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RESEARCH

Research in the Nazarian Group is driven by three fundamental, overarching questions:​

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    1. How can models be used to answer important and timely questions in oceanic, atmospheric,           and climate science?

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    â€‹2. How can ocean, atmosphere, and climate models be improved, based upon these studies?

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    3. What are the best practices, either in the research lab or classroom, for engaging                               undergraduate students in oceanic, atmospheric, and climate science?

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Each of these questions guides our approach to the different research areas, as outlined below.

Underlined authors are members of the Nazarian Group at Fairfield University.

Ocean Mixing

Just like surface waves, internal waves interact with topography, break, and cause mixing. These internal waves are important in transporting energy and heat, and they therefore have a crucial role in supporting the large-scale ocean and climate systems as well as local biogeochemical processes. Despite these important roles, however, the mixing due to internal waves has traditionally not been included in ocean and climate models and such inclusion is an important and active area of research. Studying internal wave-driven mixing processes and parameterizing these processes for inclusion in ocean models is one of the foci of the Nazarian Group:

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  • Nazarian, R., C. Burns, S. Legg, M. Buijsman, H. Kaur, and B. Arbic, 2021. On the Magnitude of Canyon-Induced Mixing. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126, e2021JC017671.

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  • Yi, Y., S. Legg, and R. Nazarian, 2017. The Impact of Topographic Steepness on Tidal Dissipation at Bumpy Topography. Fluids, 55, no. 4.

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  • Nazarian, R. and S. Legg, 2017b. Internal Wave Scattering in Continental Slope Canyons, Part 2: A Comparison of Ray Tracing and Numerical Simulations. Ocean Modelling, 118, 16-30.

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  • Nazarian, R. and S. Legg, 2017a. Internal Wave Scattering in Continental Slope Canyons, Part 1: Theory and Development of a Ray Tracing Algorithm. Ocean Modelling, 118, 1-15.

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Based on thermodynamics, the atmosphere can hold 7% more water vapor for every degree the atmosphere warms. The strongest storms, should therefore yield 7% more precipitation per degree warming. Not only is the magnitude of extreme precipitation events projected to increase, but the frequency of extreme precipitation is likewise projected to change, potentially compounding this increase in extreme precipitation. Our group is involved in several research projects exploring the projected changes in extreme precipitation and the dynamics governing these changes:

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  • Nazarian, R., N. Brizuela, B. Matijevic, J. Vizzard, C. Agostino, and N. Lutsko, 2024. Future Trends in Mean and Extreme Precipitation over Northern Mexico. Journal of Climate, 37, 2405-2422.

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  • Nazarian, R., J. Vizzard, C. Agostino, and N. Lutsko, 2022. Projected Changes in Future Extreme Precipitation over the Northeast US in the NA-CORDEX Ensemble. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 61, 1643-1662.

Extreme Precipitation

Emergent Constraints

Emergent constraints is an analysis technique that may be applied to the ocean, atmosphere, and climate systems. Put simply, emergent constraints are a tool that allow us to constrain uncertainty in a variety of ocean, atmosphere, and climate variables in Earth’s response to increased CO2 concentrations. The utility of emergent constraints lies in relating observable variables with some aspect of the climate system’s forced response to substantially narrow the uncertainty in the projected climate response. The Nazarian Group has conducted research using emergent constraints to study cloud feedbacks with external collaborators and looks forward to applying this approach to other problems:

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  • Lutsko, N., M. Popp, R. Nazarian, and A. Albright, 2021. Emergent Constraints on Regional Cloud Feedbacks. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL092934.

The Nazarian Group is also interested interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning and, specifically, how to best engage students in ocean, atmosphere, and climate sciences and, more broadly, the physical sciences in both the research lab setting as well as in the classroom. Our Group has published several pedagogical papers developing best practices in engaging and providing meaningful experiences for undergraduates in (geo-)physics courses and in the research lab:

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  • Schmitt, D. and R. Nazarian, 2023. Teaching the Global Energy Balance: A Complementary Computational and Hands-On Gamified Activity. The Physics Teacher, 61, 584-587.

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  • Nazarian, R., 2022. A Modified Recipe for Interactive Classroom Demonstrations. The Physics Teacher, 60, 504-507.

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  • Nazarian, R., 2021. The Use of Model Intercomparison Projects in Engaging Undergraduates in Climate Change Research. Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research, 5, 27-28.

Science of Teaching and Learning

Impacts of Sea Level Rise

As sea level rises, there are a number of direct impacts, such as the rise in local mean sea level and the rise in the local extreme sea level due to tides, storm surges, etc. There are additionally indirect impacts, such as the submergence of land, enhanced flooding, erosion of land and beaches, salinization of soils, groundwater, and surface waters, loss of and change in marine and coastal ecosystems, and impeded drainage, which can have significant socioeconomic impacts. The Nazarian Group has partnered with collaborators in the business school to use sea level rise projections to understand economic impacts of sea level rise:

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  • Vasquez, W., R. Nazarian, and J. Trudeau, 2024. Identifying local priorities for adaptation to sea level rise via stated preferences: A choice experiment from two coastal cities in Guatemala. Ocean & Coastal Management, 258, 107389.

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