AOS Research Staff Profile
Sarah Kapnick
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Address: 314 GFDL
Phone: (609) 452-6548**
Email: skapnick at princeton.edu
**Email contact is preferred.
Publications Vita
Research Field
The primary goal of my research is to improve our understanding of hydroclimate variability. Much of my research focuses on understanding the mechanisms controlling precipitation and snowpack in complex orographic regions. In many regions of the world including western North America and the Himalaya region, the majority of water supply comes from mountain precipitation and thus plays a crucial role in resource planning and development. To explore hydroclimate variability in the past and project future variability, I utilize both observations and high resolution climate models in my work.
Some Recent Publications:
Kapnick, S., and T. Delworth, 2013: Controls of global snow under a changed climate. Journal of Climate. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00528.1, in press.
Pavelsky, T. M., S. Sobolowski, S. B. Kapnick, and J. B. Barnes, 2012: Changes in orographic precipitation patterns caused by a shift from snow to rain. Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L18706, doi:10.1029/2012GL052741.
Kapnick, S. and A. Hall, 2012: Causes of recent changes in western North American snowpack. Climate Dynamics, 38 (9), 1885-1899. doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1089-y.
Waliser, D., Kim, J., Xue, Y., Chao, Y., Eldering, A., Fovell, R., Hall, A., Li, Q., Liou, K., McWilliams, J., Kapnick, S., Vasic, R., De Sale, R., and Y. Yu, 2012: Simulating the Sierra Nevada snowpack: The impact of snow albedo and multi-layer snow physics. Climatic Change, 109 (S1), 95-117.
Pavelsky, T., Kapnick, S., and A. Hall, 2011: Accumulation and melt dynamics of snowpack from a multi-resolution regional climate model in the central Sierra Nevada, California. JGR-Atmospheres, 116, doi:10.1029/2010JD015479.
Boé, J., Hall, A., Colas, F., McWilliams, J., Qu, X., Kurian, J., and Kapnick, S., 2011: What shapes mesoscale wind anomalies in coastal upwelling zones? Climate Dynamics, 36 (11), 2037-2049, doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1058-5.
Kapnick, S. and A. Hall, 2010: Observed climate-snowpack relationships in California and their implications for the future. Journal of Climate , 23 (13), 3446-3456.