Naftali Cohen
Postdoctoral Associate
The department of Geology & Geophysics, Yale University
210 Whitney Ave., New Haven CT 06511
naftali.cohen@yale.edu 1-917-273-7881
Research Interests Geophysical fluid dynamics, stratospheric dynamics, waves and mean flow interaction, general
circulation of the atmosphere, tropical and monsoon dynamics, moist baroclinic instability
Educational Background
•
•
•
Ph.D. in Mathematics and Atmosphere-Ocean Sciences, The Center for Atmosphere Ocean
Science, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, 2014
Thesis: What drives the Brewer-Dobson Circulation? Wave mean-flow theories,
interactions between resolved and unresolved waves, and the limits of downward control
Advisors: Edwin P. Gerber and Oliver Bühler
Dissertation Committee: Olivier Pauluis, Tiffany Shaw, and Joan Alexander
M.Sc. in Atmospheric Science, Earth Science Institute, The Hebrew University, Israel, 2008
Thesis: Possible aerosol effects on lightning activity and structure of hurricanes
Advisor: Alexander Khain
Dissertation Committee: Daniel Rosenfeld and Nathan Paldor
B.Sc. in Atmospheric Science and Chemistry, The Hebrew University, Israel, 2006
Publications
•
N. Y. Cohen and W. R. Boos, 2015: Modulation of subtropical stratospheric waves by equatorial
rainfall, submitted to Geophysical Research Letters
•
N. Y. Cohen and W. R. Boos, 2015: Perspectives on moist baroclinic instability: implications for
the growth of monsoon depressions, Journal of the Atmospheric sciences—in revisions
•
N. Y. Cohen and W. R. Boos, 2014: Has the number of Indian summer monsoon depressions
decreased over the last thirty years?, Geophysical Research Letters
•
N. Y. Cohen, E. P. Gerber and O. Bühler, 2014: What drives the Brewer-Dobson circulation?,
Journal of the Atmospheric sciences
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
N. Y. Cohen, 2014: What drives the Brewer-Dobson Circulation? Wave mean-flow theories,
interactions between resolved and unresolved waves, and the limits of downward control. PhD
thesis.
N. Y. Cohen, E. P. Gerber and O. Bühler, 2013: Compensation between Resolved and Unresolved
Wave Driving in the Stratosphere: Implications for Downward Control, Journal of the Atmospheric
sciences
Khain A. P., N. Cohen, B. Lynn and A. Pokrovsky, 2008: Possible aerosol effects on lightning
activity and structure of hurricanes, Journal of the Atmospheric sciences
N. Cohen, 2008: Possible aerosol effects on lightning activity and structure of hurricanes, M.Sc.
thesis
Khain A. P., N. Cohen, N. Benmoshe and A. Pokrovsky, 2008: Mysterious small aerosols or why
lightning may take place in the eyewalls of hurricanes, Proc. The 15th International Conference on
Clouds and Precipitation, Cancun, Mexico
N. Cohen and A. Khain, 2008: Effects of aerosols on lightning and intensity of hurricanes, Proc.
The 15th International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation, Cancun, Mexico
Khain, A. P., N. Cohen, Y. Segal, B. Lynn, and D. Rosenfeld, 2007: Effects of aerosols on lightning
and structure of tropical cyclones, Proc. IUGG XXIV, Perugia, Italy, International Association of
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, 986
Chapters in books
•
N. Cohen, A. P. Khain, 2009: Effects of aerosols on lightning and intensity of landfalling
hurricanes, Chapter in the book: Hurricanes and Climate Change, Elsner and Jagger
In the popular media
•
Rain Tsong, 2015: Patterns in Monsoons: Climate Change or Human Error?, Yale scientific
magazine (interview)
In preparation
•
N. Y. Cohen and W. R. Boos, 2016: The importance of unresolved topographic waves over Tibet
to the large-scale precipitation
•
N. Y. Cohen, W. R. Boos, M. Gehne, and G. Kiladis, 2016: Spectral-trend estimation of
incomplete historical geophysical data: application for Indian monsoon depression trends
•
N. Y. Cohen and E. P. Gerber, 2016: Investigation of structural changes to the stratospheric
circulation in future climate
•
N. Y. Cohen, M. J. Alexander, E. Manzini, M. Sigmond, A. Bushell, F. Lott, M. Pulido, K. Sato,
2016: Constraints on atmospheric gravity wave tuning
Journals reviewing
Journal of the Atmospheric sciences, Journal of Climate, Climate Dynamics, Quarterly Journal of the
Royal Meteorological Society
Memberships
American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society
Technical Skills
Highly proficient in
• Matlab, Fortran 77/90, LaTeX, Office, Windows, UNIX.
• State-of-the-art numerical models as the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), the
Community Earth System Model (CESM), and GFDL’s dynamical core.
• Meteorological reanalysis data sets (MERRA, JRA25, JRA55, ERA-Interim) and satellite
observations (TRMM, SSMI, QuikScat, WindSat, NOAA’s OLR).
Academic Visits
•
•
•
April 2014: Member of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) gravity wave team, Bern,
Switzerland
August 2012: Dynamical Core Model Intercomparison Project (DCMIP) Summer School, NCAR,
Boulder, Colorado, USA
July 2008: WRF-Var and WRF-Chem tutorials, NCAR , Boulder, Colorado, USA
Teaching Experience
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Analysis II, TA, Courant Institute, Fall 2013
Analysis I, TA, Courant Institute, Spring 2013
Analysis I and II, TA, Courant Institute, Fall 2012
ODE, TA, Courant Institute, Spring 2012
Calculus I, TA, Courant Institute, Fall 2010
Environmental Remote Sensing, TA, The Hebrew University, Fall 2008
Introduction to Climate, TA, The Hebrew University, Spring 2008
Climate Change, TA, The Hebrew University, Spring 2008
Chemistry and Meteorology for 4th-12th grade students, Instructor, The Community Youth of The
Hebrew University, Israel, 2006 - 2008
Awards and Scholarships
•
•
•
•
•
•
GSAS MacCracken fellowship, 2009-2014
ICCP fellowship, Cancun, Mexico, 2008
Excellence fellowship, Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Israel, 2007-2008
Reserve fellowship, The Jewish Agency for Israel, 2006
Dean’s list of excellence, The Hebrew University, Israel, 2004-2005
Fellowship, Ministry of Education, Israel, 2004
Talks
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
New York, NY, Columbia University, September 2015: Perspectives on moist baroclinic instability:
implications for the growth of monsoon depressions
New York, NY, Columbia University, Monsoons & ITCZ workshop, September 2015: Interaction
between gravity wave drag over the Tibetan Plateau and Tropical convection
Minneapolis ,MN, The 20th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics, June 2015:
Interaction between gravity wave breaking over the Tibetan Plateau and Tropical convection
Minneapolis ,MN, The 20th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics, June 2015:
Mechanisms for interactions between resolved and parameterized waves in the stratosphere
(poster)
Tropical Extremes workshop, Yale University, New Haven, April 2015: Has the number of Indian
summer monsoon depressions decreased over the last 30 years?
Stony Brook University, New York, January 2015: What drives the Brewer-Dobson Circulation?
Annual AMS, Phoenix, Arizona, January 2015: What drives the Brewer-Dobson Circulation?
Yale University, postdoc seminar, Connecticut, April 2014: What DRIVES the Brewer-Dobson
Circulation?
International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland, April 2014: What DRIVES the BrewerDobson Circulation?
Columbia University, SEAS Colloquium in Climate Science, New York, October 2013:
Stratospheric interactions between resolved and unresolved waves: mechanisms, implications
and limitations on downward control
Yale University, AOFD seminar, Connecticut, September 2013: Stratospheric interactions between
resolved and unresolved waves: mechanisms, implications and limitations on downward control
Tel Aviv University, Israel, August 2013: Stratospheric interactions between resolved and
unresolved waves - the limits of downward control
Newport , RI, the 17th Conference on Middle Atmosphere, June 2013: Constraints on the Wave
Forcing in the Stratosphere: The Illusion of downward control
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Newport, RI, the 19th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics, June 2013: On
the evolution of the potential vorticity. A new perspective on the rule of the Eliassen-Palm flux
divergence and the downward control principle (poster)
Courant Institute, Student Seminar, February 2013: Old ideas-New perspectives
Princeton University, AOS days, June 2012: Stratospheric interactions between resolved and
unresolved waves
Courant Institute, NY, Student Seminar, February 2012: On the generalized Lagrangian mean
theory and the TEM equations
University of Frankfurt/Main, Frankfurt, Germany, November 2011: Stratospheric interactions
between resolved and unresolved waves
Max-Planck Institute, Hamburg, Germany, November 2011: Stratospheric interactions between
resolved and unresolved waves
Woods Hole, GCC meeting, October 2011: Stratospheric interactions between resolved and
unresolved waves
Courant Institute, NY, Student Seminar, October 2011: Stratospheric interactions between
resolved and unresolved waves
MIT, Cambridge , MA, AOS days, June 2011: A modeling framework to study interaction between
resolved and parameterized waves
Spokane ,WA, The 18th Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics, June 2011: A
modeling framework to study interaction between resolved and parameterized waves
Courant Institute, NY, Student Seminar, May 2011: Toward studying the dynamics of unresolved
gravity waves in a GCM
Courant Institute, NY, Student Seminar, November 2010: The momentum flux of internal waves
for simple harmonic time dependent flows
University of Maryland, AOS days, May 2010: On the momentum flux of internal waves for
different stratified shear flows
Courant Institute, NY, Student Seminar, April 2010: On the momentum flux of internal waves for
different stratified shear flows
Courant Institute, NY, cSplash, April 2010: Sunrise, sunset, and local time calculations
Courant Institute, NY, Student Seminar, October 2009 : On aerosols lightning and hurricanes
Cancun, Mexico, The 15th International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation, June 2008:
Effects of aerosols on lightning and intensity of hurricanes (Poster)
Be'er-Sheba University, Israel, Israeli Association for Aerosol Research meeting, December 2007:
Possible aerosol effects on lightning activity and structure of hurricanes
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, Seminar, December 2007: On possible aerosol effects
on lightning activity and structure of landfalling hurricanes