of Climate, 30 (1): 317-336 [10.1175/jcli-d-16-0346.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "A Lagrangian View of Moisture Dynamics During DYNAMO.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 73 (5): 1967-1985 [10.1175/jas-d-15-0243.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "The Sensitivity of Rainfall Estimation to Error Assumptions in a Bayesian Passive Microwave Retrieval Algorithm.", Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 54 (2): 408-422 [10.1175/jamc-d-14-0105.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "A Lagrangian Analysis of Deep Convective Systems and Their Local Environmental Effects.", J. Climate, 27 (5): 2072-2086 [10.1175/jcli-d-13-00285.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "A Multisensor Observational Depiction of the Transition from Light to Heavy Rainfall on Subdaily Time Scales.", Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 70 (7): 2309-2324 [10.1175/jas-d-12-0210.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Comparing rain retrievals from GPROF with ECMWF 1D-Var products.", Q.J.R. Meteorol. Soc., 138 (668): 1852-1866 [10.1002/qj.1931] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Relationships between the Raindrop Size Distribution and Properties of the Environment and Clouds Inferred from TRMM.", J. Climate, 25 (8): 2963-2978 [10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00274.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Observed Self-Similarity of Precipitation Regimes over the Tropical Oceans.", J. Climate, 23 (10): 2686-2698 [10.1175/2010jcli3330.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "A Combined Multisensor Optimal Estimation Retrieval Algorithm for Oceanic Warm Rain Clouds.", Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 48 (11): 2242-2256 [10.1175/2009jamc2156.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Toward a Fully Parametric Retrieval of the Nonraining Parameters over the Global Oceans.", Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 47 (6): 1599-1618 [10.1175/2007jamc1712.1] [Journal Article/Letter]