Glaciologist
Dr Tas van Ommen
Dr van Ommen has a background in experimental physics (PhD in astrophysics, University of Tasmania) and worked in radioastronomy with NASA/JPL before transitioning to Antarctic science. His research interests are primarily in the area of ice core palaeoclimate, and associated glaciological studies. He also has a strong interest in general Antarctic ice sheet studies, particularly from airborne geophysics.
Dr van Ommen has been on six field expeditions including the deep field Aurora Basin Ice coring expedition and associated traverse.
His ice core research has primarily centred on high resolution studies, particularly from the Law Dome ice core and has been focused on comparison and calibration of ice core records with meteorological data. This work includes the discovery of a link between Antarctic snowfall and drought in Australia.
Other research includes a leading role in 2000 year Antarctic climate reconstruction work for PAGES and the mapping of bedrock across the Aurora Basin region with ICECAP.
social & academic profiles
Current Research
Dr van Ommen co-leads the Oceans and Cryosphere Program (R1) within the ACE CRC. In this role he jointly manages work across projects in ice-ocean interactions, sea-ice, atmospheric research and palaeoclimate.
Dr van Ommen is Senior Principal Research Scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division where he leads the Program for Antarctica and the Global System – an earth system science program covering glaciology, atmospheric science, palaeoclimate and ecosystem modelling. He also has an associated Theme Leader role across the broader Australian Antarctic Program.
His primary role is in research management, although he is still actively engaged in aspects of the research. This includes further exploration of teleconnections between Antarctic climate and Australian drought, and research on the recent Aurora Basin North ice core. Dr Van Ommen is also involved in ice sheet studies arising from the ICECAP project, including surveys aimed at finding ice over a million years old for future coring.
Selected publications
van Ommen TD and Morgan V (2010), “Snowfall increase in coastal East Antarctica linked with southwest Western Australian drought”, Nature Geoscience. Vol. 3(4), pp. 267-272. doi:10.1038/ngeo761
Curran MAJ, van Ommen TD, Morgan VI, Phillips KL and Palmer AS (2003), “Ice core evidence for Antarctic sea ice decline since the 1950s”, Science. Vol. 302(5648), pp. 1203-1206. doi:10.1126/science.1087888
Morgan V, Delmotte M, van Ommen T, Jouzel J, Chappellaz J, Woon S, Masson-Delmotte V and Raynaud D (2002), “Relative timing of deglacial climate events in Antarctica and Greenland”, Science. Vol. 297(5588), pp. 1862-1864. doi:10.1126/science.1074257
Pedro JB, Rasmussen SO and van Ommen TD (2012), “Tightened constraints on the time-lag between Antarctic temperature and CO2 during the last deglaciation”, Climate of the Past. Vol. 8(4), pp. 1213-1221. doi:10.5194/cp-8-1213-2012
Ahmed M, Anchukaitis KJ, Asrat A, Borgaonkar HP, Braida M, Buckley BM, Büntgen U, Chase BM, Christie DA, Cook ER, Curran MA, Diaz HF, Esper J, Fan Z-X, Gaire NP, Ge Q, Gergis J, González-Rouco JF, Goosse H, Grab SW, Graham N, Graham R, Grosjean M, Hanhijärvi ST, Kaufman DS, Kiefer T, Kimura K, Korhola AA, Krusic PJ, Lara A, Lézine A-M, Ljungqvist FC, Lorrey AM, Luterbacher Jü, Masson-Delmotte V, McCarroll D, McConnell JR, McKay NP, Morales MS, Moy AD, Mulvaney R, Mundo IA, Nakatsuka T, Nash DJ, Neukom R, Nicholson SE, Oerter H, Palmer JG, Phipps SJ, Prieto MR, Rivera A, Sano M, Severi M, Shanahan TM, Shao X, Shi F, Sigl M, Smerdon JE, Solomina ON, Steig EJ, Stenni B, Thamban M, Trouet V, Turney CS, Umer M, van Ommen T, Verschuren D, Viau AE, Villalba R, Vinther BM, von Gunten L, Wagner S, Wahl ER, Wanner H, Werner JP, White JW, Yasue K and Zorita E (2013), “Continental-Scale Temperature Variability during the Past Two Millennia”, Nature Geoscience. Vol. 6(5), pp. 339-346. doi:10.1038/NGEO1797
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contact information
Location: Hobart, Tasmania
Phone: +61 3 6232 3185
Email: tas.vanommen@aad.gov.au
Authorised by the CEO of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre October 2019.
The ACE CRC was established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program.
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