Dr Roland Young

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics.

My research focuses on the atmospheric dynamics and climate of other planets in the Solar System. My main expertise is in planetary climate modelling of Mars and Jupiter, analysis of spacecraft observations (particularly visible and thermal infrared) from several historical and current missions, and data assimilation. I am also interested in geophysical fluid dynamics (particularly rotating tank laboratory experiments), extrasolar planets, and chaos in the context of weather.

I obtained my DPhil in Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics from the University of Oxford in 2009, as part of the Geophysical and Planetary Fluid Dynamics group in the Department of Physics. After briefly working in the Centre for the Analysis of Time Series at the London School of Economics, I returned to Oxford as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant until 2017, when I moved to the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique in Paris as a CNRS Research Scientist. My final position before joining the University of Aberdeen was Assistant Professor (later Associate Professor) between 2019 and 2023 in the Department of Physics at United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE. During my time there I led the Planetary Science research group at the National Space Science and Technology Center.

External Memberships

Participating Scientist, Emirates Mars Mission

Co-Investigator, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter ACS instrument

Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society

Member, Institute of Physics

Associate Fellow, Royal Meteorological Society

Research Overview

Planetary atmospheres are complex nonlinear systems whose observed behaviour can be understood and predicted using a hierarchy of numerical models, from idealised models of individual physical processes to global climate models. My research uses numerical simulations and spacecraft observations to understand their dynamic atmospheres.

Since 2016 I have focused on studying Mars' atmosphere using the Mars Planetary Climate Model (formerly LMD Mars GCM), observations from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ESA/Roscosmos' ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, the Emirates Mars Mission, and various landers and rovers, and combining these using data assimilation. I am a Participating Scientist with the Emirates Mars Mission, and a Co-Investigator for the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter ACS instrument. Mars' atmosphere exhibits a complicated interplay of weather, surface-air interactions, cloud and convective processes, seasonal and diurnal cycles, and a critical role for airborne dust. Data assimilation is a powerful technique used to combine observations with a numerical model in a statistically rigorous way. It is a cornerstone of Earth atmospheric science, and is an increasingly important tool for studying Mars' atmosphere since its first use during the 1990s, particularly for understanding wind, which is very difficult to measure systematically.

I am also interested in turbulence and dynamics in Jupiter's atmosphere, which I have studied using the Jason general circulation model and by analysing visible images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The model simulates the atmospheric circulation and climate in the troposphere and lower stratosphere of that planet. All four of the giant planets have no solid surfaces and are different examples of rapidly-rotating, spherical balls of fluid forced by differential heating. Studying convection and turbulence on the giant planets helps us to understand these phenomena in the more complicated environment of our own planet. Using a method developed for laboratory experiments which tracks features between pairs of images, I built global maps of Jupiter's horizontal winds at cloud level and studied the exchange of energy between small and large scales.

My DPhil work was about simulating the rotating annulus, a laboratory representation of planetary atmospheres, and working with similar geophysical fluid dynamics experiments. We can use the annulus to study methods for forecasting or data assimilation in current use or in development using a real fluid with a non-idealised model under laboratory conditions. The laboratory is a bridge between analytical systems, where new methods are first tested, and large atmospheric models, where they are eventually applied.

Some specific past and present topics are listed below. More detail about some of these can be found on my personal web page.

Current Research

• Mars atmospheric data assimilation (ESS 2021, JGR 2022, GRL 2022)
• Observing System Simulation Experiments for future Mars observation platforms
• Studying Mars' wind structure by tracking clouds in UV/visible imaging
• Fractal analysis of Mars' topography
• Wind stress and dust lifting at Mars' surface using reanalysis datasets
• β-plane turbulence in the Turin TurLab large-scale rotating tank experiment

Past Research

Dormant:

• Simulating moist convection, turbulence, and the energy cycle in Jupiter's atmosphere using the Jason GCM
• Atmospheric turbulence at the Insight lander site on Mars
• Shadowing the rotating annulus experiment (arXiv 1, arXiv 2)

Complete:

• Cloud-tracking analysis of Jupiter's turbulent cloud layer using Cassini ISS imaging (Icarus 2014, Nature Physics 2017)
• Mars atmospheric phenomenology (GRL 2022, GRL 2023)
• Simulating Jupiter's dry atmosphere and cloud dynamics using Jason (Icarus 2019a, Icarus 2019b)
• Predictability of the thermally-driven rotating annulus using MORALS (NPG 2008, QJRMS 2016)
• Data assimilation in the rotating annulus experiment using analysis correction (QJRMS 2013)
• Zonal jet formation in the LEGI-Coriolis large-scale rotating tank experiment (Phys. Fluids 2015)
• Mars Modelling Information Tool for Engineering (ESA 2017)
• Chaotic dynamics of the thermally-driven rotating annulus (Physica D 2008)

Collaborations

Past and present:

• University of Oxford (giant planet modelling, cloud tracking, rotating tank experiments)
• Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (Mars data assimilation, giant planet modelling)
• United Arab Emirates University (Mars data assimilation, EMM science)
• Emirates Mars Mission science team (Mars data assimilation)
• ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter ACS science team (Mars data assimilation)
• Space Science Institute (Mars data assimilation, cloud tracking)
• TurLab, Turin (rotating tank experiments)
• LEGI-Coriolis (rotating tank experiments)
• University of South Florida (cloud tracking, rotating tank experiments)
• The Open University (Mars data assimilation)
• London School of Economics (rotating annulus assimilation)

Teaching Responsibilities

MX4555 Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory II (2023-2024 Second Half-Session)

PX5510 Statistics and Time Series Analysis (2023-2024 Second Half-Session)