Dr. Greg Bierly

Research Interests

 

Mid-latitude circulation patterns, jet streaks and cyclone dynamics, linkages between cyclone airflow and intensity, synoptic climatology of arid environments.

Baroclinic waves that amplify in the lee of the Colorado Rockies strongly influence the precipitation and temperature climatology of the central and eastern United States, particularly in late winter/early spring. Dr. Bierly's most recent research objectives, funded by the National Science Foundation, are devoted to understanding the meso- and synoptic scale structure of three-dimensional airflow within cyclones and how it varies with respect to low level wind maxima and the intensification history of the storm. Because relative-motion isentropic and pseudo-isentropic airstreams are strongly linked to stability fields and fronts within a large-scale storm system, the climatologic investigation of their structure and evolution is essential to the understanding of cyclone dynamics and resultant weather. Along these lines, Dr. Bierly is also particularly interested in the amount of variation controlled by the specific trajectory of the cyclone in governing the development or dissipation of the system.

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

 

Bierly, G. D., 2005.  Vorticity.  The Encyclopedia of World Climatology (J. Oliver, ed.),

Springer, Dordrecht, 794-796.

 

Bierly, G. D., 2005. Extratropical cyclones. The Encyclopedia of World Climatology (J.

Oliver, ed.), Springer, Dordrecht, 373-377.

 

Bierly, G. D. (with J.D. Gatrell, equal authorship), 2004. Structural and compositional

change in geography graduate programs in the United States, 1991-2001.  The

Professional Geographer, 56, 3, 337-344.

 

Bierly, G. D. and J. A. Winkler, 2001. A composite analysis of airstreams within cold-

season Colorado cyclones.  Weather and Forecasting, 16, 2, 57-80.

 

Bierly, G. D., J. A. Harrington, Jr., and D. F. Wilhelm, 2000.  A climatology of surface

cyclone trajectory and intensity for heavy-snow events at three Midwestern stations.

PhysicalGeography, 21, 522-537.

 

Bierly, G. D., 1999. An investigation of the influence of cyclonic airstreams on

Midwestern snowfall. The Professional Geographer, 340-349.

 

Bierly, G. D., 1998 Chapter 12. Notable weather events. Renaissance in the Heartland:

TheIndiana Experience, Pathways in Geography Series, National Council for Geographic

Education (J. Oliver, ed), 71-73.

 

Bierly, G. D., 1997.  The role of stratospheric intrusions in Colorado cyclogenesis.

Physical Geography, 18, 4, 346-362.

 

Bierly, G. D. and J. A. Harrington, Jr., 1995.  A climatology of transition season

Colorado cyclones: 1961-1990. Journal of Climate, 8, 853-863.

trell, J., Bierly, G., and Jensen, R. (forthcoming). Research Design and Proposal

Writing in Spatial Science. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.

 

Gatrell, J.D. and G. D. Bierly, 2004. Structural and compositional change in Canadian

geography graduate programs, 1991-2001.  Great Lakes Geographer, 10, 2, 113-121.

 

Gatrell, J. D. and G. D. Bierly, 2002.  Weather and voter turnout:  Kentucky primary and

general elections, 1990-2000.  Southeastern Geographer, 42, 1-21.

Oliver, J. E., G. D. Bierly and H. Panofsky, 2001. Climatology.  Encyclopedia of

Physical Science and Technology, Academic Press, 3, 1-13.

 

Oliver. J. E., 2005.  The Encyclopedia of World Climatology, Springer, Dordrecht, 854 pp.

 

Pease, P. P., G. D. Bierly, V. P. Tchakerian and N. W. Tindale, 1999.  Mineralogical

characterization and transport pathways of dune sand using Landsat TM data, Wahiba Sand Sea, Sultanate of Oman. Geomorphology, 29, 235-249.

 

E. R. Reiter and Bierly, G. D., 2005.  Jet streams.  The Encyclopedia of World

Climatology  (J. Oliver, ed.), Springer, Dordrecht, 435-439.