Staff information

Biography

Mikhail Ovchinnikov's current research interests include a wide range of topics in cloud physics, as well as cloud-related aspects of remote sensing, radiation, and atmospheric dynamics. Dr. Ovchinnikov relies on a combination of numerical modeling, in situ, and remote observations in nearly all of his studies, which have three major thrusts: 1) studying individual aerosol and cloud processes, 2) retrieving cloud properties using remote sensors, and 3) developing, testing, and improving modules and parameterizations for atmospheric models from cloud to global scales. Finding new ways to evaluate these models and validate simulation results is always the top priority of these studies.

A unifying theme of several of his projects funded by the Deparment of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the use of an "instrument simulator" concept, in which the model output is used to reconstruct what a specific observing system would detect. The synthetic measurements are then used to evaluate the model and to test retrieval algorithms.

Research Interests

• Cloud models and parameterizations
• Cloud-aerosol and cloud-radiation interactions
• Remote sensing

Education and Credentials

• Ph.D., Meteorology, The University of Oklahoma
• M.S., Applied Mathematics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Affiliations and Professional Service

• American Meteorological Society
• American Geophysical Union

Awards and Recognitions

• Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award, The University of Oklahoma, 1998

PNNL Publications

2009

• Ovtchinnikov M, and RC Easter. 2009. "Nonlinear Advection Algorithms Applied to Inter-related Tracers: Errors and Implications for Modeling Aerosol-Cloud Interactions ." Monthly Weather Review 137(2):632-644.  doi:10.1175/2008MWR2626.1
• Fan J, M Ovtchinnikov, JM Comstock, SA McFarlane, and A Khain. 2009. "Ice Formation in Arctic Mixed-Phase Clouds: Insights from a 3-D Cloud-Resolving Model with Size-Resolved Aerosol and Cloud Microphysics ." Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres) 114(D04205):, doi:10.1029/2008JD010782
• Fan J, T Yuan, JM Comstock, SJ Ghan, A Khain, LYR Leung, Z Li, VJ Martins, and M Ovchinnikov. 2009. "Dominant Role by Vertical Wind Shear in Regulating Aerosol Effects on Deep Convective Clouds." Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres) 114(D22206):, doi:10.1029/2009JD012352
• Kassianov EI, M Ovtchinnikov, LK Berg, SA McFarlane, and CJ Flynn. 2009. "Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth in Vicinity of Broken Clouds from Reflectance Ratios: Sensitivity Study." Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 110(14-16):1677-1689. 

2008

• Kassianov EI, and M Ovtchinnikov. 2008. "On Reflectance Ratios and Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval in the Presence of Cumulus Clouds ." Geophysical Research Letters 35(6):Art. No. L06807.  doi:10.1029/2008GL033231
• Kassianov EI, M Ovtchinnikov, LK Berg, SA McFarlane, and CJ Flynn. 2008. "Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth in Vicinity of Broken Clouds from Reflectance Ratios: A Novel Approach." In Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere XIII, vol. 7107, p. 71070V.  SPIE , Bellingham, WA.  doi:10.1117/12.801288
• Mechem DB, YL Kogan, M Ovtchinnikov, AB Davis, KF Evans, and RG Ellingson. 2008. "Multi-dimensional Longwave Forcing of Boundary Layer Cloud Systems." Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 65(12):3963-3977.  doi:10.1175/2008JAS2733.1

2007

• Ovtchinnikov M, and RT Marchand. 2007. "Cloud Model Evaluation Using Radiometric Measurements from the Airborne Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (AirMISR)." Remote Sensing of Environment 107:185-193.  doi:doi:10.1016/j.rse.2006.05.024

2006

• Ovtchinnikov M, and RT Marchand. 2006. "Comparison of angular dependence of observed and simulated distributions of radiances over stratocumulus clouds." In 12th Conference on Cloud Physics and 12th Conference on Atmospheric Radiation, July 10-14, 2006, Madison, Wisconsin, p. 3.1.  American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. 
• Ovtchinnikov M, TP Ackerman, RT Marchand, and M Khairoutdinov. 2006. "Evaluation of the Multi-scale Modeling Framework Using Data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program." Journal of Climate 19(9):1716-1729.  doi:10.1175/JCL13699.1

2005

• Ovchinnikov M, and RT Marchand. 2005. "Measuring Up Virtual Clouds: A Comparison of Modeled and Observed Cloud Properties Using an Instrument Simulator Approach." In 5th International Scientific Conference on the Global Energy and Water Cycle (GEWEX), June 20-24, 2005, Costa Mesa, California.  Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment, Silver Spring, MD. 
• Ovtchinnikov M, and SJ Ghan. 2005. "Parallel Simulations of Aerosol Influence on Clouds Using Cloud-Resolving and Single-Column Models." Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres) 110(D15):D15S10.  doi:10.1029/2004JD005088
• Kassianov EI, CN Long, and M Ovtchinnikov. 2005. "Cloud Sky Cover Versus Cloud Fraction: Whole-Sky Simulations and Observations." Journal of Applied Meteorology 44(1):86-98. 

2004

• Barker HW, C Pavloski, M Ovtchinnikov, and EE Clothiaux. 2004. "Assessing a Cloud Optical Depth Retrieval Algorithm with Model-Generated Data and the Frozen Turbulence Assumption." Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 61(23):2951-2956. 

2003

• Kassianov EI, TP Ackerman, RT Marchand, and M Ovtchinnikov. 2003. "Satellite Multiangle Cumulus Geometry Retrieval: Case Study." Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres) 108(D3):4117.  doi:10.1029/2002JD002350
• Kassianov EI, TP Ackerman, RT Marchand, and M Ovtchinnikov. 2003. "Stochastic Radiative Transfer in Multilayer Broken Clouds. Part II: Validation Tests." Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 77(4):395-416. 

2002

• Mechem DB, M Ovtchinnikov, YL Kogan, AB Davis, RF Cahalan, EE Takara, and RG Ellingson. 2002. "Multi-Dimensional Broadband IR Radiative Forcing of Marine Stratocumulus in a Large Eddy Simulation Model." In AMS 11th Conference on Cloud Physics, Paper 7.1 (CD).  American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA.