CEE Seminar - Improving Numerical Weather/Climate/Environment Prediction: Coupled Modeling, Parameter Optimization and Data Assimilation

Abstract: Environmental change can be induced by climate change, and it can influence climate in turn through feedback mechanisms. Numerical prediction of environment/climate is an important tool for adequate policy making in an era of changing climate. It basically requires a coupled modeling system, and its performance can be improved with optimized parameters and initial conditions. Numerical climate/weather models provide not only the future state of climate/weather but also the analysis data of model variables at given horizontal/vertical grid resolutions, which are useful especially in data void areas. We have developed an integrated regional climate prediction system ― the Regional Environment/Climate Integrated Prediction System of Ewha Womans University (RECIPE). The RECIPE is based on a coupled modeling system of meteorology (WRF) and land surface (Noah-MP) with some improved features in the land surface processes, including vegetation phenology, stem index and carbon assimilation and allocation. It is also equipped with the state-of-art techniques, including optimal parameter estimation using an evolutionary algorithm, and advanced data assimilation. Some recent efforts to improve the regional weather/climate/environment prediction will be introduced as an integrated approach, such as developing/improving parameterizations of subgrid-scale phenomena, estimating optimal parameter values (especially for the quantitative precipitation forecasting), seeking an optimized set of parameterization schemes (“superparameterization”), and applying a hybrid ensemble-variational data assimilation, by employing the coupled models, e.g., WRF-Noah-MP and WRF-Chem, and satellite data.

Bio: Seon K. Park's research interests include interactions among environmental systems and feedback mechanisms in regional climate change, coupled modeling of land surface-soil-atmosphere-ecosystem, and numerical prediction of high-impact weather, climate and environment, including data assimilation and optimization. He received a doctorate in meteorology from University of Oklahoma (OU) and had worked as a research scientist at OU, University of Maryland and NASA/GSFC before he joined Ewha Womans University (EWU) in Seoul, Korea. He has served the university administration as director of environmental science and engineering, associate dean of engineering and vice president of university planning and coordination. He was the founding director of the Severe Storm Research Center, and the Center for Climate/Environment Change Prediction Research that was established via a government fund as a seven-year project (2009-2016; ~$1 million per year) with Park as the principal investigator. He received several awards from EWU including the Teaching Excellence Award, the Research Excellence Award, and the Research Grant Excellence Award; and from the Korean government including the Administrator’s Award (Korean Meteorological Administration), the Minister’s Award (Ministry of Environment), and the Service Merit Medal. He also has served as the president of Atmospheric Sciences Section of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) in 2012-2014. He has published a series of editorial volumes, titled “Data Assimilation for Atmospheric, Oceanic and Hydrologic Applications.”