Research

Cloud and convection parameters are a large source of uncertainty in climate models. Using data assimilation and other methods, I compare/combine climate model simulations and paleoclimate records to constrain the best suite of cloud/convection parameters. Using this new suite of parameters, climate models will better simulate future climate change.

Publications:

Patterson, E.W., M. L. Griffiths, A. N. LeGrande, J. E. Tierney, G. S. Elsaesser, C. M. Colose, D. T. Litchmore, Using paleoclimate data to constrain clouds and convective parameterizations in GISS E2.1. (in prep).

I use stalagmites from Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia to reconstruct hydroclimate change since the Late Pleistocene. I measure a variety of proxies (trace elements, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, and calcium isotopes) to generate records of local rainfall change and regional monsoon strength.

Publications:

Patterson, E.W., K.R. Johnson, M.L. Griffiths, C.W. Kinsley, D. McGee, X. Du, T. Pico, A. Wolf, V. Ersek, R. Mortlock, K.A. Yamoah, T.N. Bui, M.X. Tran, Q. Do-Trong, T.V. Vo, and T.H. Dinh, 2023. Glacial changes in sea level modulated millennia-scale variability of the Southeast Asian autumn monsoon rainfall. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(27), e2219489120. (Link)

Reinvestigating the controls on oxygen isotopes

Oxygen isotopes are the most popular and widely used proxy in speleothem science. I am investigating whether prior calcite precipitation (PCP), a well-known driver of trace elements and carbon isotopes, also affects speleothem oxygen isotopes.  

Calcium Isotopes

Because of their potential to semi-quantitatively reconstruct past rainfall amount, calcium isotopes are a promising new proxy in speleothem science. I am developing new Ca isotope records from stalagmites from Southeast Asia to produce some of the first semi-quantitative estimates of past rainfall change in the region. 

Publications:

Patterson, E. W., V. Skiba, A. Wolf, M. L. Griffiths, D. McGee, T. N. Bùi, M. X. Trần, T. H. Đinh, Q. Đỗ-Trọng, G. R. Goldsmith, V. Ersek, and K. R. Johnson. Local hydroclimate alters interpretation of speleothem 𝛿18O records. Nature Communications, 15 (1), 9064 . (Link)

Patterson, E.W., A.A. Akhtar, K.R. Johnson, and M.L. Griffiths, D. McGee, A semi-quantitative estimate of sea-level-driven rainfall change in central Vietnam., (in prep).

I generate trace element (Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca) and oxygen isotope records from corals in Northern Australia to reconstruct hydroclimate and environmental variability since the 1700s.

Publications:

Patterson, E.W., J.E. Cole, K. Dyez, L. Vetter, and J.M. Lough. Pacific‐Driven Salinity Variability in the Timor Passage Since 1777. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 38(12), p.e2023PA004702. (Link)