Cryosphere Early Career Award

2009 Young Investigator Award Winner

Dr. Thomas Mölg

The AGU Cryospheric Section is pleased to announce that Dr. Thomas Mölg has been chosen to receive the 2009 Young Investigator Award for his significant contribution to Cryospheric Science and Technology.

View Biography

The Young Investigator Award was presented immediately prior to the Nye Lecture:
December 15, 2009, 5:00 pm, Moscone South, Room 103

Nominated by Georg Kaser (University of Innsbruck, Austria)
With supporting letters from Mathias Vuille and Kurt Cuffey.

Thomas Mölg was selected for the 2009 Cryosphere Young Investigator Award based on
his important contributions to cryospheric research in the area of tropical glacier energy
balance and glacier-climate interactions. Dr. Mölg has demonstrated the ability to
independently address critical questions related to climate change and tropical glaciers,
giving new insights into mechanisms responsible for glacier retreat in the tropics. His
modeling and observations of Kilimanjaro have revealed a new paradigm for tropical
glacier retreat and low latitude climate change.

Thomas Mölg received his doctoral degree (summa cum laude) from the University of
Innsbruck, Austria. In 2007 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California-Berkeley and in 2009, Dr. Mölg received his Habilitation award at the University of
Innsbruck for his thesis entitled Climate Change in the Tropics Derived from Glacier-Atmosphere Interactions.

In addition to his creativity, independence, and excellence in research Dr. Mölg has demonstrated professional contributions to cryospheric science with numerous and wide ranging
collaborations from New Zealand, the United States and Europe. He has excelled
in the realm of modeling and has also proven field record on Kilimanjaro.

Dr. Mölg’s Main Interests:

  • climate-glacier interactions
  • atmosphere-ocean dynamics of tropical climate
  • regional climatology of East Africa
  • numerical modeling
  • glacier mass balance models, atmospheric models, climate models

Selected Publications

Mölg, T., N.J. Cullen, D.R. Hardy, M. Winkler, and G. Kaser (2009): Quantifying climate change in the tropical mid-troposphere over East Africa from glacier shrinkage on Kilimanjaro. - Journal of Climate, vol. 22, pp. 4162-4181.

Mölg, T., J.C.H. Chiang, A. Gohm, and N.J. Cullen (2009): Temporal precipitation variability versus altitude on a tropical high mountain: Observations and mesoscale atmospheric modeling.Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, vol. 135, doi:10.1002/qj.461.

Mölg, T., N.J. Cullen, and G. Kaser (2009): Solar radiation, cloudiness and longwave radiation over low-latitude glaciers: Implications for mass balance modeling.Journal of Glaciology, vol. 55, pp. 292-302.

Mölg, T., N.J. Cullen, D.R. Hardy, G. Kaser, and L. Klok (2008): Mass balance of a slope glacier on Kilimanjaro and its sensitivity to climate.International Journal of Climatology, vol. 28, pp. 881-892.

Mölg, T., D.R. Hardy, N.J. Cullen, and G. Kaser (2008): Tropical Glaciers, climate change, and society: Focus on Kilimanjaro (East Africa). – In: Orlove, B., E. Wiegandt, and B. Luckman (eds.): The Darkening Peaks: Glacial Retreat in Scientific and Social Context. University of California Press: Berkley, London, pp. 168-182.

Hofer, M., T. Mölg, B. Marzeion, and G. Kaser (2009): Statistical-empirical downscaling of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis to high-resolution air temperature and specific humidity above a glacier surface (Cordillera Blanca, Peru).Journal of Geophysical Research, submitted.

Kaser, G., T. Mölg, N.J. Cullen, D.R. Hardy, and M. Winkler (2009): Is the decline of ice on Kilimanjaro unprecedented in the Holocene?The Holocene, submitted.

Winkler, M., I. Juen, T. Mölg, P. Wagnon, J. Gómez, and G. Kaser (2009): Measured and modelled sublimation on the tropical Glaciar Artesonraju.The Cryosphere, vol. 3, pp. 21-30.

Cullen, N.J., T. Mölg, D.R. Hardy, K. Steffen, and G. Kaser (2007): Energy Balance Model Validation on the top of Kilimanjaro using Eddy Correlation Data.Annals of Glaciology, vol. 46, pp. 227-233.