Adam Houston

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Adam Houston

Professor Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
BESY 305A
Lincoln, NE 68588-0340
Phone
402-472-2416 On-campus 2-2416
Email
ahouston2@unl.edu

Dr. Adam Houston joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) faculty as an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences in 2006. Prior to this he served as a visiting instructor at UNL in the 2005-2006 academic year and served as both a visiting assistant professor and postdoctoral research assistant in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University in the 2004-2005 academic year. Dr. Houston received his Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his B.S. in meteorology from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Houston's research focus is on cloud-scale and mesoscale phenomena; specifically, those related to severe local storms. Active research projects deal specifically with deep convective initiation, the impacts of preexisting airmass boundaries on supercell rotation, climatologies of supercells and non-supercells, high-precipitation supercells, environmental controls on storm mode, and computational fluid dynamics.

Numerical experiments conducted by Dr. Houston and his research group (SSRG) utilize cloud-scale and mesoscale numerical models. Observational work primarily utilizes unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and Doppler radars.

Web page for Dr. Houston’s Severe Storms Research Group.

Education

Ph.D., 2004, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

Expertise Areas

Atmospheric convection, severe weather, mesoscale processes, climate diagnostics

 

Selected Publications

Martz, R., A.L. Houston, M.S. Van Den Broeke, and S.A. Shield, 2025: The Impact of Urbanized Areas on the Spatial Characteristics of Deep Convection Initiation in the Central United States, J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 64, 1045-1061. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-23-0153.1

Wilson, M.B. and A.L. Houston, 2025: Examining the Impact of Assimilating Surface, PBL, and Free Atmosphere Observations from TORUS on Analyses and Forecasts of Two Supercells on 8 June 2019. Monthly Weather Review, 153, 1105-1128. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-23-0247.1

Shield, S.A. and A.L. Houston, 2024: A Comparison of Thunderstorm Identification Methods. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 41, 1005–1016 Doi: 10.1175/JTECH-D-23-0084.1. 

Shield, S.A. and A.L. Houston, 2024: Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Deep Convection Initiation in the Central United States. International Journal of Climatology, 44, 2636-2649 doi: 10.1002/joc.8472

Houston, A.L. 2024: Storms. The Nebraska Sandhills. Norby, M., J. Diamond, A. Sutherlen, S.C. Fritz, K. Hachiya, D. Norby, and M. Forsberg (editors). University of Nebraska Press.  Chapter 20.

de Boer, G, B.J. Butterworth, J.S. Elston, A. Houston, E. Pillar-Little, B. Argrow, T.M. Bell, P. Chilson, C. Choate, B.R. Greene, A. Islam, R. Martz†, M. Rhodes, D. Rico, M. Stachura, F.M. Lappin, A.R. Segales, S. Whyte, M. Wilson†, 2024: Evaluation and Intercomparison of Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Used for Atmospheric Research. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 41, 127-145, doi: 10.1175/JTECH-D-23-0067.1.

Axon, K. L., A.L. Houston, C.L. Ziegler, C.C. Weiss, E. Rasmussen, B. Argrow, E.W. Frew, and S. Swenson, 2024: The potential roles of preexisting airmass boundaries on a tornadic supercell observed by TORUS on 28 May 2019. Monthly Weather Review, 152, 97-121. Doi: 10.1175/MWR-D-23-0007.1.

Frew, E. W., B. Argrow, A. Houston, and C. C. Weiss, 2023: An Energy-Aware Airborne Dynamic Data-Driven Application System for Persistent Sampling. Second Handbook of Dynamic Data Driven Applications Systems. Edited by Frederica Darema and Erik Blasch. P. 419-448.

Wilson, M. B., A.L. Houston, C.L. Ziegler, D.M. Stechman, B. Argrow, E.W. Frew, M. Coniglio, S. Swenson, E. Rasmussen, and M. Coniglio, 2023: Environmental Controls on Close Proximity Supercells Observed by TORUS on 8 June 2019. Monthly Weather Review, 151, 3013-3035, doi: 10.1175/MWR-D-23-0002.1.

Marquis, J, Z. Feng, A. Varble, T.C. Nelson, A. Houston, J.M. Peters, J.P. Mulholland, and J. Hardin, 2023: Near-Cloud Atmospheric Ingredients for Deep Convection Initiation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 151, 1247–1267. Doi: 10.1175/MWR-D-22-0243.1