Elin McIlhattan

My research is focused on clouds and how they impact the surface environment. I use satellite, in-situ, and ground-based datasets to make connections between observed cloud properties and the precipitation and radiation incident on the surface below. I compare what we see in observations to the clouds, precipitation, and surface radiation simulated in global climate models. The overarching goal of my work is to leverage observations to advance our understanding of cloud behavior and use that knowledge to improve cloud representation in climate models.

Arctic clouds were the focus of my PhD work, culminating in my dissertation “Observing and Modeling Arctic Clouds: Exploring the Connections Between Cloud Phase, Precipitation and Surface Radiation.” One of the highlights of my graduate education was the opportunity to participate in field campaigns. I joined the Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC) for the 2014-15 field season in Antarctica, repairing and installing Automatic Weather Stations (AWS). I also travelled to Namibia in September 2016 with the NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) campaign as part of the Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3) instrument team.

ORCID 0000-0002-6614-212X