Brian Alfred Tinsley (born 23 April 1937) is a physicist who for more than 60 years has been actively researching atmospheric physics and space physics. He has been a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Dallas since 1976 and has served many national and international scientific organisations.
Brian Tinsley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brian Alfred Tinsley[1] 23 April 1941 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Canterbury |
| Spouse | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, aeronomy |
Early life and education
editTinsley was born on 23 April 1937 at the Waimarie Private Hospital in Wellington's central suburb of Te Aro, New Zealand. The Tinleys lived at Kaitoke at that time.[2][3][4] Edward Hill was his father-in-law.[5] He obtained his PhD from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand in November 1963, for research on optical emissions from the upper atmosphere (airglow and aurorae).
Career
editWith his wife, Beatrice Tinsley, later to become the first female astronomer at Yale University, he came to Dallas to work at the newly formed Southwest Center for Advanced Studies, which became the University of Texas at Dallas in 1969.[1]
During Tinsley's time at the NSF in the late 1980s he began researching the effects of changes in the sun on weather and climate on the day-to-day, decadal and century timescale. He has been author of more than 40 papers on this topic. He has proposed a mechanism in which the link to the atmosphere is the solar wind (space weather) (as opposed to changes in solar brightness)[6] that affects the downward ionosphere-earth current density (Jz) in the global atmospheric electric circuit.
Tinsley formed the hypothesis that the Jz effects are due to electrical charge deposited on droplets and aerosol particles (notably condensation nuclei and ice-forming nuclei in clouds) that significantly affect scavenging processes and the concentrations of the nuclei.[7] The consequences of this include changes in cloud cover and rates of precipitation, and changes in surface pressure and atmospheric dynamics, as has been observed.
Tinsley, Dr. Gary Burns of the Australian Antarctic Research Division, and Dr. Limin Zhou of the East China Normal University have shown that there are clear correlations between the electric current output of the internal atmospheric generators (thunderstorms) in the global electric circuit and surface pressure at both Antarctic and Arctic sites, fully consistent with the changes due to the solar wind.[8][9] Thus the work has led to the discovery of an unexpected process in meteorology that has implications for climate. That is that the internal generation of atmospheric electricity, mostly in the tropical regions, affects clouds and meteorological processes all over the globe. Observations of cloud changes in polar regions and models of cloud charging and the effects of charge on cloud microphysics [10] confirm these findings.
Private life
editTinsley married Beatrice Hill on 13 May 1961 at St Aidan's Church in Wellington's suburb Miramar. Being told that she could not conceive, they first adopted a boy in 1966 from one of Brian's relatives. They adopted a girl in 1968. When his wife became unexpectedly pregnant, she had an abortion. They divorced in 1974, and as she did not want to engage in a legal challenge, their children remained with him.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Priestley, Rebecca. "Tinsley, Beatrice Muriel". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Tinsley, Brian A (Dr), 1937–". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Births". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXIII, no. 96. 24 April 1937. p. 1. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Wellington". New Zealand Private Maternity Homes. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Hill, Edward Owen Eustace, 1907–2001". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ Apparent Tropospheric Response to Mev-Gev Particle-Flux Variations – A Connection via Electrofreezing of Supercooled Water in High-Level Clouds, Tinsley BA; Deen GW, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, Volume 96, Issue D12, Pages 22283–22296, doi:10.1029/91JD02473, 1991. Paper cited 141 times as of 3 January 2011.
- ^ Correlations of Atmospheric Dynamics With Solar-Activity Evidence for a Connection via the Solar-Wind, Atmospheric Electricity, And Cloud Microphysics, Tinsley BA; Heelis RA, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, Volume 98, Issue D6, Pages 10375–10384, doi:10.1029/93JD00627, 20 June 1993. Paper cited 100 times as of 3 January 2011.
- ^ Influence of solar wind on the global electric circuit, and inferred effects on cloud microphysics, temperature, and dynamics in the troposphere, Tinsley BA, Conference: Workshop of the ISSI on Solar Variability and Climate, INT SPACE SCI INST, BERN, SWITZERLAND, 28 JUN – 2 July 1999, SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS, Volume 94, Issue 1–2, Pages 231–258, doi:10.1023/A:1026775408875, Published: NOV 2000. Paper cited 131 times as of 3 January 2011.
- ^ The zonal-mean and regional tropospheric pressure responses to changes in ionospheric potential, Zhou, L; Tinsley, B; Wang, L; and Burns G;, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 171 (2018), 111–118, (https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2017.07.010)
- ^ The response of longwave radiation at the South Pole to electrical and magnetic variations: Links to meteorological generators and the solar wind, Frederick, JE; and Tinsley, BA; Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 179 (2018), 214–224, (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2018.08.003)