Gavin Gong

Research Interests      Graduate Students     Education      Teaching     

Curriculum Vitae      Publications and Presentations

Research Interests

I am a hydroclimatologist, interested primarily in the interaction between hydrologic and atmospheric phenomena, and their impact on climate variability and predictability. In particular, I currently conduct research on snow hydrology and physical relationships between snow and climate, using statistical analyses and multi-dimensional climate models. Related interests include the development and management of water resource systems, mathematical modeling of hydrodynamic flow and surface water quality, and how these environmental systems are impacted by climate variations.

Graduate Students

Our research group seeks to identify physically-based causal relationships amidst an extremely complex climate system. To accomplish this, we analyze large environmental datasets, and conduct simulation experiments using sophisticated models of the Earth’s atmosphere and land surface waterbodies. Our work is motivated by environmental concerns such as climatic interannual-decadal variability and anthropogenic change, and achieved via rigorous quantitative analysis.

Incoming graduate students typically have an academic background in either environmental engineering, civil engineering, environmental science or atmospheric science. Many are familiar with hydrology or climatology, and some are comfortable with computational programming and graphical presentation. All students are interested in furthering their knowledge of these subjects and skills.

Education

·   Ph.D. in Hydrology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, June 2003

·   M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, May 1994

·   B.E. in Civil Engineering, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, NY May 1991

Teaching

·   EAEE E6240 Physical Hydrology, Fall 2008

·   CIEE E4252 Environmental Engineering, Fall 2008

·   CIEE E3250 Hydrosystems Engineering, Spring 2009

In development:   Landsurface-atmosphere interaction,  Climate processes and modeling

Journal Publications

Ghatak, D., G. Gong and A. Frei, 2009.  North American Temperature, Snowfall and Snow Depth Response to Winter Climate modes. Journal of Climate, in review.

Ge, Y., G. Gong and A. Frei, 2009.  Physical Mechanisms Linking the Winter Pacific - North American Teleconnection Pattern to Spring North American Snow Depth. Journal of Climate, accepted pending revisions.

Ge, Y. and G. Gong, 2009.  North American Snow Depth and Climate Teleconnection Patterns. Journal of Climate, 22: 217-233.

Ge, Y. and G. Gong, 2008.  Observed Differences between Snow Extent and Snow Depth Variability at Regional/Continental Scales. Journal of Climate, 21: 1066-1082.

Sobolowski, S., G. Gong and M. Ting, 2007.  Northern Hemisphere Winter Climate Variability: Response to North American Snow Cover Anomalies and Orography.  Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L16825, doi: 10.1029/2007GL030573.

Cherry, J.E., L.B. Tremblay, M. Stieglitz, G. Gong and S.J. Dery, 2007.  Development of the Pan-Arctic Snowfall Reconstruction: new land-based solid precipitation estimates for 1940-1999. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 8: 1243-1263.

Gong, G., J. Cohen, D. Entekhabi, and Y. Ge, 2007.  Hemispheric-Scale Climate Response to Northern Eurasia Land Surface Characteristics and Snow Anomalies. Global and Planetary Change, 56: 359-370.

Frei, A and G. Gong, 2005.  Decadal to Century Scale Trends in North American Snow Extent in Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models.  Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L18502, doi: 10.1029/2005GL023394.

Gong, G., D. Entekhabi, J. Cohen and D.A. Robinson, 2004.  Sensitivity of Atmospheric Response to Modeled Snow Anomaly Characteristics. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109: D06107, doi: 10.1029/2003JD004160.

Gong, G., D. Entekhabi and J. Cohen, 2004. Orographic Constraints on a Modeled Siberian Snow – Arctic Oscillation Teleconnection Pathway.  Journal of Climate, 17: 1176-1189.

Gong, G., D. Entekhabi and J. Cohen, 2003.  Relative Impacts of Siberian and North American Snow Anomalies on the Northern Hemisphere Mode.  Geophysical Research Letters, 30(16), 1848, doi: 10.1029/2003GL017749.

Gong, G., D. Entekhabi and J. Cohen, 2003.  Modeled Northern Hemisphere Winter Climate Response to Realistic Siberian Snow Anomalies.  Journal of Climate, 16: 3917-3931.

Gong, G., D. Entekhabi and J. Cohen, 2002.  A Large-Ensemble Model Study of the Wintertime AO/NAO and the Role of Interannual Snow Perturbations.  Journal of Climate, 15: 3488-3499.

Seigneur, C., P. Pai, M. Gerath, D. Mitchell, G. Hamby, G. Gong, C. Whipple, and L. Levin, 1997.   Probabilistic Assessment of Regional Mercury Exposure. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 97: 159-168.

Gong, G., D. Entekhabi and G.D. Salvucci, 1994.  Regional and Seasonal Estimates of Hourly Fractional Storm Coverage Based on Station Precipitation Observations.  Journal of Climate, 7: 1495-1505.

Conference Proceedings

Sobolowski, S., G. Gong and M. Ting, 2007.  Northern Hemisphere Winter Climate Variability: Response to North American Snow Cover Anomalies and Orography.  Proceedings of the 64th Annual Eastern Snow Conference, May 29 - June 1, 2007, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, 191-198.

Frei, A., G. Gong, D.A. Robinson, G. Choi, D. Ghatak and Y. Ge, 2006.  20th Century North American Snow Extent Trends: Climate Change or Natural Climate Variability?  Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Eastern Snow Conference, June 7-9 2006, Newark, DE, 39-42.

Ge, Y. and G. Gong, 2006.  Observed Differences between Snow Extent and Snow Depth Variability at Continental Scales.  Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Eastern Snow Conference, June 7-9 2006, Newark, DE, 45-49.

Gong, G., K. Hickey and M. Higgins, 1998.  Hydrodynamic Flow and Water Quality Simulation of a Narrow River System Influenced by Wide Tidal Marshes.  Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, October 22-24, 1997, Alexandria, VA, 679-692.

Hickey, K., M. Gerath, J.D. Bowen and G. Gong, 1998.  Design of Field Program and Use of Field Measurements to Calibrate a Hydrodynamic and Water Quality Model of an Estuarine River System.  Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, October 22-24, 1997, Alexandria, VA, 737-751.

Gong, G. and J.D. Bowen, 1996.  The Role of Circulation Patterns on the Simulation of Constituent Transport in San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico.  Proceedings of the ASCE 4th International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, October 26-28, 1995, San Diego, CA, 518-529.

Wolf, L.J. and G. Gong, 1996.  Hydrodynamic Model and Sensitivity Analysis for San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico.   Proceedings of the ASCE 4th International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, October 26-28, 1995, San Diego, CA, 505-517.

Conference Presentations

American Geophysical Union Fall 2008 Meeting, December 15-19, 2008, San Francisco, CA. (3)

2008 NOAA Climate Prediction Program for the Americas PI Meeting, September 29 - October 1, 2008, Silver Spring, MD. (1)

2008 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, April 15-19, 2008, Boston, MA. (1)

American Metorological Society 88th Annual Meeting, January 20-24, 2008, New Orleans, LA. (1)

CMOS-CGU-AMS Congress 2007, May 28 - June 1, 2007, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. (1)

American Geophysical Union Fall 2006 Meeting, December 11-15, 2006, San Francisco, CA. (3)

International Symposium on Cryospheric Indicators of Global Climate Change, August 21-25, 2006. Cambridge, England. (1)

63rd Annual Eastern Snow Conference, June 7-9 2006, Newark, DE. (2)

Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, March 7-11, 2006, Chicago IL. (1)

American Geophysical Union Fall 2005 Meeting, December 5-9, 2005, San Francisco, CA. (1)

62nd Annual Eastern Snow Conference, June 8-10, 2005, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. (1)

American Geophysical Union Fall 2004 Meeting, December 13-17, 2004, San Francisco, CA. (2)

American Geophysical Union 2004 Joint Assembly, May 17-21, 2004, Montreal, Canada. (1)

American Geophysical Union Fall 2003 Meeting, December 8-12, 2003, San Francisco, CA. (1)

American Geophysical Union Fall 2002 Meeting, December 6-10, 2002, San Francisco, CA. (2)

27th Annual Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop, October 21-25, 2002, Fairfax, VA. (1)

American Geophysical Union Fall 2001 Meeting, December 10-14, 2001, San Francisco, CA. (1)

First International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, May 18-21, 1998, Monterey, CA. (1)

WEFTEC '97, the Water Environment Federation Annual Conference and Exposition, October 18-22, 1997, Chicago, IL. (1)

Fourth International Conference on Precipitation, April 26-28, 1993, Iowa City, IA. (1)