BELL, THOMAS

Thomas Bell

Senior Meteorologist
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~bell/

Refereed Publications

Bell, T. L., 1973: The α(Zα)² vacuum-polarization correction in muonic atoms. Phys. Rev., A7, 1480-1488.

Bell, T. L., and K. G. Wilson, 1974: Nonlinear renormalization groups. Phys. Rev., B10, 3935-3944.

Bell, T. L., and K. G. Wilson, 1975: Finite-lattice approximations to renormalization groups. Phys. Rev., B11, 3431-3444.

Bell, T. L., and M. Nelkin, 1977: Nonlinear cascade models for fully-developed turbulence. Phys. Fluids., 20, 345-350.

Bell, T. L., and M. Nelkin, 1978: One-exponent scaling for very high-Reynolds-number turbulence. Phys. Rev., A17, 363-369.

Bell, T. L., and M. Nelkin, 1978: Time dependent scaling relations and a cascade model of turbulence. J. Fluid Mech., 88, 369-391.

Bell, T. L., U. Frisch, and H. Frisch, 1978: A renormalization group approach to noncoherent radiative transfer. Phys. Rev., A17, 1049-1057.

Bell, T. L., 1980: Climate sensitivity from fluctuation-dissipation: Some simple model tests. J. Atmos. Sci., 37, 1700-1707.

Bell, T. L., 1982: Optimal weighting of data to detect climatic change: Application to the carbon dioxide problem. J. Geophys. Res., 87, 11161-11170.

10.

North, G. R., F. J. Moeng, T. L. Bell, and R. F. Cahalan, 1982: The latitude dependence of the variance of zonally averaged quantities. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110, 319-326.

11.

North, G. R., T. L. Bell, R. F. Cahalan, and F. J. Moeng, 1982: Sampling errors in the estimation of Empirical Orthogonal Functions. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110, 699-706.

12.

Bell, T. L., 1985: Climatic sensitivity and fluctuation-dissipation relations. Turbulence and Predictability in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics and Climate Dynamics, North Holland, New York, 424-440.

13.

Bell, T. L., 1986: Theory of optimal weighting of data to detect climatic change. J. Atmos. Sci., 43, 1694-1710.

14.

Bell, T. L., 1987: A space-time stochastic model of rainfall for satellite remote-sensing studies. J. Geophys. Res., 92, 9631-9643.

15.

Bowman, K. P., and T. L. Bell, 1987: The latitude dependence of eddy variances. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115, 2395-2400.

16.

Cahalan, R. F., M. Nestler, W. Ridgway, W. J. Wiscombe, and T. Bell, 1989: Marine stratocumulus spatial structure. Proc. Fourth Int. Conf. Stat. Clim., IMSC, 19-25.

17.

Bell, T. L., A. Abdullah, R. L. Martin, and G. R. North, 1990: Sampling errors for satellite-derived tropical rainfall: Monte Carlo study using a space-time stochastic model. J. Geophys. Res., 95, 2195-2205.

18.

Atlas, D., and T. L. Bell, 1992: The relation of radar to cloud Area-Time Integrals and implications for rain measurements from space. Mon. Wea. Rev., 120, 1997-2008.

19.

Bell, T. L., and N. Reid, 1993: Detection of the diurnal cycle of tropical rainfall from satellite observations. J. Appl. Meteor., 32, 311-322.

20.

Bell, T. L., and R. Suhasini, 1994: Principal Modes of Variation of rain-rate probability distributions. J. Appl. Meteor., 33, 1067-1078.

21.

Cahalan, R. F., W. Ridgway, W. J. Wiscombe, T. L. Bell, and J. B. Snider, 1994: The albedo of fractal stratocumulus clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 2434-2455.

22.

Bell, T. L., and P. K. Kundu, 1996: A study of the sampling error in satellite rainfall estimates using optimal averaging of data and a stochastic model. J. Climate, 9, 1251-1268.

23.

Bell, T. L., and P. K. Kundu, 2000: Dependence of satellite sampling error on monthly averaged rain rates: Comparison of simple models and recent studies. J. Climate, 13, 449-462.

24.

Bell, T. L., P. K. Kundu, and C. Kummerow, 2001: Sampling errors of SSM/I and TRMM rainfall averages: Comparison with error estimates from surface data and a simple model. J. Appl. Meteor., 40, 938-954.

25.

Bell, T. L., M.-D. Chou, R. S. Lindzen, and A. Y. Hou, 2002: Reply to Comment on "Does the Earth Have an Adaptive Infrared Iris?" by H. Harrison. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 598-600.

26.

Negri, A. J., T. L. Bell, and L. Xu, 2002: Sampling of the diurnal cycle of precipitation using TRMM. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 19, 1333-1344.

27.

Bell, T. L., and P. K. Kundu, 2003: Comparing satellite rainfall estimates with rain gauge data: Optimal strategies suggested by a spectral model. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D3), 4121, doi: 10.1029/2002JD002641.

28.

Kundu, P. K., and T. L. Bell, 2003: A stochastic model of space-time variability of mesoscale rainfall: Statistics of spatial averages. Water Resources Res., 39 (12), 1328, doi: 10.1029/2002WR001802.

29.

Steiner, M., T. L. Bell, Y. Zhang, and E. F. Wood, 2003: Comparison of two methods for estimating the sampling-related uncertainty of satellite rainfall averages based on a large radar dataset. J. Climate, 16, 3759-3778.

30.

Kundu, P. K., and T. L. Bell, 2006: Space-time scaling behavior of rain statistics in a stochastic fractional diffusion model. J. Hydrology, 322, 49-58, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.02.031.

31.

Olson, W. S., C. D. Kummerow, S. Yang, G. W. Petty, W.-K. Tao, T. L. Bell, S. A. Braun, Y. Wang, S. E. Lang, D. E. Johnson, and C. Chiu, 2006: Precipitation and latent heating distributions from satellite passive microwave radiometry. Part I: Improved method and uncertainties. J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 45 (5), 702-720.

32.

Yang, S., W. S. Olson, J.-J. Wang, T. L. Bell, E. A. Smith, and C. D. Kummerow, 2006: Precipitation and latent heating distributions from satellite passive microwave radiometry. Part II: Evaluation of estimates using independent data. J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 45 (5), 721-739.

33.

Lee, M.-I., S. D. Schubert, M. J. Suarez, I. M. Held, A. Kumar, T. L. Bell, J.-K. E. Schemm, N.-C. Lau, J. J. Ploshay, H.-K. Kim, and S.-H. Yoo, 2007: Sensitivity to horizontal resolution in the AGCM simulations of warm season diurnal cycle of precipitation over the United States and northern Mexico. J. Climate, 20, No. 9, 1862-1881.

34.

Lee, M.-I., S. D. Schubert, M. J. Suarez, T. L. Bell, and K.-M. Kim, 2007: Diurnal cycle of precipitation in the NASA Seasonal to Interannual Prediction Project atmospheric general circulation model. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D16111, doi:10.1029/2006JD008346.

35.

Prabhakara, C., R. Iacovazzi, J.-M. Yoo, K.-M. Kim, and T. L. Bell, 2008: A method to estimate rain rate over tropical oceans with TRMM Microwave Imager radiometer. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 86(1), 203-212.

36.

Bell, T. L., D. Rosenfeld, K.-M. Kim, J.-M. Yoo, M.-I. Lee, and M. Hahnenberger, 2008: Midweek increase in U.S. summer rain and storm heights suggests air pollution invigorates rainstorms. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D02209, doi:10.1029/2007JD008623.

37.

Koster, R. D., T. L. Bell, R. Reichle, M. J. Suarez, and S. D. Schubert, 2008: Using observed spatial correlation structures to increase the skill of subseasonal forecasts. Mon. Weather Rev., 136(6), 1923-1939.

38.

Bell, T. L., and D. Rosenfeld, 2008: Comment on “Weekly precipitation cycles? Lack of evidence from United States surface stations” by D. M. Schultz et al.. Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L09803, doi:10.1029/2007GL033046.

39.

Bell, T. L., J.-M. Yoo, and M.-I. Lee, 2009: Note on the weekly cycle of storm heights over the southeast United States. J. Geophys. Res., 114, D15201, doi:10.1029/2009JD012041.

40.

Bell, T. L., D. Rosenfeld, and K.-M. Kim, 2009: The Weekly Cycle of Lightning: Evidence of Storm Invigoration by Pollution. Geophys. Res. Lett. (In press)

RESEARCH AREA EXPERIENCE

Climate theory, remote sensing, statistical methods, precipitation statistics and modeling, radiative transfer, satellite orbits and observational characteristics

EDUCATION

1973		Ph.D. – Physics – Univ. of Chicago

1967		B.A. – Physics – New College, Sarasota FL

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

1977-78		Postdoctoral Fellow, Advanced Studies Program, National Center for Atmospheric Research

1976-1977		Postdoctoral Associate, Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University

1975-1976		Research Associate, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France

1974-1975		Postdoctoral Associate, Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University

1972-1974		Research Associate and Instructor, Laboratory of Nuclear Studies and Physics Department, Cornell University

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS

American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science

HONORS AND AWARDS

2006		Laboratory for Atmospheres Scientific Research Award

2003		2002 AGU Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for JGR-Atmospheres

2001		Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres Scientific Research Award

1995		NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal

1981		Outstanding Paper Award for 1980, Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Goddard Space Flight Center

1977-1978		Postdoctoral Fellow, Advanced Studies Program, National Center for Atmospheric Research

1969-1971		National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow

SPECIAL EXPERIENCE

Visiting Professor, Center for Climate System Research, Univ. of Tokyo, 4/94-4/95
AGU Precipitation Committee, 1988–1990, 1994–1996, 2000–present
Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 1988-1992
AMS Committee on Probability and Statistics in the Atmospheric Sciences, 1987-1989

Recent Invited Lectures
and Conference Presentations

Mar 2008		Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Atmospheric Chemistry Seminar, Univ. of Maryland, College Park

Mar 2008		NASA/Goddard Climate and Radiation Branch Seminar:

Feb 2008		NASA/JAXA TRMM International Science Conference, Las Vegas

Sep 2007		Texas A&M University Seminar

May 2007		PMM Science Team Meeting, Atlanta. Presented poster entitled

Jan 2007		87th AMS Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas

Oct 2006		University of Connecticut, Environmental Engineering Seminar Series

Sep 2006		NASA/Goddard Climate and Radiation Branch Seminar:

FUNDED PROPOSALS

FY07-09

ROSES Precipitation Measurement Missions

Show Refereed Publications

1.		Bell, T. L., 1973: The α(Zα)² vacuum-polarization correction in muonic atoms. Phys. Rev., A7, 1480-1488.
2.		Bell, T. L., and K. G. Wilson, 1974: Nonlinear renormalization groups. Phys. Rev., B10, 3935-3944.
3.		Bell, T. L., and K. G. Wilson, 1975: Finite-lattice approximations to renormalization groups. Phys. Rev., B11, 3431-3444.
4.		Bell, T. L., and M. Nelkin, 1977: Nonlinear cascade models for fully-developed turbulence. Phys. Fluids., 20, 345-350.
5.		Bell, T. L., and M. Nelkin, 1978: One-exponent scaling for very high-Reynolds-number turbulence. Phys. Rev., A17, 363-369.
6.		Bell, T. L., and M. Nelkin, 1978: Time dependent scaling relations and a cascade model of turbulence. J. Fluid Mech., 88, 369-391.
7.		Bell, T. L., U. Frisch, and H. Frisch, 1978: A renormalization group approach to noncoherent radiative transfer. Phys. Rev., A17, 1049-1057.
8.		Bell, T. L., 1980: Climate sensitivity from fluctuation-dissipation: Some simple model tests. J. Atmos. Sci., 37, 1700-1707.
9.		Bell, T. L., 1982: Optimal weighting of data to detect climatic change: Application to the carbon dioxide problem. J. Geophys. Res., 87, 11161-11170.
10.		North, G. R., F. J. Moeng, T. L. Bell, and R. F. Cahalan, 1982: The latitude dependence of the variance of zonally averaged quantities. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110, 319-326.
11.		North, G. R., T. L. Bell, R. F. Cahalan, and F. J. Moeng, 1982: Sampling errors in the estimation of Empirical Orthogonal Functions. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110, 699-706.
12.		Bell, T. L., 1985: Climatic sensitivity and fluctuation-dissipation relations. Turbulence and Predictability in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics and Climate Dynamics, North Holland, New York, 424-440.
13.		Bell, T. L., 1986: Theory of optimal weighting of data to detect climatic change. J. Atmos. Sci., 43, 1694-1710.
14.		Bell, T. L., 1987: A space-time stochastic model of rainfall for satellite remote-sensing studies. J. Geophys. Res., 92, 9631-9643.
15.		Bowman, K. P., and T. L. Bell, 1987: The latitude dependence of eddy variances. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115, 2395-2400.
16.		Cahalan, R. F., M. Nestler, W. Ridgway, W. J. Wiscombe, and T. Bell, 1989: Marine stratocumulus spatial structure. Proc. Fourth Int. Conf. Stat. Clim., IMSC, 19-25.
17.		Bell, T. L., A. Abdullah, R. L. Martin, and G. R. North, 1990: Sampling errors for satellite-derived tropical rainfall: Monte Carlo study using a space-time stochastic model. J. Geophys. Res., 95, 2195-2205.
18.		Atlas, D., and T. L. Bell, 1992: The relation of radar to cloud Area-Time Integrals and implications for rain measurements from space. Mon. Wea. Rev., 120, 1997-2008.
19.		Bell, T. L., and N. Reid, 1993: Detection of the diurnal cycle of tropical rainfall from satellite observations. J. Appl. Meteor., 32, 311-322.
20.		Bell, T. L., and R. Suhasini, 1994: Principal Modes of Variation of rain-rate probability distributions. J. Appl. Meteor., 33, 1067-1078.
21.		Cahalan, R. F., W. Ridgway, W. J. Wiscombe, T. L. Bell, and J. B. Snider, 1994: The albedo of fractal stratocumulus clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 2434-2455.
22.		Bell, T. L., and P. K. Kundu, 1996: A study of the sampling error in satellite rainfall estimates using optimal averaging of data and a stochastic model. J. Climate, 9, 1251-1268.
23.		Bell, T. L., and P. K. Kundu, 2000: Dependence of satellite sampling error on monthly averaged rain rates: Comparison of simple models and recent studies. J. Climate, 13, 449-462.
24.		Bell, T. L., P. K. Kundu, and C. Kummerow, 2001: Sampling errors of SSM/I and TRMM rainfall averages: Comparison with error estimates from surface data and a simple model. J. Appl. Meteor., 40, 938-954.
25.		Bell, T. L., M.-D. Chou, R. S. Lindzen, and A. Y. Hou, 2002: Reply to Comment on "Does the Earth Have an Adaptive Infrared Iris?" by H. Harrison. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 83, 598-600.
26.		Negri, A. J., T. L. Bell, and L. Xu, 2002: Sampling of the diurnal cycle of precipitation using TRMM. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 19, 1333-1344.
27.		Bell, T. L., and P. K. Kundu, 2003: Comparing satellite rainfall estimates with rain gauge data: Optimal strategies suggested by a spectral model. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D3), 4121, doi: 10.1029/2002JD002641.
28.		Kundu, P. K., and T. L. Bell, 2003: A stochastic model of space-time variability of mesoscale rainfall: Statistics of spatial averages. Water Resources Res., 39 (12), 1328, doi: 10.1029/2002WR001802.
29.		Steiner, M., T. L. Bell, Y. Zhang, and E. F. Wood, 2003: Comparison of two methods for estimating the sampling-related uncertainty of satellite rainfall averages based on a large radar dataset. J. Climate, 16, 3759-3778.
30.		Kundu, P. K., and T. L. Bell, 2006: Space-time scaling behavior of rain statistics in a stochastic fractional diffusion model. J. Hydrology, 322, 49-58, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.02.031.
31.		Olson, W. S., C. D. Kummerow, S. Yang, G. W. Petty, W.-K. Tao, T. L. Bell, S. A. Braun, Y. Wang, S. E. Lang, D. E. Johnson, and C. Chiu, 2006: Precipitation and latent heating distributions from satellite passive microwave radiometry. Part I: Improved method and uncertainties. J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 45 (5), 702-720.
32.		Yang, S., W. S. Olson, J.-J. Wang, T. L. Bell, E. A. Smith, and C. D. Kummerow, 2006: Precipitation and latent heating distributions from satellite passive microwave radiometry. Part II: Evaluation of estimates using independent data. J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 45 (5), 721-739.
33.		Lee, M.-I., S. D. Schubert, M. J. Suarez, I. M. Held, A. Kumar, T. L. Bell, J.-K. E. Schemm, N.-C. Lau, J. J. Ploshay, H.-K. Kim, and S.-H. Yoo, 2007: Sensitivity to horizontal resolution in the AGCM simulations of warm season diurnal cycle of precipitation over the United States and northern Mexico. J. Climate, 20, No. 9, 1862-1881.
34.		Lee, M.-I., S. D. Schubert, M. J. Suarez, T. L. Bell, and K.-M. Kim, 2007: Diurnal cycle of precipitation in the NASA Seasonal to Interannual Prediction Project atmospheric general circulation model. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D16111, doi:10.1029/2006JD008346.
35.		Prabhakara, C., R. Iacovazzi, J.-M. Yoo, K.-M. Kim, and T. L. Bell, 2008: A method to estimate rain rate over tropical oceans with TRMM Microwave Imager radiometer. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 86(1), 203-212.
36.		Bell, T. L., D. Rosenfeld, K.-M. Kim, J.-M. Yoo, M.-I. Lee, and M. Hahnenberger, 2008: Midweek increase in U.S. summer rain and storm heights suggests air pollution invigorates rainstorms. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D02209, doi:10.1029/2007JD008623.
37.		Koster, R. D., T. L. Bell, R. Reichle, M. J. Suarez, and S. D. Schubert, 2008: Using observed spatial correlation structures to increase the skill of subseasonal forecasts. Mon. Weather Rev., 136(6), 1923-1939.
38.		Bell, T. L., and D. Rosenfeld, 2008: Comment on “Weekly precipitation cycles? Lack of evidence from United States surface stations” by D. M. Schultz et al.. Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L09803, doi:10.1029/2007GL033046.
39.		Bell, T. L., J.-M. Yoo, and M.-I. Lee, 2009: Note on the weekly cycle of storm heights over the southeast United States. J. Geophys. Res., 114, D15201, doi:10.1029/2009JD012041.
40.		Bell, T. L., D. Rosenfeld, and K.-M. Kim, 2009: The Weekly Cycle of Lightning: Evidence of Storm Invigoration by Pollution. Geophys. Res. Lett. (In press)

Hide Refereed Publications