Dr. Philip Cunningham, Ph.D.
University at Albany, State University of New York, 2000

(850) 644-4334      http://helmholtz.met.fsu.edu

Assistant Professor

Areas of interest include dynamic and synoptic meteorology and geophysical/environmental fluid dynamics, with a view towards describing and understanding flows on scales ranging from 10s of meters to 1000s of kilometers. The ultimate goal of these studies is to bridge the gap between observations and theory, and the approach taken is to combine data from observations with theoretical analysis and numerical simulations using both simple models on single-processor workstations and highly complex models on massively parallel machines. Current research projects include: the breakdown of dynamical balance and the generation of inertia–gravity waves associated with fronts and jets in the upper troposphere; the dynamics of upper-tropospheric precursors to extratropical cyclogenesis; coupled atmosphere–forest fire modelling, exploring the fundamental dynamical behaviour of both the fire itself and its associated smoke plume; generation and evolution of coherent vortices in rotating, stratified turbulence.

Selected Publications

For PDF reprints, please go to http://helmholtz.met.fsu.edu/pubs.html.
• Linn, R. R., and P. Cunningham, 2005: Numerical simulations of grass fires using a coupled atmosphere-fire model: Basic fire behavior and dependence on wind speed. Journal of Geophysical Research, in review.
• Cunningham, P., S. L. Goodrick, M. Y. Hussaini, and R. R. Linn, 2005: Coherent vortical structures in numerical simulations of buoyant plumes from wildland fires. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 14, 61-75.
• Cunningham, P., and D. Keyser, 2004: Dynamics of jet streaks in a stratified quasi-geostrophic atmosphere: Steady-state representations. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 130, 1579-1609.
• Krishnamurti, T. N., P. Cunningham, and K. Rajendran, 2004: Anomalous gradient winds in the subtropical jet stream and interpretations of forecast failures. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, DOI: 10.1007/s00703-004-0075-x.
• Cunningham, P., and D. Keyser, 2002: Jet Streaks. Pp. 1043-1055 in Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences. Eds. J. Holton, J. Pyle, and J. Curry, Academic Press.
• Cunningham, P., and D. Keyser, 2000: Analytical and numerical modeling of jet streaks: Barotropic dynamics. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 126, 3187-3217.
• Cunningham, P., and D. Keyser, 1999: Frontogenesis and frontal motion due to confluent deformation with a translating dilation axis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 125, 2563-2573.