Biographical Sketch: Aaron Donohoe
Professional Experience
2014-present
Research Associate, Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory,
University of Washington
2011-2014
NOAA Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow hosted at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
2011
Ph.D University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences
2003
Developmental Technician, Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Recent scientific community activities
2013-2014
Clivar International, early career scientist representative on scientific
steering group
2005-present
Co-founder and executive committee member, Graduate Climate
Conference
Relevant Publications
Donohoe, A and A. Voigt (2015). “ITCZ migrations under global warming” in Climate Extreme
Mechanisms. Editors Simon S. Wang J.H Yoon, R. Gillies and C. Funk. AGU books. In review.
Armour K.C., J Marshall, J. Scott, A. Donohoe and E. Newsom (2105). Southern ocean warming
delayed by circumpolar upwelling and equatorward transport. In review. Nature Geosciences
Donohoe, A., K.C. Armour, A.G, Pendergrass and D.S. Battisti (2014). Shortwave and longwave
contributions to global warming under increasing CO2. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. 111 (47), 16700-16705
J. Bandoro, S. Solomon, D.W.J. Thompson, A. Donohoe, and B.D. Santer (2014) Influence of
the Antarctic ozone hole on the seasonal changes in climate in the Southern Hemisphere.
Journal of Climate, 27, 6245-6264.
Donohoe, A.D., J. Marshall, D. Ferreira, K. Armour (2014). The inter-annual variability of
tropical precipitation and inter-hemispheric energy transport. Journal of Climate. 27, 3377–3392.
McGee, D., A. Donohoe, J. Marshall, D. Ferreira (2014). Quantitative estimates of past changes
in ITCZ position. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 390, 69-79.
Frierson, D.M.W, Y.T. Hwang, N.S. Fuckar, R. Seager, S.M. Kang, A. Donohoe, X. Liu, D.S.
Battisti (2013). Why does tropical rainfall peak in the Northern Hemisphere? The role of the
oceans meridional overturning circulation. Nature Geoscience, 6, 940–944. doi:10.1038
Donohoe, A., D.M.W. Frierson and D.S. Battisti (2103). The effect of ocean mixed layer depth
on climate in slab ocean aquaplanet experiments. Climate Dynamics. DOI 10.1007/s00382-0131843-4. 15 pages.
Marshall, J., A. Donohoe, D. Ferreira, D. McGee (2013). Global energy constraints on crossequatorial energy transport and the mean position of the ITCZ. Climate Dynamics. DOI
10.1007/s00382-013-1767-z. 14 Pages.
Donohoe, A. and D.S. Battisti (2013). The seasonal cycle of atmospheric heating and temperature.
Journal of Climate, 26, 4962-4980.
Donohoe, A., J. Marshall, D. Ferreira and D McGee (2103). The relationship between ITCZ
location and atmospheric heat transport across the equator: from the seasonal cycle to the Last
Glacial Maximum. Journal of Climate, 26, 3597-3618.
Donohoe, A. and D.S. Battisti (2012). What controls meridional heat transport in global climate
models? Journal of Climate, 25, 3832-50.
Donohoe, A. and D.S. Battisti (2011). Atmospheric and surface contributions to planetary
albedo. Journal of Climate, 24, 4401-17.
Donohoe, A. and D.S. Battisti (2009) The amplitude asymmetry between synoptic cyclones and
anticyclones: implications for filtering methods in feature tracking. Mon. Wea. Rev., 137, 387487.
Donohoe, A. and D.S. Battisti (2009): Causes of Reduced North Atlantic Storm Activity in a
CAM3 Simulation of the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Climate, 32, 4793-4808.
Qualifications capabilities and experience
Since completing my PhD in 2011, I have 15 (8 first Author) peer reviewed publications in
global-scale climate dynamics. My work focuses on understanding the movement of energy
through the coupled (atmosphere/ocean/cryosphere) climate system in both radiative and
dynamic processes. Specifically, my colleagues and I have developed a framework that unifies
radiative and dynamic processes under the common metric of energy fluxes. This framework has
led to new understanding of the drivers of spatial-temporal variations in temperature and
precipitation that spans the system behavior across a myriad of timescales (including the
climatology, seasonal cycle, inter-annual variability and the response to external forcing) and
spatial scales (global mean, hemispheric contrast, equator-to-pole gradient). I have yet to work on
the Arctic climate system but strongly believe that the framework I have developed for unifying
radiative and dynamic processes in the global climate system will lead to new insights in the
Arctic climate system.
My work attempts to connect observed phenomenon with their representations in models and
relies on global scale observations (remote sensing and reanalysis), coupled climate models and
idealized models. Overall, I strive to isolate the fundamental physical mechanisms responsible
for climate and its variability both from an observational and modeling perspective.