Aryeh Drager
Research Associate, EE Cloud Process, Environmental and Climate Sciences Department
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Environmental and Climate Sciences Department
Bldg. 490D, Room 2-102
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-3280
adrager@bnl.gov
Preferred Gender Pronouns (PGPs): he, him, his
As a graduate student at Colorado State University (CSU), I explored several research topics relating to the numerical modeling of atmospheric convection, with a primary focus on convective cold pools. For my M.S. work, I developed a cold pool identification and tracking algorithm for cloud-resolving model and large-eddy simulations. I used this algorithm in the first part of my Ph.D. work to investigate the influence of soil moisture on convective cold pool properties in a series of large-eddy simulations. During this investigation, I noticed an unexpected trend in accumulated rainfall as a function of the initial soil moisture. This finding inspired the second part of my Ph.D. work, which examined the interplay between soil moisture, vegetation, the boundary layer, clouds, and precipitation processes that produced this rainfall trend.
Following my time at CSU, I worked for two years as a postdoctoral teaching fellow at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where I taught undergraduate meteorology courses.
Research | Education | Appointments | Publications | Awards
Research Activities
- Graduate Research Assistant, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2014-2017).
- American Meteorological Society Graduate Fellow (2013-2014).
- Honors Thesis Researcher (Physics), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Awarded departmental honors in Engineering Physics, 2012.
- CMMAP Summer Internship (REU), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2012.
- NOAA Hollings Scholar Research Internship, Hurricane Research Division, Miami, FL, 2011.
- James O. Freedman Presidential Scholars Research Assistant, Stable Isotope Lab (Earth Sciences), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 2010-2011.
Education
- Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2020
- M.S. in Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2016
- B.A. in Engineering Physics, minor in Applied Math, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 2012
Professional Appointments
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2022 - present
- Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2020 - 2022
- Graduate Research Assistant, Colorado State University, 2013 - 2020
Selected Publications
- Drager AJ, Grant LD, van den Heever SC (2022) A Nonmonotonic Precipitation Response to Changes in Soil Moisture in the Presence of Vegetation. Journal of Hydrometeorology. https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-21-0109.1
- van den Heever SC et al (including Drager AJ) (2021) The Colorado State University Convective CLoud Outflows and UpDrafts Experiment (C3LOUD-Ex). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 102:E1283–E1305. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-19-0013.1
- Marinescu PJ, Kennedy PC, Bell MM, Drager AJ, Grant LD, Freeman SW, van den Heever SC (2020) Updraft Vertical Velocity Observations and Uncertainties in High Plains Supercells Using Radiosondes and Radars. Monthly Weather Review 148:4435–4452. https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-20-0071.1
- Drager AJ, Grant LD, van den Heever SC (2020) Cold Pool Responses to Changes in Soil Moisture. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 12:e2019MS001922. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ms001922
- Drager AJ, van den Heever SC (2017) Characterizing convective cold pools. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9:1091–1115. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016ms000788
- Igel MR, Drager AJ, van den Heever SC (2014) A CloudSat cloud object partitioning technique and assessment and integration of deep convective anvil sensitivities to sea surface temperature. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 119:10515–10535. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014jd021717
Awards & Recognition
- Spring 2017: Herbert Riehl Memorial Award for year’s best M.S. publication (department-level) for Characterizing Convective Cold Pools
- Spring 2013: Citation for Outstanding Work as a TA for ENGS 23: Distributed Systems and Fields, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College
- December 2012: Outstanding Student Paper Award (OSPA), AGU Fall Meeting 2012 for CloudSat-derived Morphology of Deep Convection over Tropical Oceans
- Fall 2012: B.A. degree awarded Magna cum Laude, with departmental honors in Engineering Physics Rufus Choate Scholar (top 5% GPA in the preceding academic year), Dartmouth College
- Spring 2012: Citation for Outstanding Work as a TA for ENGS 22: Systems, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College
- 2011-2012: Five Citations for Distinguished Academic Performance, Dartmouth College:
- Probability(MATH60),Prof.PeterDoyle, Spring 2012
- Biological Physics (ENGS 30), Prof. Miles Blencowe, Spring 2012
- Chaos!(MATH53),Prof.AlexBarnett, Fall2011
- Reason and Argument (PHIL 3), Prof. Ann Bumpus, Fall 2011
- Distributed Systems and Fields (ENGS 23), Prof. B. Stuart Trembly, Spring 2011
- 2010-2012: NOAA Hollings Scholarship
- 2010-2011: Dartmouth James O. Freedman Presidential Scholars Research Assistantship
- 2008-2012: Dartmouth College Need- and Merit-Based Endowed Scholarship
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Environmental and Climate Sciences Department
Bldg. 490D, Room 2-102
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-3280
adrager@bnl.gov
