Xavier J. Levine

Background

My research is motivated by the need to better understand Earth’s atmospheric circulation, and its influence on and response to regional climate change. I devise and test mechanisms

of atmospheric circulation variability by combining physical theories and statistical methods on an array of geophysical datasets, including numerical models and observational datasets

My research uses atmospheric fluid dynamics and its interaction with land surface and oceans to explain present-day regional climate and predict its sensitivity to various climate forcings (e.g. insolation change on orbital timescales, greenhouse gas concentration change, etc.). I identify environmental factors--local or remote--that are most important in driving regional climate trends, and quantify the influence of particular regions on the global climate variability, both in the present-day climate and in a warming world.

I have become deeply interested in the use of machine learning and data assimilation approaches based on observational data and high-resolution simulations. Other academic interests include past climates (e.g. Snowball Earth), and climate on extraterrestrial planets or satellites (i.e. atmospheric circulations on Titan or Jupiter). In my spare time, I play saxophone in a band, travel back home to the French Alps, and explore the trails of the closest mountain ranges.