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Sun Wong

Photo of Sun Wong

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 233-302B

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

(818) 354-1007

Curriculum Vitae:

Click here

Member of:

Atmospheric Physics And Weather

Biography

My research interests are mainly on analyses of climate and weather processes using both satellite-based observations and models. My research covers many topics that include Saharan dust transport and radiative effect, water and energy balances in the atmosphere, variability of Indian summer monsoon, tropopause variability, stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, and connection among clouds, precipitation and large-scale dynamical systems. I am a scientist at the JPL Atmospheric Physics and Weather group and responsible for validation of AIRS temperature and specific humidity retrievals against radiosonde measurements.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Physics, Columbia University (1999)
  • M.A. and M.Phil. in Physics, Columbia University (1995)
  • B.S. in Physics (with honor), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (1992)

Professional Experience

  • Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, (2009-present).
  • Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Atmospheric Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX., (2005-2009).
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, (2003-2005).
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Atmospheric Science Research Center, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY, (1999-2003).

Community Service

  • Convener and chair of the session "The Role of Dust in the Global Climate System" in 2007 AGU spring meeting in Acapulco, Mexico (2007)
  • Reviewer for Science, Geophys. Res. Lett. (AGU), J. Geophys. Res. (AGU), J. Appl. Met. and Clim. (AMS), Atmos. Env., and Annales Geophysicae (EGU) (2005 - Present)

Research Interests

  • Aerosol Climate Effects
  • Hydrological and Energy Cycles
  • Atmospheric Tracer Transports
  • Climate Dynamics

Selected Awards

  • Article "Suppression of deep convection over the tropical North Atlantic by the Saharan Air Layer" highlighted by Geophys. Res. Lett, (2005)

Selected Publications

  1. Wong, S., C. M. Naud, B. H. Kahn, L. Wu, and E. J. Fetzer (2018), Coupling of precipitation and cloud structures in oceanic extratropical cyclones to large-scale moisture transport. J. Climate, 31, 9565-9584, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0115.1.
  2. Wong, S., and A. Behrangi (2018), Regime dependent differences in surface freshwater exchange estimates over the ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45,doi:10.1002/2017GL075567.
  3. Wu, L., S. Wong, T. Wang, and G. Huffman (2018): Moist convection: a key to tropical wave-moisture interaction in Indian monsoon intraseasonal oscillation. Climate Dyn., in press.
  4. Wong, S., A. D. Del Genio, T. Wang, B. Kahn, E. J. Fetzer, and T. S. L'Ecuyer (2016), Responses of tropical ocean clouds and precipitation to the large-scale circulation: Atmospheric water budget-related phase space and dynamical regimes, J. Climate, 29, 7127-7142, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0712.1
  5. Wong, S., and J. Teixeira (2016), Extreme weather and tropical climate: Scaling of extremely cold brightness temperature over the ocean to tropical sea surface temperature and possible implications for global warming, J. Climate, 29, 3893-3905, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0214.1.
  6. Wang, T., S. Wong, E. J. Fetzer (2015), Cloud regime evolution in the Indian monsoon intraseasonal oscillation: Connection to large-scale dynamical conditions and the atmospheric water budget, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 9465-9472, doi:10.1002/2015GL066353.
  7. Wong, S., E. J. Fetzer, M. Schreier, G. Manipon, E. F. Fishbein, B. H, Kahn, Q. Yue, and F. W. Irion (2015), Cloud-induced uncertainties in AIRS and ECMWF temperature and specific humidity, J. Geophys. Res., 120, doi:10.1002/2014JD022440.
  8. Kalmus, P., S. Wong, and J. Teixeira (2015), The Pacific subtropical cloud transition: a MAGIC assessment of AIRS and ECMWF profiles in the northeast Pacific, IEEE Geosci. And Remote Sens. Lett., in press
  9. Wong, S., T. S. L'Ecuyer, W. S. Olson, X. Jiang, and E. J. Fetzer (2014), Local balance and variability of atmospheric heat budget over oceans: Observation and reanalysis-based estimates. J. Climate, 27, 893-913.
  10. Wong, S., E. J. Fetzer, M. Schreier, G. Manipon, E. F. Fishbein, B. H, Kahn, Q. Yue, and F. W. Irion (2015), Cloud-induced uncertainties in AIRS and ECMWF temperature and specific humidity, J. Geophys. Res., 120, doi:10.1002/2014JD022440.
  11. Kalmus, P., S. Wong, and J. Teixeira (2015), The Pacific subtropical cloud transition: a MAGIC assessment of AIRS and ECMWF profiles in the northeast Pacific, IEEE Geosci. And Remote Sens. Lett., in press,
  12. Wong, S., T. S. L'Ecuyer, W. S. Olson, X. Jiang, and E. J. Fetzer (2014), Local balance and variability of atmospheric heat budget over oceans: Observation and reanalysis-based estimates. J. Climate, 27, 893-913.
  13. Behrangi, A.,S. Wong, K. Mallick, J. Fisher (2014), On the net surface water exchange rate estimated from remote sensing observation and reanalysis, International J. of Remote Sensing, 2170-2185.
  14. Wong, S., E. J. Fetzer, B. H. Kahn, B. Tian, B. H. Lambrigtsen, and H. Ye (2011), Closing the global water vapor budget with AIRS water vapor, MERRA reanalysis, TRMM and GPCP precipitation, and GSSTF surface evaporation, J. Climate, 24, 6307-6321.
  15. Wong, S., E. J. Fetzer, B. Tian, B. H. Lambrigtsen, and H. Ye (2011), The apparent water vapor sinks and heat sources associated with the intraseasonal oscillation of the Indian summer monsoon, J. Climate, 24, 4466-4479.

Projects

AIRS