Prof. Graeme Stephens
Prof. Graeme Stephens
CIRA Fellow,
University Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science
Office: CIRA Building Room 117
Phone: (970) 491-8233
Fax: (970) 491-8241
Email:
Mailing Address:
Dr. Graeme Stephens
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
Colorado State University
1375 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1375
Biography

Professor Stephens completed his B.S. degree with honors from the University of Melbourne in 1973 and received his Ph.D. degree in 1977 from the same university. He was appointed to the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research in 1977 as a research scientist and was promoted to senior research scientist in 1982. During 1979 and 1980 Dr. Stephens was a post-doctoral research student at the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He then joined the faculty of that department as an Associate Professor in 1984 and in the spring of 1991 was promoted to Professor. In 2005 he was promoted to University Distinguished Professor.  Dr. Stephens professional activities include: Editor of the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences; Member of NASA/TRMM Science Team; Chairman NSF Facilities Advisory Panel; Chairman AMS Committee on Atmospheric Radiation; Chairman of WMO Joint Scientific Committee Working Group on Radiation Fluxes; Member AMS, OSA; Member, National Research Council, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC). His work has dealt with the remote sensing of cloud properties from both space borne and aircraft measurements and the application of this information to problems of better understanding the physical processes that define the Earth's atmosphere. Other activities include the fundamental advances in atmospheric radiative transfer and the role of clouds in climate. Dr. Stephens has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles and is the author of Remote Sensing of the Lower Atmosphere: An Introduction. Oxford Univ. Press, March 1994.

Recent Work

Dr. Stephens is currently the P. I. on the NASA's Cloudsat Mission, a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, and a Science Team Member on the MMAP Project here at Colorado State University. He is on numerous committees such as the co-Investigator of the CALIPSO mission, Member – NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center Climate Panel, Member - National Academy of Sciences Climate Change Feedbacks Working Group, Member - NOAA’s Climate and Global Change Advisory Panel, Member of the U.S. National Academy of Science - Committee on Earth Sciences (CES), and has remained as a member on several other advisory panels for over a decade through his dedication to the atmospheric science community.

 Professor Stephens collaborates closely with CIRA mainly through the CloudSat Data Processing Center (DPC). The DPC is currently examining and validating the data retrieved from the CloudSat Satellite which was launched April 28, 2006.
Selected Publications
  • Sorooshain, A., Feingold, G., Flagan, R. C., Gates, H., Hersey, S. P., Jonsson, H. H., McComiskey, A. M., Miller, S. D., Nenes, A., Padró, L. T., Seinfeld, J. H., Stephens, G. L., 2009: On the link between ocean biota emissions, aerosol, and maritime clouds: Airborne, ground, and satellite measurements off the coast of California , Global Biogeochemical Cycles, vol. 23,
  • Sorooshain, A., Feingold, G., Jiang, H., Lebsock, M. D., Stephens, G. L., 2009: On the precipitation susceptibility of clouds to aerosol perturbations, Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 36,
  • Sorooshain, A., Feingold, G., Jiang, H., Lebsock, M. D., Stephens, G. L., 2009: Where in the world will aerosol reduce precipitation?, Gordon Research Conference - Radiation & Climate.July 5-10, 2009, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH
  • Sorooshain, A., Feingold, G., Jiang, H., Lebsock, M. D., Stephens, G. L., 2009: Where in the world will aerosol reduce precipitation?, 6th International Scientific Conference on the Global Energy and Water Cycle & 2nd Integrated Land Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (GEWEX/iLEAPS) Joint Conferences.August 24-28, 2009, Melbourne, Australia
  • Suzuki, K., Nakajima, T., Nakajima, T. Y., Satoh, M., Stephens, G. L., Takemura, T., Tomita, H., 2008: Global cloud-system-resolving simulation of aerosol effect on warm clouds, Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 35,
  • Sorooshain, A., Feingold, G., Flagan, R. C., Gates, H., Hersey, S. P., Jonsson, H. H., McComiskey, A. M., Miller, S. D., Nenes, A., Padró, L. T., Seinfeld, J. H., Stephens, G. L., 2008: On the link between ocean biota emissions, aerosol, and maritime clouds: Airborne, ground, and satellite measurements off the coast of California , 2008 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting.December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA
  • Stephens, G. L., Pakula, L. A., Van Den Heever, S., 2008: Radiative–convective feedbacks in idealized states of radiative–convective equilibrium, Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences , vol. 65, 3899-3916
  • Van Den Heever, S., Stephens, G. L., 2007: Indirect aerosol forcing on tropical convection in a radiative convective equilibruim framework, (In preparation) Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, vol. ,
  • Lebsock, M. D., L'Ecuyer, T. S., Stephens, G. L., 2007: Information content of near-infrared spaceborne multiangular polarization measurements for aerosol retrievals, Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 112,
  • Stephens, G. L., 2006: CloudSat: Early highlights, applications, and science, CIRA/Colorado State University.November 2, 2006, Fort Collins, Colorado
  • Luo, Z. J., Stephens, G. L., 2005: Characterizing upper tropospheric temperature, moisture and cloud biases of a climate model using satellite observations, GEWEX 5th International Scientific Conference.June 20-24, 2005, Costa Mesa, CA
  • Stephens, G. L., 2004: On the retrieval of cloud and precipitation properties from space
  • Christi, M. J., Stephens, G. L., 2004: Retrieving profiles of atmoshperic CO2 in clear sky and in the presence of thin cloud using spectroscopy from the near and thermal infrared: A preliminary case study, Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 109, D04316
  • Crisp, D., Atlas, R., Breon, F. M., Brown, L. R., Burrows, J., Chudasama, B., Ciais, P., Connor, B. J., Doney, S. C., Fung, I. Y., Jacob, D. J., Kenyon, D., Kuang, Z., Miller, C. E., O'Brien, D. M., Pawson, S., Pollock, R., Randerson, J. T., Rayner, P. J., Salawitch, R. J., Sander, S. P., Schroll, S., Sen, B., Sprague, G., Stephens, G. L., Tans, P. P., Toon, G. C., Weiss, B., Wennberg, P. O., Wofsy, S. C., Yung, Y. L., 2004: The orbiting carbon observatory (OCO) mission, Advances in Space Research
  • Crisp, D., Atlas, R., Breon, F. M., Brown, L. R., Burrows, J., Christi, M. J., Ciais, P., Connor, B. J., Denning, A. S., Doney, S. C., Feldman, D., Fung, I. Y., Jacob, D. J., Jones, D., Kuang, Z., Miller, C. E., Natraj, V., Nichols, N., O'Brien, D. M., Pawson, S., Randerson, J. T., Rayner, P. J., Salawitch, R. J., Sander, S. P., Sen, B., Stephens, G. L., Tans, P. P., Toon, G. C., Wennberg, P. O., Wofsy, S. C., Yang, Z., Yung, Y. L., 2004: The orbiting carbon observatory (OCO). 1.XCO2 science measurement requirements, Journal of Geophysical Research (in prep)
  • Engelen, R. J., Stephens, G. L., 2003: Information content of infrared satellite sounding measurements with respect to CO2, Intl. J. Remote Sens. (submitted)
  • Jones, A. S., Stephens, G. L., Vonder Haar, T. H., Vukicevic, T., 2003: Low frequency passive microwave satellite data assimilation research for retrieving deep (10-100 cm) soil moisture information (poster), Battlespace Atmospheric and Cloud Impacts on Military Operations (BACIMO) 2003 Conference (NRL).September 9-11, 2003, Monterey, California
  • Benedetti, A., Stephens, G. L., Vukicevic, T., 2003: Variational assimilation of radar reflectivities in a cirrus model, part I: Model description and adjoint sensitivity studies, Quarterly Journal Royal Meteor. Soc., vol. 129, 277-300
  • Benedetti, A., Stephens, G. L., Vukicevic, T., 2003: Variational assimilation of radar reflectivities in a cirrus model, part II: Optimal initialization and model bias estimation, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteor. Soc., vol. 129, 301-319
  • Stephens, G. L., Austin, R. T., Benedetti, A., Boain, R., Durden, S. L., Illingworth, A., Mace, G., Miller, S. D., Mitrescu, C., O'Conner, E., Rossow, W. B., Sassen, K., Vane, D. G., Wang, Z., 2002: The CloudSat mission and the EPS constellation: A new dimension of space-based observations of clouds and precipitation, Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., vol. 83, 1771-1790
  • Miller, S. D., Stephens, G. L., 2001: CloudSat instrument requirements as determined from ECMWF forecasts of global cloudiness, J. Geo. Res., vol. 106, 17713-17733
  • Miller, S. D., Austin, R. T., Stephens, G. L., 2001: GOES 10 cloud optical property retrievals in the context of vertically varying microphysics, Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 106, 17981-17995
  • Engelen, R. J., Denning, A. S., Gurney, K. R., Stephens, G. L., 2001: Global observations of the carbon budget I: Expected satellite capabilities for emission spectroscopy in the EOS and NPOESS eras, Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 106, 20055-20068
  • Denning, A. S., Engelen, R. J., Gurney, K. R., O'Brien, D. M., Rayner, P. J., Stephens, G. L., TransCom Modelers, , 2001: Potential constraints on the global carbon budget using satellite retrievals of atmospheric CO2, 6th International Carbon Dioxide Conference.October 1-5, 2001, Sendai, Japan
  • Engelen, R. J., Denning, A. S., Stephens, G. L., 2001: The effect of CO2 variability on the retrieval of atmospheric temperatures, Geophys. Res. Lett., vol. 28, 3259-3262
  • Miller, S. D., Drumond, C. K., Heidinger, A. K., Partain, P. A., Stephens, G. L., 2000: A multisensor diagnostic cloud property retrieval scheme, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 105, 19955-19971
  • Engelen, R. J., Stephens, G. L., 2000: Reply to comments by J.R. Eyre on "characterization of water vapour retrievals from infrared TOVS radiances and microwave SSM/T-2 radiances, Quart. J. Roy. Meteo. Soc., vol. 126, 1975-1976
  • Engelen, R. J., Stephens, G. L., 1999: Characterization of water vapor retrievals from infrared TOVS radiances and microwave SSM/T-2 radiances, Quart. J. of the Roy. Meteor. Soc., vol. 125, 331-351
  • Engelen, R. J., Stephens, G. L., 1999: Comparison between TOVS/HIRS and SSM/T-2 derived upper-tropospheric humidity, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. , vol. 79, 2748-2751
  • Miller, S. D., Stephens, G. L., 1999: Multiple scattering effects in the lidar pulse stretching problem, JGR Atmospheres, vol. 104, 2205-2219
  • Huffman, A. C. III, Stephens, G. L., Vonder Haar, T. H., 1998: Physical characterization of clouds and precipitation using 94 GHz and 13.8 GHz radar, Battlespace Atmospheric and Cloud Impacts on Military Operations (BACIMO) 1998 Conference.01-03 December 1998, Hanscom Air Force Base, MA
  • Engelen, R. J., Stephens, G. L., Wittmeyer, I. L., 1997: Assessment of reanalysis hydrology and energy budgets: Water vapor and radiative fluxes, WCRP 1st International Conference on Reanalyses.October 27-31, 1997, Silver Spring, MD
  • Vonder Haar, T. H., Cox, S. K., Davis, J. M., Eis, K. E., Forsythe, J. M., Huffman, A. C. III, Petersen, W. A., Reinke, D. L., Schneider, T. L., Stephens, G. L., 1997: Overview and objectives of the DoD Center for Geosciences sponsored "Complex Layered Cloud Experiment" (CLEX), Cloud Impacts on DoD Operations and Systems 1997 Conference.23-25 September 1997, Newport, RI
  • Vonder Haar, T. H., Cox, S. K., Davis, J. M., Eis, K. E., Forsythe, J. M., Huffman, A. C. Iii, Petersen, W. A., Reinke, D. L., Schneider, T. L., Stephens, G. L., 1997: Overview and objectives of the DoD Center for Geosciences sponsored "Complex Layered Cloud Experiment" (CLEX), Proceedings, 1997 Battlespace Atmospherics Conference.2-4 December 1997, San Diego, CA
  • Randel, D. L., Combs, C. L., Greenwald, T. J., Ringerud, M. A., Stephens, G. L., Vonder Haar, T. H., 1996: A new global water vapor dataset, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., vol. 77, 1233-1246
  • Arritt, R. W., Cotton, W. R., Dalu, G. A., Flatau, P. J., Heymsfield, A. H., Stephens, G. L., 1996: Mixed layer model of cirrus cloud: Growth and dissipation mechanism, 1st International TOVS Study Conference: Intercomparison of Satellite Derived Temperature Profiles.,
  • Greenwald, T. J., Christopher, S. A., Stephens, G. L., Vonder Haar, T. H., 1996: Observations of the global characteristics and regional radiative effects of marine cloud liquid water, J. Climate, vol. 8, 2928-2946
  • Vonder Haar, T. H., Combs, C. L., Greenwald, T. J., Randel, D. L., Reinke, D. L., Ringerud, M. A., Stephens, G. L., 1996: Production of a long-term global multi-layer water vapor and liquid water dataset from multi-satellite and radiosonde observations., Cloud Impacts on DoD Operations and Systems (CIDOS)., Hanscom AFB, MA
  • Jackson, D. L., Stephens, G. L., 1995: A Study of SSM/I derived columnar water vapor over the global oceans, J. Climate, vol. 8, 2025-2038
  • Engelen, R. J., Stephens, G. L., 1995: Infarred radiative transfer in the 9.6um band: Application to TOVS ozone retrieval, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 102, 6929-6939
  • Fuller, K. A., Cahill, T. A., Flocchini, R. G., Malm, W. C., Stephens, G. L., 1995: Relationship between IMPROVE Program parameters, aerosol-modified albedo, and climate forcing, J. Geophys. Res. (to be submitted)
  • Stephens, G. L., Jackson, D. L., 1994: A comparison of SSM/I and TOVS data over the global oceans, Meteor. Atmos. Phys., vol. 54, 183-210
  • Fuller, K. A., Cahill, T. A., Flocchini, R. G., Malm, W. C., Stephens, G. L., 1994: Relationship between IMPROVE Program parameters, aerosol-modified albedo, and climate forcing, Proceedings, AGU/AWMA International Specialty Conference on Aerosols and Atmospheric Optics.,
  • Jackson, D. L., Stephens, G. L., 1993: A climatological study of SSM/I derived precipitable water over the global oceans, J. Clim. & Appl. Meteor. (accepted)
  • Greenwald, T. J., Jackson, D. L., Stephens, G. L., Vonder Haar, T. H., 1993: A physical retrieval of cloud liquid water over the global oceans using SSM/I observations, J. Geophys. Res. , vol. 98, 18471-18488
  • Leute IV, Frank, A., Stephens, G. L., 1993: An analysis of simulated and actual DMSP SSM/T-2 brightness temperatures
  • Cornwall, C. R., Combs, C. L., Cox, S. K., Davis, J. M., Stephens, G. L., 1993: CSU radiation pilot study for TOGA COARE
  • Stephens, G. L., O'Brien, D. M., 1993: Entrophy and Climate I: ERBE Observations of the Entropy Production of the Earth, Quart. J. R. Meteor. Soc., vol. 119, 121-152
  • Stephens, G. L., 1993: Final Report (in progress)
  • Stephens, G. L., Slingo, A., Webb, M. J., 1993: On measuring the greenhouse effects of earth
  • Webb, M. J., Slingo, A., Stephens, G. L., 1993: Seasonal variations of the clear-sky greenhouse effect: The role of changes in atmospheric temperatures and humidities, Clim. Dynam., vol. 9, 117-129
  • Stephens, G. L., Dazlich, D. A., Randall, D. A., Tjemkes, S. A., Wittmeyer, I. L., 1993: The earth's radiation budget and its relation to atmospheric hydrology. Part III: Comparison of observations with a GCM, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 98, 4931-4950
  • Stephens, G. L., Tjemkes, S. A., 1993: Water vapor and its role on the earth's greenhouse, Aust. J. of Physics, vol. 46, 149-166
  • Jackson, D. L., Stephens, G. L., 1992: On the role of SSM/I derived precipitable water over the globe and tropical pacific
  • Fuller, K. A., O'Brien, D. M., Stephens, G. L., 1992: Progress in Visibility Modeling, ISSN No. 0737-5352-25
  • Stephens, G. L., Greenwald, T. J., 1991: Observations of the earth's radiation budget in relation to atmospheric hydrology. Part I: Clear sky greenhouse effect and water vapor feedback, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 96, 15,311-15,324
  • Stephens, G. L., Greenwald, T. J., 1991: Observations of the earth's radiation budget in relation to atmospheric hydrology. Part II: Cloud effects and cloud feedback, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 96, 15,325-15,340
  • Tjemkes, S. A., Stephens, G. L., 1991: Space borne observations of precipitable water: Part I SSM/I observations and algorithm, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 96, 10,941-10,954
  • Gabriel, P. M., Stephens, G. L., Tsay, S. C., 1989: A global formulation of multi-dimensional radiative transfer, J. Atmos Sci.
  • Flatau, P. J., Cotton, W. R., Dalu, G. A., Heymsfield, A. H., Stephens, G. L., 1989: Mixed layer model of cirrus cloud: Growth and dissipation mechanism, Symposium on the Role of the Clouds in Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Climate.,
  • Tsay, S. C., Gabriel, P. M., Stephens, G. L., 1989: Radiative transfer in horizontally inhomogeneous atmospheres: II. Application to earth radiation budget, IAMAP Conference, 3rd Session.August 1989,
  • Gabriel, P. M., Stephens, G. L., Tsay, S-C., 1989: Radiative transfer in horizontally inhomogeneous atmospheres: Part I: A two-stream model, IAMAP Conference.August 1989,
  • Stephens, G. L., Gabriel, P. M., Tsay, S. C., 1989: Statistical radiative transport in one-dimensional media, J. Transport. Theor. & Stat. Phys.
  • Tsay, S. C., Gabriel, P. M., Stephens, G. L., 1989: The direct transmission of radiation in multi-dimensional media, J. Atmos. Sci
  • Tsay, S. C., Stephens, G. L., 1988: An investigation of aerosol microstructure on visual air quality, 1nd Inter. Conf. on Atmos. Sci. and Appl. to Air Quality, Science Council of Japan.3-7 October 1988, Tokyo, Japan
  • Tsay, S. C., Greenwald, T. J., Stephens, G. L., 1988: An investigation of particle microstructure on the computation of path radiance and contrast, J. Atmos. Environ. .
  • Greenwald, T. J., Stephens, G. L., 1988: Application of a doubling-adding radiation model to visibility problems
  • Tsay, S. C., Stephens, G. L., 1988: Mie computation for coated spheres: Description of codes and application
  • Tsay, S. C., Cox, S. K., Davis, J. M., McKee, T. B., Stephens, G. L., 1987: Backward Monte Carlo computations of radiation propagating in horizontally inhomogeneous media. Part I: Description of codes.
  • Stephens, G. L., Greenwald, T. J., 1987: The method of orders of scattering applied to visibility studies
  • Stephens, G. L., Greenwald, T. J., 1986: On the visibility through uniform haze layers, Proceedings APCA International Specialty Conf..7-10 September 1986, Jackson Hole, WY
  • Stephens, G. L., 1986: The effects of low orders of scattering on the visibility through uniform hazes, J. Air. Poll. Control Assn., vol. Sept. 87, 261-275
  • Stephens, G. L.: A GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATER CONTENT FROM PRESENT DAY MICROWAVE SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS
  • Stephens, G. L., Engelen, R.: A MULTISENSOR SATELLITE STUDY OF UPPER TROPOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR AND CLOUDS
  • Stephens, G. L.: ASSESSMENT OF A GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF PRECIPITABLE WATER CONTENT FROM PRESENT DAY SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS
  • Stephens, G. L., O'Brien, D. M.: CARBON DIOXIDE MEASUREMENTS FROM AN AIRBORNE SPECTROMETER IN SUPPORT OF OPERATIONAL TEMPERATURE SOUNDINGS AND THE STUDY OF THE CARBON CYCLE
  • Stephens, G. L., Engelen, R.: IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF MEASUREMENTS OF CO2 FROM SPACE, INCLUDING CrIS AND HIRS/(A)MSU
  • Stephens, G. L., Engelen., R., Gabriel, P. M.: INFORMATION CONTENT OF VISIBLE AND INFRARED RADIANCE DATA: TOWARD DEFINITION OF NEW GENERATION GEOSTATIONARY IMAGERS
  • Stephens, G. L.: OBSERVATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INVESTIGATING/MONITORING CLOUD/CLIMATE INTERATIONS
  • Stephens, G. L., Cox, S.: SURFACE RADIATION PILOT STUDY FOR TOGA COARE
  • Stephens, G. L., Vonder Haar, T. H.: THE ROLE OF ATMOSPHERIC WATER CONTENT IN CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE (CLOUDSAT)
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