Publications

Research topics:

The application of feedback analysis tools from control-engineering to research problems in climate dynamics; principally understanding geoengineering, and understanding climate variability.
System identification tools from control-engineering, applied to climate systems, and to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in particular. This provides a mechanism both for better understanding the Earth's climate system, and for comparing the dynamics of the real world with models at a mechanistic level rather than simply at the behavioural level.
The dynamics of intentional climate intervention (geoengineering, and solar radiation management in particular). First paper looking at how long it takes to learn something from a full-scale test, based on signal-to-noise ratios. Working on geoengineering optimization (in progress), And (for fun) first paper demonstrating that control of El Nino is within the scale of human action; the intent here is not to suggest that this is a good idea, but rather to change our perceptions about the scale of human influence on the climate.
Understanding how to develop robust feedback control strategies for high-dimensional, fundamentally nonlinear fluid systems; current research joint with Prof. Tim Colonius is in the context of flow control (e.g. fluid separation), but is relevant to understanding dynamics of intervention in the climate system.
I am also fascinated by the question of why people are so averse to believing in basic physics, but that isn't a subject I do research on...




	Climate-related Research


		Research topics: The application of feedback analysis tools from control-engineering to research problems in climate dynamics; principally understanding geoengineering, and understanding climate variability. System identification tools from control-engineering, applied to climate systems, and to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in particular. This provides a mechanism both for better understanding the Earth's climate system, and for comparing the dynamics of the real world with models at a mechanistic level rather than simply at the behavioural level. The dynamics of intentional climate intervention (geoengineering, and solar radiation management in particular). First paper looking at how long it takes to learn something from a full-scale test, based on signal-to-noise ratios. Working on geoengineering optimization (in progress), And (for fun) first paper demonstrating that control of El Nino is within the scale of human action; the intent here is not to suggest that this is a good idea, but rather to change our perceptions about the scale of human influence on the climate. Understanding how to develop robust feedback control strategies for high-dimensional, fundamentally nonlinear fluid systems; current research joint with Prof. Tim Colonius is in the context of flow control (e.g. fluid separation), but is relevant to understanding dynamics of intervention in the climate system. I am also fascinated by the question of why people are so averse to believing in basic physics, but that isn't a subject I do research on... Recent news: New paper out on "Can we test geoengineering?", and Youtube video Also see video on Youtube, talking about recent paper on "The frequency response of temperature and precipitation in a climate model" Relevant Publications: MacMynowski, D. G., Keith, D., Caldeira, K., and Shin, H.-J., “Can we test geoengineering?” Energy and Environmental Science, 2011. MacMynowski, D. G., Shin, H.-J., and Caldeira, K.., “The frequency response of temperature and precipitation in a climate model”, Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L16711, 2011. (Supplemental material.) MacMynowski, D. G. and Tziperman, E., “Using transfer functions to quantify ENSO dynamics in data and models”, submitted, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. A, 2011. MacMynowski, D. G. and Tziperman, E., “Testing and improving ENSO models by process, using transfer functions”, Geophysical Research Letters, 37, L19701, 2010. MacMynowski, D. G. “Can we control El Nino?”, Vol 4, Environmental Research Letters, 2009. MacMynowski, D. G. and E. Tziperman, "Factors affecting ENSO's period", J. Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 65, No. 5, pp. 1570-1586, 2008. MacMynowski, D. G. and E. Tziperman, "Two-Way Feedback Interaction between the Thermohaline and Wind-Driven Circulations", J. Physical Oceanography, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 914-929, 2006.