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Abe-Ouchi Lab
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The lab uses climate models to explore the mechanisms of climate change on Earth, from the past to the future.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring past and future climates on a virtual Earth.
The Abe-Ouchi Lab uses climate models to study the mechanisms that drive climate change across Earth's history and into the future.
A climate model is, in a sense, a "virtual Earth": it reproduces the behavior of the atmosphere, oceans, ice sheets, vegetation, and more inside a computer.
The lab takes on questions such as why ice ages recur, and how the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets will change in the future and affect sea level.
The lab belongs to the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, and accepts graduate students as a cooperating laboratory of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science in the Graduate School of Science.
Key terms
- Climate model
- A system that reproduces the climate on a computer by calculating the motion of the atmosphere, oceans, and other components based on the laws of physics.
- Ice sheet
- A thick mass of ice covering a wide area of land, as in Antarctica and Greenland. Also called a continental glacier.
- Interglacial period
- A relatively warm period between cold glacial periods. The Earth today is also in an interglacial period.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab uses numerical simulations to clarify the mechanisms that change Earth's surface environment from the past to the present. It uses climate system models that couple atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean general circulation models with ice sheet models, vegetation models, and others, and develops the models themselves when necessary.
*Illustrative imageRecurring glacial and interglacial periods
The lab reproduces the glacial-interglacial cycles, in which climate, sea level, and carbon dioxide fluctuate with a period of about 100,000 years, using numerical models, and seeks to uncover the mechanisms behind them.
*Illustrative imageComparing the Last Glacial Maximum and warm periods
For the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago, the present day, and the warm period about 9,000 to 6,000 years ago, the lab analyzes differences in temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric and ocean circulation using atmosphere-ocean general circulation models, and validates the models by comparing them with observational data. The results are also compared with experiments projecting future warming.
*Illustrative imageAbrupt climate change and climate stability
The abrupt climate changes that occurred during the glacial period may have been caused by nonlinear phenomena among the atmosphere, oceans, and ice sheets. The lab investigates climate stability and multiple equilibrium states using numerical models, and seeks to capture future "irreversible" changes.
*Illustrative imageReproducing climates very different from today's
The lab reproduces warm climates such as that of the Cretaceous, and climates such as Snowball Earth, within models, and analyzes the conditions under which they arise and their stability. It also examines how climate responds to the arrangement of the continents and to mountain ranges.
MembersFaculty
The Abe-Ouchi Lab consists of faculty members, project researchers, visiting researchers, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorAyako Abe-OuchiPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “The Secrets in Greenland's Ice Sheet ( )” NASA's Earth Observatory / Public domain (cropped)
- Recurring glacial and interglacial periods: “Icecore 4” Photo by Lonnie Thompson, Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University. / Public domain (cropped)
- Comparing the Last Glacial Maximum and warm periods: “Glacial grooves from Pleistocene glaciation on Columbus Limestone (Middle Devonian) (Glacial Grooves State Park, Kelleys Island, Ohio, Lake Erie, USA) )” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Abrupt climate change and climate stability: “Icebergs in Front of Calving Front” NASA / Christy Hansen / Public domain (cropped)
- Reproducing climates very different from today's: “Snowball Huronian” Oleg Kuznetsov - 3depix - http://3depix.com/ / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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