Researchers

Earth sciences / LORENZ, EDWARD N.

Position

Professor Emeritus, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.

Research interests

Meteorology

Professor Emeritus Edward N. Lorenz has been investigating the extent to which weather is predictable. Investigations are based largely on mathematical models of the atmosphere. The key property is the rate at which separate solutions of the model equations diverge from one another.

Professor Lorenz is also studying the long-term properties of highly simplified mathematical models of the atmosphere and similar systems. Such models are generally constructed by taking the atmospheric equations in spectral form and discarding everything which is not essential for studying a particular phenomenon of interest. Certain properties of the atmosphere that also appear in the models are found to be readily explainable in the context of the models; one such property is the presence of approximate geostrophic equilibrium. The question as to whether the explanation that holds for the model also holds for the atmosphere may then be addressed.

Finally, he is studying the properties of some simple systems that are not directly derived from the atmospheric equations. These should lead to a better understanding of the behavior of models in general.

Prizes and awards

Crafoord Prize 1983 "for fundamental contributions to the field of geophysical hydrodynamics, which in a unique way have contributed to a deeper understanding of the large-scale motions of the atmosphere and the sea"

Publications

The Essence of Chaos (The Jessie and John Danz Lecture Series) by Edward N. Lorenz.