Professor Hamish McGowan
Professor

Hamish McGowan

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 56651

Background

Professor Hamish McGowan is a Geographer and Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences with research interests in: Local and regional scale windfields in complex terrain, Severe weather (thunderstorms, bushfire meteorology), Earth surface – atmosphere energy and trace gas exchanges, Aeolian dust transport (meteorological controls on wind erosion, dust transport and the impacts on regional and global climate dynamics), Palaeoclimate reconstructions, Mountain meteorology and hydroclimate. He leads the Atmospheric Observations Research Group https://sites.google.com/view/uqaorg/home

Hamish received his PhD from the University of Canterbury in 1995. His research interests are in the fields of:

  • Meteorological hazards
  • Earth surface - atmosphere interactions and energetics
  • The Weather and Climates of Alpine and Mountainous Regions
  • Long Range Dust Transport and Climate Impacts
  • Climate dynamics
  • Palaeoclimate reconstruction

Availability

Professor Hamish McGowan is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science, University of Canterbury
  • Masters (Research) of Science, University of Canterbury
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Canterbury

Research interests

  • Earth surface – atmosphere energetics

    This field of research investigates Earth surface – atmosphere interactions over complex terrain in marine, coastal, mountain and desert environments. Collectively, this research aims to shed new light on thermodynamic behaviour of the lower atmosphere under different weather patterns, teleconnection variability, and the effects of land use heterogeneity. The research has involved significant collaborations with the Centre for Atmospheric Research, University of Canterbury, NZ; the Byrd Polar Research Centre, Ohio State University; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA and the Geological Survey of Israel. At UQ collaboration has been with the School of Civil Engineering and Advanced Water Management Centre. Notable research in this field has resulted in fundamental advances in understanding of Earth-surface – atmosphere interactions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica including identification of foehn winds as the cause of air temperature increases > 50°C in 3 to 4 hours. The origin of these winds had remained a mystery since Scott’s exploration of the MDVs almost 100 years ago. On the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, a multi-year investigation that I initiated and led quantified for the first time by direct measurement energy and trace gas fluxes over coral reefs using eddy covariance. Results include first direct measurements of reef-water-atmosphere energy exchanges including during a coral bleaching event, and the first direct measurements of CO2 exchanges. This research has been published widely in journals of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union [see: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029830]. Research in this thematic area is expanding further with research initiatives investigating the atmospheric boundary layer energetics of severe thunderstorms and bushfires in eastern Australia. New projects in this area are also seeking to quantify the energy balance of the Australian seasonal snow pack and energy and trace gas exchanges over coral reefs in the Red Sea.

  • Climate Variability

    Research I lead under this theme focuses on identifying and unpacking the relevant drivers of climate variability and their associated scales of effect, which are used to develop new climate forecasting tools. I have led research that has improved accuracy and confidence of predictions of future climate which has shown for the first time terrestrial impacts in Australia of Northern Hemisphere climate reversals, and confirmed the causes of inter-annual to inter-centennial drought in eastern Australia. Research in this theme area using peat cores from the remote Kimberley of northwest Australia showed El Niño as the likely cause of catastrophe change in Aboriginal culture during the past 6000 years and confirmed that breakdown of deep water circulation in the North Atlantic under a warming world would likely result in severe and devastating drought in eastern Australia. Collaborations in this area have been with researchers in Australia (Griffith University; NSW Office of Environment and Heritage; CSIRO; University of Wollongong; Kimberley Foundation of Australia), and with international researcher partners at the Planetary Science Institute, USA; Oxford of University; Trinity College, Dublin and United States Geological Survey. A very significant applied aspect of this research theme over the past 15 years has been on identifying cause(s) of variability in the hydrometeorology of south-eastern Australia and the application of this knowledge to enhance water management in the catchments of the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, where releases of water underwrite > $3 billion of agricultural product annually. Research in this area has grown significantly and has led to the development of new interannual hydrometeorological forecasting tools. This research involves substantial collaboration with UWA-Perth including co-supervision of PhD candidates.

  • Severe Weather

    This field of research is focused on thunderstorm and bushfire meteorology in eastern Australia - an ideal natural thunderstorm hotspot, and the bushfire prone states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It involves substantial collaborations with research partners including the Bureau of Meteorology, NSW Rural Fire Service, Victoria Country Fire Authority and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. Our team’s severe weather research is distinguished internationally by the innovative application of our portable dual polarised x-band Doppler radar (UQ-XPOL) as highlighted in the invited article by Soderholm et al (2016) [https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00212.1] published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Japanese Radar manufacture Furuno is supporting our group’s R&D in this area providing technical support and software upgrades to enable novel radar scanning patterns to observe storm and smoke plume dynamics. We believe this work will have far-reaching application as we develop mobile radar specifically designed for real-time wildfire observation and nowcasting of pyro-convective plume dynamics and atmosphere-fire ground coupling.

Search Professor Hamish McGowan’s works on UQ eSpace

234 works between 1993 and 2025
All (234) Journal Article (137) Book Chapter (4) Conference Publication (81) Other Outputs (11) Edited Outputs (1)

21 - 40 of 234 works

2021

Journal Article

Atmospheric rivers: an overlooked threat to the marginal snowpack of the Australian alps

McGowan, Hamish, Borthwick, Kara, Schwartz, Andrew, Callow, John Nik, Bilish, Shane and Browning, Stuart (2021). Atmospheric rivers: an overlooked threat to the marginal snowpack of the Australian alps. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 22 (10), 2521-2532. doi: 10.1175/JHM-D-20-0293.1

Atmospheric rivers: an overlooked threat to the marginal snowpack of the Australian alps

2021

Other Outputs

Eddy covariance and environmental data collected Eilat, Israel & Heron Reef, Australia

McGowan, Hamish, Lensky, Nadav, Abir, Shai, Shaked, Yonathan and Wurgaft , Eyal (2021). Eddy covariance and environmental data collected Eilat, Israel & Heron Reef, Australia . The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/87537d3

Eddy covariance and environmental data collected Eilat, Israel & Heron Reef, Australia

2021

Journal Article

Multi-year carbon and water exchanges over contrasting ecosystems on a sub-tropical sand island

Lowry, Andrew L., McGowan, Hamish A. and Gray, Michael A. (2021). Multi-year carbon and water exchanges over contrasting ecosystems on a sub-tropical sand island. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 304-305 108404, 108404. doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108404

Multi-year carbon and water exchanges over contrasting ecosystems on a sub-tropical sand island

2021

Other Outputs

A Climatology of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers Over Australia: Complete Event Catalogue

Borthwick, Kara and McGowan, Hamish (2021). A Climatology of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers Over Australia: Complete Event Catalogue. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/b092bac

A Climatology of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers Over Australia: Complete Event Catalogue

2021

Journal Article

HailTrack — Improving radar-based hailfall estimates by modeling hail trajectories

Brook, Jordan P., Protat, Alain, Soderholm, Joshua, Carlin, Jacob T., McGowan, Hamish and Warren, Robert A. (2021). HailTrack — Improving radar-based hailfall estimates by modeling hail trajectories. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 60 (3), 237-254. doi: 10.1175/jamc-d-20-0087.1

HailTrack — Improving radar-based hailfall estimates by modeling hail trajectories

2020

Journal Article

Quantifying hail and lightning risk factors using long‐term observations around Australia

Dowdy, Andrew J., Soderholm, Joshua, Brook, Jordan, Brown, Andrew and McGowan, Hamish (2020). Quantifying hail and lightning risk factors using long‐term observations around Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125 (21) 2020JD033101, 1-14. doi: 10.1029/2020jd033101

Quantifying hail and lightning risk factors using long‐term observations around Australia

2020

Journal Article

Impact of fire on montane snowpack energy balance in Snow Gum forest stands

Schwartz, Andrew J., McGowan, Hamish and Callow, Nik (2020). Impact of fire on montane snowpack energy balance in Snow Gum forest stands. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 294 108164, 108164. doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108164

Impact of fire on montane snowpack energy balance in Snow Gum forest stands

2020

Journal Article

Evidence of wet-dry cycles and mega-droughts in the Eemian climate of southeast Australia

McGowan, Hamish, Campbell, Micheline, Callow, John Nikolaus, Lowry, Andrew and Wong, Henri (2020). Evidence of wet-dry cycles and mega-droughts in the Eemian climate of southeast Australia. Scientific Reports, 10 (1) 18000, 18000. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75071-z

Evidence of wet-dry cycles and mega-droughts in the Eemian climate of southeast Australia

2020

Journal Article

Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types and patterns on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack

Schwartz, Andrew J., McGowan, Hamish A., Theobald, Alison and Callow, Nik (2020). Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types and patterns on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack. The Cryosphere, 14 (8), 2755-2774. doi: 10.5194/tc-14-2755-2020

Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types and patterns on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack

2020

Journal Article

Identification of optimum temperatures for photosynthetic production in subtropical coastal ecosystems – implications for CO2 sequestration in a warming world

McGowan, Hamish A., Lowry, Andrew L. and Gray, Michael A. (2020). Identification of optimum temperatures for photosynthetic production in subtropical coastal ecosystems – implications for CO2 sequestration in a warming world. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 125 (8) e2020JG005678. doi: 10.1029/2020jg005678

Identification of optimum temperatures for photosynthetic production in subtropical coastal ecosystems – implications for CO2 sequestration in a warming world

2020

Journal Article

Tracking pyrometeors with meteorological radar using unsupervised machine learning

McCarthy, N. F., Guyot, A., Protat, A., Dowdy, A. and McGowan, H. (2020). Tracking pyrometeors with meteorological radar using unsupervised machine learning. Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (8) 2019GL084305. doi: 10.1029/2019gl084305

Tracking pyrometeors with meteorological radar using unsupervised machine learning

2020

Other Outputs

Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types and patterns on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack

Schwartz, Andrew Jonathan, McGowan, Hamish Andrew, Theobald, Alison and Callow, Nik (2020). Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types and patterns on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack. doi: 10.5194/tc-2020-43

Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types and patterns on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack

2020

Journal Article

Streamflow variability and the role of snowmelt in a marginal snow environment

Bilish, Shane P., Callow, J. Nikolaus and McGowan, Hamish A. (2020). Streamflow variability and the role of snowmelt in a marginal snow environment. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 52 (1), 161-176. doi: 10.1080/15230430.2020.1746517

Streamflow variability and the role of snowmelt in a marginal snow environment

2019

Journal Article

Weather radar insights into the turbulent dynamics of a wildfire‐triggered supercell thunderstorm

Terrasson, Alex, McCarthy, Nicholas, Dowdy, Andrew, Richter, Harald, McGowan, Hamish and Guyot, Adrien (2019). Weather radar insights into the turbulent dynamics of a wildfire‐triggered supercell thunderstorm. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (15) 2018JD029986, 8645-8658. doi: 10.1029/2018jd029986

Weather radar insights into the turbulent dynamics of a wildfire‐triggered supercell thunderstorm

2019

Journal Article

Spatial controls on the distribution and dynamics of a marginal snowpack in the Australian Alps

Bilish, Shane P., Callow, J. Nikolaus, McGrath, Gavan S. and McGowan, Hamish A. (2019). Spatial controls on the distribution and dynamics of a marginal snowpack in the Australian Alps. Hydrological Processes, 33 (12) hyp.13435, 1739-1755. doi: 10.1002/hyp.13435

Spatial controls on the distribution and dynamics of a marginal snowpack in the Australian Alps

2019

Journal Article

Insights from a decade of research on coral reef – atmosphere energetics

McGowan, Hamish, Sturman, Andrew, Saunders, Melissa, Theobald, Alison and Wiebe, Andrew (2019). Insights from a decade of research on coral reef – atmosphere energetics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (8) 2018JD029830, 4269-4282. doi: 10.1029/2018jd029830

Insights from a decade of research on coral reef – atmosphere energetics

2019

Journal Article

Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types, patterns, and trends on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack

Schwartz, Andrew, McGowan, Hamish, Theobald, Alison and Callow, Nik (2019). Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types, patterns, and trends on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack. The Cryosphere Discussions, 1-47. doi: 10.5194/tc-2019-48

Quantifying the impact of synoptic weather types, patterns, and trends on energy fluxes of a marginal snowpack

2019

Journal Article

Wildfire and weather radar: a review

McCarthy, Nicholas, Guyot, Adrien, Dowdy, Andrew and McGowan, Hamish (2019). Wildfire and weather radar: a review. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (1) 2018JD029285, 266-286. doi: 10.1029/2018jd029285

Wildfire and weather radar: a review

2019

Other Outputs

Micrometeorological Data Collected at Heron Island

McGowan, Hamish (2019). Micrometeorological Data Collected at Heron Island. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.14

Micrometeorological Data Collected at Heron Island

2019

Other Outputs

Synoptic Weather Energy Balance in the Australia's Snowy Mountains

McGowan, Hamish, Schwartz, Andrew and Callow, Nik (2019). Synoptic Weather Energy Balance in the Australia's Snowy Mountains. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.691

Synoptic Weather Energy Balance in the Australia's Snowy Mountains

Current funding

  • 2023 - 2026
    North Queensland cotton-grains-cattle farming systems
    CRC for Developing Northern Australia
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    From desert to tropical, how do coral reefs react to the changing climate? An air-water interactions perspective (ZCAI project administered by HUJI)
    The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2028
    Bushfire Response and Recovery - Nowcasting Bushfire Hazards
    Tides Foundation
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2022 - 2023
    Quantification of wind speed reduction factors
    Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2023
    Solar Photovoltaics forecasting for efficient power management
    ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
    Open grant
  • 2021
    Wind speed Reduction Factors (WRFs): Utilities for WRF assessment and communication
    Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2022
    Hail detection and forecasting
    Bureau of Meteorology
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2024
    Unlocking the environmental archives of the Kimberley's past
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    Australian hail climatology using single-pol radar
    Guy Carpenter
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon (ARC LIEF grant administered by James Cook University)
    James Cook University
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Hail climatology mapping based on volumetric data
    Guy Carpenter
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Developing Hail Climatologies
    Bureau of Meterology Research Support
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2019
    Effects of pyro-convection at bushfires
    Country Fire Authority
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Centre for Geoanalytical Mass Spectrometry (CGMS) - Achieving excellence in isotope geochemistry and geochronology
    UQ Research Facilities Infrastructure Grants
    Open grant
  • 2016
    Next-generation multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) with laser-ablation capability for in situ high-throughput and high resolution isotope dating and characterizat
    UQ Major Research Facility Fund
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    Breathing fire: understanding the meteorology of pyro-convection in bushfires
    UQ Collaboration and Industry Engagement Fund - Seed Research Grant
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2018
    Developing palaeoecological science in the Kimberley region
    Kimberley Foundation Australia
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Development of new capabilities in Earth System monitoring
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2021
    Developing an Enhanced Medium Term Inflow Forecasting Capability
    Snowy Hydro Limited
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2015
    An investigation of the impacts of increased power supply to the national grid by wind generators on the Australian electricity industry
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    Urban heat islands: A mapping, modelling and planning toolkit
    UQ FirstLink Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2016
    Proposal to Snowy Hydro Limited to Investigate the Environmental Fate of Silver Iodide and Indium (III) Oxide used for cloud seeding operations in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales
    Snowy Hydro Limited
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2012
    Capacity building in hydroclimatology: Quantifying the impacts of climate variability on Australia's hydrology
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2011
    The Polar Fohn of the McMurdo Dry Valleys: An Agent of Environmental Change and Landscape Evolution
    Australian Antarctic Division
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2011
    Enhanced field and laboratory microscopy and spectroscopy facilities for understanding past and current environmental changes in Geographical and Archaeological Sciences
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2010
    Stable isotope time-series partitioning of inflow components to the headwater catchments of the Murray River - a pilot study
    Snowy Hydro Limited
    Open grant
  • 2009
    Earth Systems Science for Assessment of Climate Change and environmental Variability - Enhancement of Process and Lab Measurement Tools
    UQ School/Centre Co-Funding
    Open grant
  • 2009
    The future of palaeoclimate and archaeological research in Australia: next generation instrumentation for chronology and environmental reconstruction
    ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities
    Open grant
  • 2008 - 2012
    Evaporation Loss (SEQ Urban Water Security Research Alliance)
    Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Trust
    Open grant
  • 2008
    Long distance transport of heavy metals pollutants and their incorporation into the New Zealand environment
    Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
    Open grant
  • 2008
    3D meteorological monitoring system for climate modelling and calibration of satellite image data time series (Remote sensing of the thermodynamic structure of the Earth's atmosphere.
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2008
    Reconstruction of palaeodust transport pathways for eastern Australia using aeolian dust archives
    Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
    Open grant
  • 2006 - 2009
    Water resource management of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme catchment and the Murray-Darling River system - a new perspective on system reliability from drought history reconstruction.
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2006
    Glacial Lake Victoria: a reassessment of the geomorphic evidence
    Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
    Open grant
  • 2006 - 2009
    Modelling Impacts of Vegetation Cover Change on Regional Climate
    Land & Water Resources Research & Dev Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2006
    ESEG_Dusty archives: A 10 ka reconstruction of wind erosion and climate variability from archives of Australian dust deposition
    UQ External Support Enabling Grant
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2007
    The Australian Dust Transport System: Characterisation and downwind impacts.
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2005
    Unlocking the archives: A Holocene record of Australian dust depostion in the New Zealand landscape: a proxy for inter-regional climate variability.
    Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2006
    UQ TRAVEL AWARD CAT 2-05
    UQ Travel Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2004 - 2005
    Frozen Dunes: An indicator of climate variability, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
    Australian Antarctic Division
    Open grant
  • 2004
    Assessing the role of Australian dust in regional biogeochemical cycles: 210Pb a tracer of Australian dust incursions into New Zealand
    Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
    Open grant
  • 2004 - 2006
    Unlocking The Archives: 1000 Years Of Climate Variability And Environmental Change In SE-Queensland Determined From Archives Of Aeolian Dust
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2004 - 2006
    Wind erosion
    Desert Knowledge CRC
    Open grant
  • 2003 - 2004
    Atmospheric dust transport in the Australian region
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2002
    Visit to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, U.S.A.
    Potter Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2002
    Niveo-aeolian deposits in the Dry Valleys Antarctica: A barometer of climate change: Establishment of an International Collaborative Research Project
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant
  • 2002
    Dust plume characteristics associated with the passage if subtropical cold fronts over central Australia
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant
  • 2002
    To pursue research collaboration into mountain meteorology.
    UQ Travel Grants Scheme
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Hamish McGowan is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Bushfire Meteorological Hazard Identification by Mobile Weather Radar

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Unlocking the environmental archives of the Kimberley's past

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Unlocking the Archives of Australia's Palaeoclimate

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Reconstructing the palaeoclimate of Australia: Using downscaled climate models to provide insights into the palaeoclimate of Australia

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Designing Farming Systems with Whole Farm Models

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Dongxue Zhao, Professor Daniel Rodriguez

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the changing risk of severe thunderstorms by novel stochastic modelling of extreme hail and wind hazards

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Matthew Mason

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the changing risk of severe thunderstorms by novel stochastic modelling of extreme hail and wind hazards

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Matthew Mason

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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