Welcome!

Welcome to the homepage of the Atmospheric Turbulence Group in the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.

The turbulent transport of momentum, heat, water vapor, greenhouse gases, and particulate matter in the lowest part of the atmosphere is critical for many processes in the Earth system. Despite its importance, turbulence has sometimes been called “the last unsolved problem of classical physics” due to the nonlinearity of the governing equations. Research in our group focuses on advancing the fundamental knowledge of the structure and dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer, turbulence, and interactions between Earth’s surfaace and the atmosphere. We use observations, numerical simulations, and theory to address scientific questions of importance for weather, climate, hydrology, air quality, and human health.

Dr. Scott T. Salesky

Associate Professor
School of Meteorology
University of Oklahoma

Interested in joining us? Visit this page if you’re interested in joining our group.

About our research

Our research group focuses on advancing the present understanding of turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer using observations, numerical simulations, and theory. Recently, our work has focused on large-scale organization in both the daytime convective boundary layer and the nocturnal stable boundary layer, atmospheric boundary layers over complex surface topography, departures from classical Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (which relates turbulent fluxes to vertical gradients of mean quantities), and the effects of entrainment on scalar transport in the convective boundary layer. We also are investigating cloud turbulence, with an emphasis on developing subgrid-scale models that accurately capture interactions between turbulence and cloud microphysical processes. Another research focus is the dynamics of particle-laden flows, with an emphasis on aeolian transport.



News

July 10, 2023  We have an opening for a postdoctoral scholar, focusing on numerical modeling of cloud microphysical processes in large eddy simulation. See the announcement for more information.

April 20, 2023  Congratulations to Kendra Gillis on her successful M.S. defense!

February 27, 2023  Paper on uniform momentum zones in unstably stratified flows has been published in JFM.

February 01, 2023  Our article on random errors in the stable boundary layer has been published in JAS.

November 11, 2022  Brian Greene has succesfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations, Dr. Greene!

… see all News