Dr. Kristopher B. Karnauskas
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Division of Ocean and Climate Physics
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory
Columbia University

Email: krisk@ldeo.columbia.edu
Phone: (845) 365–8531

B.S. 2004 University of Wisconsin–Madison [ link ]
Ph.D. 2007 University of Maryland–College Park [ link ]

Click here for C.V. [ PDF ]

I'm currently interested in the coupled ocean–atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific and its role in Central and North American climate variability on timescales from seasons to centuries. I use observations and models to understand the mechanisms governing past changes and speculate on what they mean for the future. Below is a list of my publications arranged by theme.

Equatorial Pacific

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., R. Murtugudde, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2007: The effect of the Galápagos Islands on the equatorial Pacific cold tongue. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 37(5), 1266–1281.
>> Also featured in March 2007 Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88, Papers of Note, pp. 302–303.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., R. Murtugudde, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2008: The effect of the Galápagos Islands on ENSO in forced ocean and hybrid coupled models. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38(11), 2519–2534.
>> Also featured in July 2008 Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, Papers of Note, pp. 966–967.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., R. Seager, A. Kaplan, Y. Kushnir, and M.A. Cane (2009) Observed strengthening of the zonal sea surface temperature gradient across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. J. Climate: In press.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., R. Seager, A. Kaplan, Y. Kushnir, M.A. Cane, and R. Murtugudde (2009) On the accuracy of twentieth century trends in equatorial Pacific SST simulated by IPCC AR4 coupled GCMs. In preparation.

Northeastern tropical Pacific and Central America

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., and A.J. Busalacchi, 2009: Mechanisms for the interannual variability of SST in the east Pacific warm pool. J. Climate, 22(6), 1375–1392.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., and A.J. Busalacchi, 2009: The role of SST in the east Pacific warm pool in the interannual variability of Central American rainfall. J. Climate, 22(10), 2605–2623.

[ PDF ] Osgood, D., A. Giannini, J. Hansen, E. Holthaus, A. Ines, Y. Kaheil, K. Karnauskas, M. McLaurin, A. Robertson, K. Shirley, and M. Vicarelli, 2009: Designing Index–Based Weather Insurance for Farmers In Central America, Final Report to the Commodity Risk Management Group, ARD, World Bank. Tech. Rep. No. 09–01. International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Palisades, NY, USA, 79 pp.

[ PDF ] (Contributing author) Hellmuth, M.E., D.E. Osgood, U. Hess, A. Moorhead, and H. Bhojwani (eds), 2009: Index insurance and climate risk: Prospects for development and disaster management. Climate and Society No. 2. International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia University, New York, USA.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., A.J. Busalacchi, and R. Murtugudde, 2008: Low–frequency variability and remote forcing of gap winds over the east Pacific warm pool. J. Climate, 21(19), 4901–4918.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., and A.J. Busalacchi (2009) The effect of the Central American gap winds on the interannual variability of SST in the east Pacific warm pool. In preparation.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., and A.J. Busalacchi (2009) The east Pacific warm pool in CMIP3 models. In preparation.

Miscellaneous

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., 2006: The African meridional OLR contrast as a diagnostic for Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and implications for predictability. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33(6), L06809.

[ PDF ] Karnauskas, K.B., A. Ruiz–Barradas, S. Nigam, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2008: North American droughts in ERA–40 global and NCEP North American regional reanalyses: A Palmer Drought Severity Index perspective. J. Climate, 21(10), 2102–2123.

Modified 3/24/09