Research Interests: The questions that drive my research are understanding man-made impacts on cloud composition, precipitation, Earth energy budget and the implications to the climate variability and change. This is done by a combination of in-situ measurements with cloud physics aircraft campaigns into clouds around the world and remote sensing with radars and satellites, including the design of new dedicated space missions. All these observations are integrated and interpreted by model simulations of cloud aerosol interactions.

Research Students

Avichay Efraim (PhD Student)

Guy Pulik (PhD Student)

Contact Information 

 

Daniel Rosenfeld | Room 313 North | daniel.rosenfeld@mail.huji.ac.il

 

Our research focuses on the signal transfer between the modern atmosphere and oceans to the geological record, the impact of abrupt events on primary and export production in the oceans, trace element cycles, and reconstruction of Quaternary paleoclimate from lacustrine and marine archives. We combine between time series of modern marine and terrigenous particulate fluxes, coeval seawater compositions, and biogeochemical cycles in the oceans (see the REDMAST project).

Research Students

Dr. Clara Flintrop - postdoc

Gil Lapid - Ph.D. Student

Noy Levy - Ph.D. Student (Supervised jointly with Dr. Ralf Schiebel from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany)

Efraim Brill - M.Sc. Student

Aden Clarfield - M.Sc. Student

Lea Sivan - M.Sc. Student

Contact Information

Adi Torfstein | adi.torf@mail.huji.ac.il

Lab Manager - Sigalit Amiran-Kan

Research interests

The Earth’s radiation budget and future climate change are intricately linked to clouds and aerosols. Efforts to accurately predict future climate, and socially adopt to it, are hampered by our limited understanding of how aerosols, clouds, circulation and climate interact. My main research interest is in trying to better understand the role of clouds and aerosols in the climate system. In order to do so I mostly use numerical models of different scales (from the single cloud scale to the global scale). Today’s state-of-the-art climate models, which are the main tool for predicting climate change, cannot work with the sufficient resolution required to directly solve the relevant physical processes related to clouds. This inability hampers our efforts to account for the clouds’ role in climate change and to predict future climate. On the other hand, high-resolution, limited-area, cloud resolving simulations are unable to directly account for the changes in the dynamics and thermodynamics of the climate system, hence they lack an important component of the clouds response. I believe that cerfully combining these tools (limited-area high resolution simulations and global simulations) together with observations is the preferred way to improve our understanding.    

Research Students 

Dr. Namrah Habib - Postdoc (co-hosted with Nathan Steiger)

Dr. Jacob (Koby) Shpund - Senior Postdoc

Dr. Devang Falor - Postdoc (Co-hosted with Aviv Solodoch and Hezi Gildor)

Sreelekshmi T.- PhD student

Elyakom Vadislavsky - PhD student (Co-supervised with Alexander Khain)

Gedaliya Kitrossky - M.Sc. student (Co-supervised with Danny Rosenfeld)

Yuval Levin - M.Sc. student (Co-supervised with Assaf Hocman)

Suf Lorian - M.Sc. student

Denis Shum- M.Sc. student

Netta Yeheskel- M.Sc. student

Omer Roi-Cohen - M.Sc. student

Contact Information

Guy Dgan | guy.dagan@mail.huji.ac.il 

 

Research in the lab:

(a) We develop and utilize theoretical models that describe the interaction of radiation with particles in Earth's atmosphere and oceans. We are particularly interested in how best to model the effects of irregular particles, such as non-spherical particles, porous particles, particles comprised of disordered/amorphous materials, particles comprised of optically anisotropic materials, and mixtures of different components in the same particle. We simulate both single-scattering and multiple-scattering of unpolarized and polarized radiation. Our calculations have implications for modeling global climate and for remote sensing.

(b) We investigate discharges of lightning and transient luminous events (TLEs), such as sprites, which occur above thunderstorm clouds. We analyze lightning and sprite observations, and we develop theoretical models to help explain some observed phenomena, such as the circular configuration of simultaneous sprites and the shift in the location of sprites from their parent lightning event.

(c) We participate in collaborative efforts to monitor light pollution caused by artificial nighttime light and to simulate its propagation in air and in water, with implications for various ecosystems.

Research Method

We build theoretical models and run simulations both on local computers and on larger computer clusters. We analyze observations using various statistical tools, including some machine learning tools.

 

Research Students 

Camille Labrousse (postdoc, co-supervised by Noam Levin, Department of Geography)

 

Diana Saadi (postdoc, co-supervised by Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Ben-Gurion University)

 

Ynon Hefets (doctoral student)

Guy Pulik (doctoral student, co-supervised by Daniel Rosenfeld)

Gili Kurtser-Gilead (master’s student)

Roby Harcz (master’s student, co-supervised by Nathan Paldor)

David Walk (master’s student, co-supervised by Yoav Yair, Reichman University)

Jonathan Bar-Zeev (master's student, co-supervised by Assaf Hochman)

 

Contact Information

 

Carynelisa Haspel  | room 302N | phone +972-542122328  | email: carynelisa.haspel@mail.huji.ac.il

My research aims at extending the duration of reliable weather forecasts, and to then explore how the dynamical processes that are important on these short timescales may manifest on longer, climate-change timescales. The traditional approach to weather forecasting on one- to two-week timescales utilizes weather forecasting models, but on timescales longer than two weeks, the value of deterministic (or ensemble-based probabilistic) forecasts weakens. This is due to the presence of chaotic variability in the atmosphere. Yet certain modes of variability in the climate system have timescales longer than this two-week threshold, and the key to longer-scale prediction is to take advantage of these modes. By understanding the impacts of these modes of variability on surface weather, the potential for improved forecasts on a monthly timescale can be demonstrated and eventually realized. As many of these processes may be modified under climate change (or alternately, climate change may project onto these climate modes), a better understanding of these modes can also help improve the quality of climate change projections.

Two such classes of modes of variability are stratospheric variability (both in the tropical and polar stratosphere) and tropical tropospheric variability (e.g. the Madden-Julian Oscillation and El Nino), and most of my ongoing research focuses on these phenomena. For example, both polar stratospheric sudden warmings and the Madden-Julian Oscillation have been shown to influence European and Mediterranean weather, but it is unclear (1) what mechanism(s) underlie these connections, (2) how far in advance the  impacts can be predicted, and (3) what governs the magnitude of the surface impact.  As these processes must be represented by climate and weather models in order to actualize the potential improvement in predictability, and because the observational record of key meteorological quantities is relatively short, I also run models (both idealized and comprehensive) in order to test model fidelity and to isolate key processes. The ultimate goal is to improve the predictions and projections of surface weather and climate.

Research Methods

The main research methods are the development and application of models of the general circulation of the atmosphere; analysis of reanalysis data and output from comprehensive climate and forecasting models.

Research Students 

Wuhan Ning(post-doc)
Yaron Eshet (PhD)
Chen Schwartz (PhD)
 Hagar Bartana (masters)
Benny Keller (masters)
 Gayathridevi  Salila** (PhD, with Dorita Rostkier-Edelstein)
Andre Klif** (PhD, with Assaf Hochman)
Yaniv Goldschmidt (MSc, with Francesco Marra)
Ran Galun (MSc in Computer Sciences, with Ami Wiesel)

Contact Information

Haim Gurfinke | chaim.garfinkel@mail.huji.ac.il

Our group focuses on the relationship between water and extreme weather events in regions characterised by scarcity of water as well as the impact of climate change on such interactions. The research lies at the boundary between hydrology, climatology, atmospheric sciences, and surface processes in environments ranging from vast barren deserts to Mediterranean catchments.

Research Methods

The interdisciplinary research we do combines the development of new tools, data analysis and collection, and modelling of climatic- and hydrologic-related phenomena.

 

Research Students

• Atul Rai; PhD student, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong. Co-supervised by Tim Cohen. Thesis title: Australia’s inland hydrology: quantifying discharge characteristics of the Lake Eyre basin and Australia’s channel country

• Miku Nakamura; MSc student, the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich. Co-supervised by Iris Thurnherr. Thesis title: Meteorological factors involved in heavy precipitation in and filling of Kati-Thanda Lake Eyre.

• Guorong Ling; MSc student in the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich. Co-supervised by Hilla Afargan-Gerstman. Thesis title: Forecasting cyclones related to heavy precipitation events in the Sahara.

 

Contact Information 

Moshe (Koko) Armon | moshe.armon@mail.huji.ac.il

 

In our lab, we study physical processes in the ocean, with a focus on understanding both past and present climate changes and the interaction between the sea and the atmosphere. We conduct ocean measurements, including currents, temperature, salinity, oxygen, and more, using a wide range of instruments such as underwater gliders, current meters, drifting buoys, and surface current radars. Additionally, we run numerical models with varying levels of complexitys. 

 

Surface drifters

 

 

 

Ocean mooring

 

HF radar for surface
current measurements

 

Deploying Acoustic Doppler
Current Profiler

 

Ocean gliders

 

WireWalker

Research Students: 

Stefan Graf (PhD. Student)

Itamar Yacoby (PhD. Student)

Aviram Ohayon (MSc. Student)

Contact Information:

Hezi Gildor | Room 312 North | 972-2-6584393 | hezi.gildor@mail.huji.ac.il

Our lab investigates the natural climate cycles of Earth and how they have changed in the geological past. Specifically, research in the lab focuses on investigating processes that govern the global hydrologic cycle by quantifying the magnitude, timing and spatial distribution of precipitation, evaporation and temperature on decadal, millennial, and orbital timescales. We study closed-basin lakes all over the world (China, Mongolia, Nepal, Israel, USA and more) and evaluate how they have changed through time using geomorphological and isotope hydrology. We use hydrological models and outputs of climate models to quantify and evaluate the empirical data I collect. We also study how human societies respond to climate change throughout history and in the present. In addition, we investigate ways for capturing CO₂ by enhancing ocean alkalinity.

Our research examines the processes shaping modern surface environments and investigates Quaternary terrestrial changes influenced by hydro-meteorological and climatic variations. We focus on landscape formation across diverse temporal and spatial scales, including slopes, fluvial systems, lakes, coastal areas, soils, and dust. A key emphasis is on quantifying and modeling the changes that occurred during the Quaternary period. Our approach integrates Quaternary sediment stratigraphy, sedimentological tools, and the study of sediment transport over both short and long timeframes, with particular attention to extreme events. Palaeohydrology of lakes and rivers has been a consistent theme in our research over the years.

Our work establishes critical links between climate, hydrology, pedology, active tectonics, and the processes of dust and loess creation, deposition, and accumulation—primarily in arid-desert regions, their margins, and Mediterranean and monsoon areas. A significant focus of our research is on climate change in the world's deserts, often in collaboration with other experts. The rapidly declining water levels of the Dead Sea and its associated salt deposits serve as a "natural laboratory" for many of our studies.

Research Methods:

Our research heavily relies on extensive fieldwork and observations, involving the quantification of processes through measurements, sedimentological characterization, and landscape modeling. We collaborate closely with hydrogeologists and experts in sediments, soils, and limnology. Field mapping and topographic data at various resolutions are fundamental to our research, with GIS and remote sensing techniques being essential tools for our investigations.

Research Students: 

Haggai Eyal (PhD. Student) 

Guy Tau (PhD. Student) 

Maayan Harel (PhD. Student) 

Contact Information:

yehouda.enzel@mail.huji.ac.il

We study the large-scale dynamics of the atmosphere and oceans and the interactions between them. We aim to improve our understanding of variations in the present and past climates, and the governing dynamic and thermodynamic mechanisms that drive them. We also strive to mediate between theoretical and applied geophysical practices, by developing tools and methods for applications such as bias reduction in climate models, interpretation of paleo records, and quantification of variations of the tropical rain belt.

Open positions are available for graduate students and postdocs.

Research Methods: 

We use climate models at varying complexity of the atmospheric and oceanic components. These include idealized models of the atmosphere and oceans amenable to mathematical analysis, an intermediate-complexity general circulation model with parameterized Ekman ocean energy transport (Afargan-Gerstman and Adam, 2020), a hierarchy of global ocean  models coupled to CESM1 (Hsu et al. 2022), comprehensive climate models (CESM2), the variable resolution Ocean Land Atmosphere Model (OLAM), as well as the analysis of modern climate models participating in the climate models intercomparison project (CMIP). We also aim to anchor the research in observations. To handle the large variety of observational and modeling datasets, we use the GOAT (Geophysical Observation Analysis Tool) data management tool.

 

Research Students: 

Dr. Amita Kumar (Postdoc)
Research: Improving sub-seasonal forecasts in the Eastern Mediterranean by implementing idealized coupled ocean-atmosphere processes in numerical weather prediction models.  

 

Dr. Ignasi Vallés Casanova (Postdoc)
Research: Effect of Sharan dust on tropical Atlantic variability

 

Sreerag Sudheendran  (Ph.D. Candidate)
Research: Understanding the Ocean’s role in the seasonal cycle of the ITCZ

 

Shubham Pachpor (Ph.D. Candidate, co-advised by Ehud Strobach and Nadav Lensky)
Research: Effect of the Sea of Galilee on local meteorology.

 

Maya Shourky (Ph.D.) 
Research: Using Lagrangian back trajectories to identify the origin of ENSO heat anomalies.

 

Ofer Cohen (M.Sc)
Research: Importance of coupled processes to sub-seasonal forecasting in the eastern Mediterranean.  

 

Contact Information:

  Ori.Adam@mail.huji.ac.il | Group website

The research group deals with interactions between meteorological and hydrological systems on local to global scales and looking at the past, present and future. The main emphasis is rain, surface runoff and floods, but other directions (hydrological, geomorphological, agricultural and environmental) are also covered (typically in collaboration with other researchers).

The group's research includes: understanding dominant processes and factors in the creation of extreme rainstorms leading to floods, surface runoff modeling, stream flow, floods and soil erosion; The time-space structure of rainstorms and the statistical characteristics of rain intensities; remote sensing of precipitation; development of flood warning systems; urban hydrology; climate changes and their impact on the precipitation regime, streamflow and floods; the effect of climate change on heat waves, droughts, and the development of pest populations; reconstruction of the past precipitation regime; and more.

The research approaches in the group include: development and application of models to analyze and understand systems and processes and to examine hypotheses; development and application of "weather generators" to create synthetic records with appropriate statistical properties as input to models; development, application and interpretation of machine learning models to obtain new insights on hydrological processes and more.

Research Methods:

The main research methods are the development and application of process-based models, stochastic models and machine learning models; analysis of remote sensing data (radar and satellite) and model data for spatial and temporal characterization of hydrometeorological phenomena; advanced statistical methods for frequency analysis. Databases developed in the group include calibrated rain data from meteorological radar from the 1990s until today, high-resolution meteorological models for multi-precipitation storms. In addition, there are many global and regional databases in the field of hydrometeorology.

 

Research Students:

Talia Rosin (post-doc)
Pelagiya Belyakova (post-doc)
Omri Porat (PhD)
Elyakom Vadislavsky (PhD)
Ayana Neta (PhD in the Faculty of Agriculture, with Shai Morin and Adam Lampert)
Ziv Mor (PhD, With Nadav Lensky)
Raz Nussbaum (MSc)
Yaniv Goldschmidt (MSc, with Francesco Marra)
Atar Bar (MSc, with Tamir Kamai)
Omri Levin (MSc)
Yifat Kimchi (MSc)

 

Contact Information:

Efrat Morin | 02-6584669 | efrat.morin@mail.huji.ac.il| Room 308 south

My research focuses on global climate change and the use of isotope geochemistry to understand climatic and atmospheric processes. I am interested in the parameters and mechanisms that control paleotemperature proxies; in particuler, my group develops and uses the novel proxy carbonate clumped isotopes. We examine biological parameters that affect clumped isotopes and develop its use in new archive materials; we study the effect of non equilibrium processes on clumped isotopes and oxygen isotopes. We apply clumped isotpes to reconstruct paleotemperature and paleo-rainfall in different time periods during the Cenzoic. I am also interested in the use of isotopes to understand the modern carbon cycle and the effect of the biosphere of atmospheric chemistry.

What is clumped isotopes geochemistry?

Analysis of an isotopic composition is a measurement of the relative abundance of a heavy, rare, isotope within a group of molecules. The term ‘clumped isotopes’ refers to the natural abundance of molecules containing two heavy isotopes, such as ¹³C¹⁸O¹⁶O, and is a measure of the preference of two heavy isotopes to clump together into a chemical bond. This preference is temperature dependent with the isotopes distributed randomly among all molecules at very high temperatures and are clustered together into a more ordered system at low temperatures.

This results in an isotopic parameter, ∆₄₇, that can record the temperature in which these bonds were formed. ‘Clumped isotopes’ measurements are currently applied for ¹³C-¹⁸O bonds in CO₂ molecules that are extracted either from carbonate minerals or from the atmosphere. In carbonates ‘clumped isotopes’ are used to determine the formation temperature of the mineral with most applications associated with reconstruction of past climatic conditions. In atmospheric CO₂ it is used as a tracer for partitioning and quantifying the different CO₂ sources and sinks of the global carbon cycle.

Research Students 

Ahinoam Assor (MSc. Student)

Yael Tal (MSc. Student)

Contact Information 

Hagit Affek |  Hagit.Affek@mail.huji.ac.il | 972-2-6584654

We work to discover why droughts, pluvials, and climate extremes happen. We also work to elucidate the nature of climate across geologic time and on exoplanetary atmospheres. Our tools include data from the recent and distant past, climate models, and the best statistical techniques for the problem in front of us

Research Students 

Niels Brall

Accoavel Sobolev

Thomas Pliemon

Namrah Habib

Contact Information 

 

 

Dr. Nathan Steiger | Room 303 North | nathan.steiger@mail.huji.ac.il

 

The PredEx lab focuses on improving the ability to predict extreme weather events and their impacts across time and spatial scales, from regional to global and beyond.

Our work addresses the issue of weather and climate predictability from different perspectives, including physical observations, computer modeling, and mathematical/statistical theory.

Research Students

PhD Students 

Victor Murphy 
My PhD research focuses on enhancing intrinsic predictability in numerical weather prediction by using dynamical system metrics within machine learning and artificial intelligence. The goal is to integrate these metrics into predictive models, thus extending the forecast horizon for long-term weather predictions. I am also working on a research project in the broader department called Systems Thinking in Earth and Environmental Sciences Teaching, which Professor Carynelisa Haspel is coordinating.
Email: victor.murphy@mail.huji.ac.il

Tair Plotnik

André Klif
Analyze sub-seasonal forecast models and/or climate models to better predict the
probability of occurrence of heat waves in the Middle East.
Email: andre.klif@mail.huji.ac.il

Efraim Bril
Paleo-climate: climate change in the Levant during the last interglacial period
LinkedIn profile : Efi Bril
Email: efraim.bril@mail.huji.ac.il

MSc Students 

Margarita Mazor
Intricate relationship between weather types and the migration patterns of white storks
over the Eastern Mediterranean.
Email: Margarita.Mazor@mail.huji.ac.il 

Yuval Levin
Impact of anthropogenic emissions on the predicted precipitation regime for the Middle East
in the 21st century.
Email: yuval.levin@mail.huji.ac.il

 

Contact Us

assaf.hochman@mail.huji.ac.il |  Room 213 South

Publications

 

Hochman, A., Plotnik, T., Marra, F., Shehter, E. R., Raveh-Rubin, S., & Magaritz-Ronen, L. (2023). The sources of extreme precipitation predictability; the case of the ‘Wet’Red Sea Trough. Weather and climate extremes, 40, 100564.

‏

Vakrat, E., & Hochman, A. (2023). Dynamical systems insights on cyclonic compound “wet” and “windy” extremes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 149(757), 3593-3606.

‏

Hochman, A., Shachar, N., & Gildor, H. (2024). Unraveling sub-seasonal precipitation variability in the Middle East via Indian Ocean sea surface temperature. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 2919.

‏

Yaniv, R., Yair, Y., & Hochman, A. (2025). Understanding heavy precipitation events in southern Israel through atmospheric electric field observations. Atmospheric Research, 313, 107757.

‏

Hochman, A., & Gildor, H. (2025). Synergistic effects of El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole on Middle Eastern subseasonal precipitation variability and predictability. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 151(766), e4903.

‏

Bril, E., Torfstein, A., Yaniv, R., & Hochman, A. (2025). Hydroclimatic Variability and Weather-Type Characteristics in the Levant During the Last Interglacial. Authorea Preprints.‏

 

Mesoscale and Planetary Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Mesoscale Numerical Weather-Prediction (from hours to seasons), Mesoscale Numerical Climate-Prediction, Impact of Weather and Climate on Environmental Applications: Urban Planning, Air Pollution, Dust Storms, Renewable Energies, Water Resources and Agriculture.

Research Methods

Dynamical Mesoscale Modeling:

• The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) limited-area model including the following extensions:

  1. WRF-Chem: On-line coupled meteorology, atmospheric chemistry and mineral dust

  2. WRF-Urban: Detailed urban canopy modules

  3. MAD-WRF: Multi-sensor Advection Diffusion algorithm for advanced satellite cloud-initialization

  4. WRF-SCM: Single Column Model

  5. WRF-3DVAR, WRF-4DVar and WRF-EnKF: data assimilation suites based on 3- and 4-Dimensional Variational and Ensemble Kalman Filter algorithms

• The Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) global model with high-resolution zoom-in capabilities

Statistical modeling: 

• Statistical downscaling using analogues and weather-regimes based algorithms

 

Research Students

• Dr. Anton Gelman: Post-doc position

Subject: Improvement of numerical weather prediction over the Eastern Mediterranean trough clouds-data assimilation and           machine learning techniques

Email: anton.gelman@mail.huji.ac.il

• Dr. Ilya Livshits: Researcher 

Subject: Development of an advanced model for dust forecasts over the Eastern Mediterranean 

Email: ilivsh@gmail.com

 

• Borys Beznoshchenko: Ph.D. candidate with Dr. Eran Tas (Faculty of Agriculture) and Prof. Erick Fredj (Love Institute)

 Subject: Study of photochemistry over Israel with advanced modeling tools

 Email: Borys.Beznoshchenko@mail.huji.ac.il

• Yoav Rubin: Ph.D. candidate with Prof. Pinhas Alpert (TAU)

 Subject: Use of microwave cellular links to measure atmospheric moisture and to improve numerical weather prediction

Email: rubin.yoav@gmail.com

 

 

Contact

Lab Lead: Prof. Dorita Rostkier-Edelstein 

Email: dorita.rostkier-edelstein@mail.huji.ac.il