PhD work may improve weather prediction
Grad Profile

November 16, 2007

Grad Profile by Angelina Costain

Since her arrival at the U of S some years ago, Tatyana Chshyokkova’s objective, in terms of what she was to study, has been up in the air – literally.

A PhD student in the Dept. of Physics and Engineering Physics, with a specialization in Atmospheric Physics, Chshyokkova’s thesis involved conducting studies, using radar and other instruments, in the mesosphere, a region 50 to 90 km above the surface of Earth.

Her work involved exploring the source of wind variability in that part of the planet’s atmosphere.

While scientists have known for some time that there are fluctuations, or oscillations, in the wind of the mesosphere throughout the day, and over the course of many days, the source of that variation is not known. There are theories, however, and Chshyokkova, born and raised in Kazakhstan, concentrated on the one that seemed most plausible for her thesis: that the variation is caused from planetary waves that are generated in the lower atmosphere and propagated upward.

After collecting and studying data from several specialized instruments, Chshyokkova concluded that not all mesospheric variability could be explained by planetary waves from the lower atmosphere. There are other sources, she explained, for example inter-hemispheric coupling where waves originate in the other hemisphere and, with favourable conditions, propagate across the equator.

The study of coupling processes (interactions of different atmospheric layers on a global scale) between different atmospheric regions was another aspect of Chshyokkova’s study. A better understanding of these processes, she said, may lead to improvements in atmospheric models of weather prediction and prognosis of climate change.

Having successfully defended her thesis, Chshyokkova is now working on the CANCAC project (The Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change). She will be studying vertical coupling over Eureka, Nunavut. Her future, therefore, is apparently still up in the air.