Member Since 2002
Rob Wood
Professor, University of Washington Seattle
Member, Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award Committee
Dr. Robert Wood is Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Science at the University of Washington. Wood’s research work focuses upon understanding processes controlling clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere and the roles that clouds play in determining climate variability and change, the formation of rain, and how tiny aerosol particles (both natural and anthropogenic) interact with them and affect their properties.
Professional Experience
University of Washington Seattle
Professor
2001 - Present
Education
University of Manchester
Doctorate
1997
Cambridge University
Bachelors
1992
Honors & Awards
Union Fellow
Received December 2024
Ascent Award
Received December 2017
Robert Wood will receive the 2017 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, La. The award recognizes research contributions by “exceptional mid-career (academic, g...
Robert Wood will receive the 2017 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, La. The award recognizes research contributions by “exceptional mid-career (academic, government, and private sector) scientists in the fields of atmospheric and climate sciences.” CITATION FOR ROBERT WOOD “For his seminal contributions to our understanding of physical processes controlling marine boundary layer clouds and their interactions in the Earth’s climate system”
Citation

Rob Wood is a world recognized leader in the investigation of stratocumulus clouds, their interactions with aerosols, and their role in climate system. He first formulated the relationship between temperatures at 700 hPa and the surface (the “estimated inversion strength”) and cloud fraction, which is able to largely explain the regional and seasonal variations in stratus cloud amount. He found that cloud fraction is strongly linked with the LWP spatial variability at horizontal scales of 10–50 km, indicating the importance of organized mesoscale cellular convection (MCC) to understand and predict low cloud coverage and variability in the subtropics. He has linked the properties of MCC with precipitation, and with large-scale meteorological drivers, and connected the macrostructure of MCC with microphysical processes that under some circumstances can result in the catastrophic loss of aerosol particles, leading to transformations in MCC. He has also developed new and novel methods for the use of satellite data to understand mixing in clouds and enhance our understanding of the role of precipitation in the marine boundary layer. He has led, or has played leadership roles in a number of field experiments (VOCALS, CSET, and ORACLES, and the Eastern North Atlantic Measurement site on Graciosa Island in the Azores), that have led to immense advancements in our understanding of marine boundary-layer cloud systems, which play a critical role in the cloud feedback to climate change.

There is little doubt that Rob will continue to advance atmospheric sciences, particularly that involving clouds and is richly deserving of this award. On behalf of the AGU Atmospheric Sciences section, I am pleased to present a 2017 Ascent Award to Robert Wood.

—Joyce E. Penner, President, Atmospheric Sciences Section, AGU

Response
I am honored to receive the AGU Ascent Award in recognition of my work on marine boundary layer clouds. I am extremely grateful to the scientists who selflessly gave their time and energy to support my nomination. There are many people who have given me opportunities, insights and guidance throughout my career. I am indebted to my Ph.D. adviser Peter Jonas for giving me my first experience in airborne atmospheric research at the University of Manchester in the UK. This gave me the bug for airborne research that has been a strong component of my research throughout my career. Doug Johnson at the Met Office helped me get started in airborne cloud physics research and introduced me to large international field experiments. It was at the Met Office that I met Paul Field who has been a long-time collaborator on various projects related to clouds. His drive and outside-the-box thinking has led to some very enjoyable projects. Dennis Hartmann and Chris Bretherton at the University of Washington provided a raft of opportunities to explore cloud processes by incorporating satellite data, observing the eastern Tropical oceans, and introducing me to cloud-scale and simple theoretical modeling. I am extremely grateful to all my colleagues at the University of Washington for their insight, intellect, and enthusiasm, all with a wonderful spirit of collegiality. I am indebted to my research group members past and present, who have allowed me to pursue new ideas and directions. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their unwavering support, and especially my wife, Socorro, for giving me the freedom to pursue a career that involves considerable time away from home. —Robert Wood, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle
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Publications
Sensitivities of Large Eddy Simulations of Aerosol Plume Transport and Cloud Response

Cloud responses to surface‐based sources of aerosol perturbation partially depend on how turbulent transport of the aerosol to cloud base aff...

February 05, 2025
AGU Abstracts
Low-level cloud diurnal cycle drives direct aerosol radiative warming over the southeast Atlantic Ocean
LIGHT-ABSORBING CARBON AEROSOLS: OBSERVATIONS, MODELS, PROCESSES, AND IMPACTS III ORAL
atmospheric sciences | 13 december 2024
Ian Chang, Lan Gao, Adeyemi A. Adebiyi, Sarah J. D...
Atmospheric aerosols are an important component of the Earths climate system, contributing substantial uncertainties in predicting future climate chan...
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Understanding Aitken Mode Aerosol Variability over the Southern Ocean and Antarctica
AEROSOL, CLOUD, PRECIPITATION, AND RADIATION STUDIES OVER HIGH-LATITUDE OCEANS I POSTER
atmospheric sciences | 13 december 2024
Litai Kang, Robert Wood, Peter N. Blossey, John D'...
Aitken mode aerosol particles play an important role in cloud properties and sustenance, acting as a reservoir of cloud condensation nuclei against pr...
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Smoke and Clouds above the Southeast Atlantic - Science Advances from Past Field Campaigns and Remaining Open Questions
LIGHT-ABSORBING CARBON AEROSOLS: OBSERVATIONS, MODELS, PROCESSES, AND IMPACTS III ORAL
atmospheric sciences | 13 december 2024
Jens Redemann, Paquita Zuidema, Robert Wood, James...
Between 2016 and 2018, several field deployments were focused on Sub-Saharan African biomass burning aerosols (BBA), including their fate during long-...
View Abstract
Volunteer Experience
2024 - 2027
Member
Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award Committee
2023 - 2023
Member
Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award Committee
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