Led by Genevieve Clow, they use an Earth system model with a satellite chlorophyll emulator to assess whether phytoplankton extremes are detectable in the real world, finding that fewer than 20% of extremes are detectable from real world satellite data. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.…

Thanks to Jen Kay, David Clemens-Sewall, and Max Elling (photo 3), ATOC students gained hands-on experience with in-field albedo measurements. We even measured the albedo of ATOC Prof. Sebastian Schmidt!

ATOC Industry Night was a success! Huge thanks to the 17 companies and organizations who joined us and shared career insights with our students, staff, and faculty.

ATOC team members Professor John Cassano and post-doc Kara Hartig went on an expedition to McMurdo. Here are some images from around McMurdo Station, Antarctica in September 2025.

Katja Friedrich discusses how operational cloud seeding at WP Ski Resort is advancing faster than the underlying science, underscoring the gap between real-world deployment and the current understanding of cloud microphysical processes during a dry winter. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

Not much snow this season (yet)! See Prof. Jen Kay's take: colorado.edu/today/2025/12/1…

Clow et al built satellite simulators for CESM2 SST and chlorophyll, showing that satellite sampling biases can hide model strengths in some regions and exaggerate errors in others; sharpening how we evaluate Earth system models. doi.org/10.1029/2024MS004908

Meet the ATOC scientist who stumbled into the cold—and stayed | Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine | University of Colorado Boulder colorado.edu/asmagazine/2025…

A.L. Gilbert et al. show observed winds drive interannual, seasonal & spatial variability in recent Arctic warming & sea ice loss, but not the long-term trends; results are independent of mean state sea ice thickness. doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/ae…

McKenzie Hawkins, who is a player for the Denver Onyx and a doctoral student in ATOC at CU Boulder, has joined the women’s Rugby World Cup team for the second time. Go Eagles colorado.edu/graduateschool/…

A. Gilbert, J.E. Kay & P. Rowe use a novel model hierarchy based on dynamical constraints to show that improving supercooled liquid cloud optics has only a limited impact on Arctic surface infrared radiation doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-7185-…

Andrew Buggee (ATOC PhD Can.) & P. Pilewskie show CLARREO Pathfinder will retrieve more precise vertical profiles of cloud droplet size than MODIS in warm, non-precipitating clouds, better constraining cloud structure near tops. doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5299-…

Leah Bertrand (ATOC) led a new study showing 25 years of Arctic obs reveal wintertime longwave radiation over Alaska's North Slope rising faster than temp & greenhouse gases alone explain, driven by more opaque ice & mixed-phase clouds. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-6…

Led by Kris Karnauskas (@OceansClimateCU), the team shows how wind changes shape regional ocean heat content and sea level, with a clear example of Ekman and Sverdrup control. journals.ametsoc.org/view/jo…

A new GRL paper led by @abowden_wx shows that when future warming looks more El Niño-like, the MJO’s precipitation pulse gets bigger; thanks to sharper N–S and vertical moisture gradients in the Pacific. Paper: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.…

Please join us in welcoming our new Assistant Professor, William Chapman! Dr. Chapman’s research focuses on large-scale atmospheric dynamics, structural model error, and machine learning. We’re excited to have you in ATOC, Will!

Tropical cyclones intensify by extracting ocean heat. A new study from @CUBoulderATOC uses Argo & HYCOM to show how pre-event salinity profiles shape TC-induced changes in salinity, density, & stratification, with implications for air–sea interactions. os.copernicus.org/articles/2…

Dr. Yue Dong (now at UCLA, formerly @CUBuffs) published on co-influence of aerosols and greenhouse gases on surface ocean change. Collaboration with @CUBoulderATOC's Profs. Kay and Sanchez as well as @CIRESnews and @NCAR_CGD.  Be Boulder! agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.…

A new study from @CUBoulderATOC and @INSTAAR shows that an Earth system model ensemble skilfully predicts marine heatwaves and ocean acidification extreme events as defined by aragonite saturation state up to 1 year in advance. nature.com/articles/s41561-0…

🌟 ATOC at AMS 🌟#AMS2025 Heading to the 105th Annual AMS Meeting in New Orleans? Come visit us at booth T46 to meet our faculty and students ams.confex.com/ams/105ANNUAL… 📅 Sat, Jan 11 | 5-7 PM (Student Conference only) 📅 Sun, Jan 12 | 6:30-8:30 PM (Open to all AMS attendees)