Land Environment and Atmospheric Dynamics - Jackson School of Geosciences

Faculty

Prof. Zong-Liang Yang (杨宗良), Ph.D., Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (1992).
Research interests: Land Surface Processes and Modeling, Climate Modeling, Land Surface Parameterization Development, Land-Atmosphere Interaction, Hydroclimatology, Hydrometeorology, Water Resources and Sustainability, Multi-sensor Data Assimilation, Flood and Drought, Biogenic Emissions, Air Quality, Integrated Modeling and Impacts Assessment. For more about me, please see my LinkedIn site, Google Scholar site, and ResearcherID site.

Research Associate/Scientist

Dr. Jiangfeng Wei, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology (2007).
Research interests: climate modeling, land surface modeling, land-atmosphere coupling strength, back-trajectory analysis of water vapor

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Long Zhao, Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013).
Research interests: land data assimilation, soil moisture, remote sensing, field measurement, Tibetan Plateau hydroclimatology

Current Graduate Students:

Xitian Cai, Ph.D. Candidate. BS (2005), Wuhan University, MS Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering (2009), Beijing Normal University.
Research interests: hydrological modeling, nutrient exports, coastal environment

Maryia Halubok, Ph.D. Aspirant. BS Hydrometeorology (2012), Belarusian State University.
Research interests: land-atmosphere interaction, remote sensing, climate change

Yonghwan Kwon, Ph.D. Candidate. B. Agr. (2004), MS Environmental Management (2009), Seoul National University.
Research interests: microwave radiative transfer in the snowpack in the forested environment, data assimilation, land surface modeling, hydrology

Qinjian Jin, Ph.D. Candidate. BS Electronics and Electric Engineering (2009), Lanzhou University.
Research interests: dust emissions, aerosols, climate modeling

Peirong Lin, Ph.D. Aspirant. BS Geological Sciences and Remote Sensing (2012), Beijing University.
Research interests: lake/reservoir modeling, river networks, soil moisture, hydrological modeling, climate science

Xiaolu Ling, Visiting Ph.D. Candidate from Nanjing University (October 2013 - January 2015). BS Atmospheric Science (2010), Lanzhou University.
Research interests: data assimilation, land surface modeling, hydrology, climate science

Sagar Prasad Parajuli, Ph.D. Aspirant. M.Sc. Water and Environmental Engineering (2012), Masdar Institute; B.E., Tribhuvan University (2005).
Research interests: dust emission and transport, soil moisture, environmental quality

Alex Resovsky, MS Aspirant. BS (2008), University of New Mexico.
Research interests: climate change, methane emissions, GIS, river networks

Ahmad A. Tavakoly, Ph.D. Aspirant. BE (2006), MS (2008), Iran University.
Research interests: river network, runoff, river flow and transport, hydrology

Yongfei Zhang, Ph.D. Candidate. BS Atmospheric Science (2010), Nanjing University.
Research interests: data assimilation, ensemble Kalman Filter, retrieving snow depth (and snow water equivalent) from remote sensing and land surface modeling

Students Graduated:

Cédric H. David, Ph.D., Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (2009), University of Texas at Austin

Dissertation Title: "Towards River Flow Computation at the Continental Scale"

(Co-Supervisor: Prof. David Maidment, Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering)

Currently: Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine

Lindsey E. Gulden, Ph.D., Geological Sciences (2009), University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation Title: "Quantification of the Confidence that Can Be Placed in Land-Surface Model Predictions: Applications to Vegetation and Hydrologic Processes"

Currently: Research Scientist, ExxonMobil, Houston, Texas

Xiaoyan Jiang, Ph.D., Geological Sciences (2010), University of Texas at Austin

Dissertation Title: "Regional-scale Land-Climate Interactions and Their Impacts on Air Quality in a Changing Climate"
Currently: Visiting Research Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Marla R. Knebl, Ph.D., Geological Sciences (2006), University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation Title: "Regional Scale Flood Modeling Using NEXRAD Rainfall, GIS, and HEC-HMS/RAS: A Case Study for the San Antonio River Basin, Texas"

Currently: Marla R. Lowrey, University of Wisconsin

Lisa H. Myer, MS Geological Sciences (2012), University of Texas at Austin

Thesis Topic: "Quantifying the Role of Agriculture and Urbanization in the Nitrogen Cycle across Texas".

Currently: Works in Houston

Enrique Rosero R, Ph.D., Geological Sciences (2009), University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation Title: "Evaluating Enhanced Hydrological Representations in Noah LSM over Transition Zones: An Ensemble-based Approach to Model Diagnostics"

Currently: Research Scientist, ExxonMobil, Houston, Texas

Mingjie Shi, Ph.D., Geological Sciences (2013), University of Texas at Austin

BS Applied Meteorology (2006), China Agricultural University; MS, Atmospheric Science (2008), Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dissertation Title: "Simulating and Quantifying Land-surface Biogeochemical, Hydrological, and Biogeophysical Processes Using the Community Land Model Version 4"; Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow at JPL, California

Hua Su, Ph.D., Geological Sciences (2009), University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation Title: "Large-scale Snowpack Estimation Using Ensemble Data Assimilation Methodologies, Satellite Observations and Synthetic Datasets"

Currently: Research Scientist Associate at the Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin

Qianru Zeng, MS Geological Sciences (2004), University of Texas at Austin
Thesis Topic: "Temporal and Spatial Variability of Snow Cover as Determined from Data and Models".

Students Mentored, Supervised or Sponsored:

Gang Zhang, September 2010 - August 2012, Ph.D. Aspirant. BS Atmospheric Science (2010), Lanzhou University.
Research interests: ensemble climate prediction, land-atmosphere interaction dynamics

Hee Jeung Kim, September 2010 - July 2011, Ph.D. Aspirant. MS Environmental Science (2003), Pusan University.
Research interests: climate change, air quality, atmospheric chemistry, climate modeling and data analysis

Benjamin Wagman, June 2009 - August 2010, Ph.D. Aspirant. BA Physics with a double major in Anthropology (2009), Grinnell College.
Research interests: climate science, climate change, paeloclimate, climate modeling

Yang Xue, September 2009 - January 2010, Ph.D. Aspirant. MS Geophysics (2009), University Stuttgart.
Research interests: geodesy, geophysics, climate science, hydrology

Amanda Barr, Ph.D. Aspirant, BS Astronomy (2003), University of Texas at Austin; MS Environmental Science (2006), Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi.
Research interests: global warming, data analysis

Sarah Doyle, BS Chemistry (2003), University of Texas at Austin.

Jacqueline (Jacki) Kinney, Ph.D. Aspirant. BS Meteorology (2003), Texas A&M University; MS Meteorology (2005), Texas A&M University.
Research interests: atmospheric radiation, climatology

Vaidya Varada, September 2002 - May 2003, MS Physics, University of Pune, Pune, India; MTech Atmospheric Physics, University of Pune, Pune, India.

Laurel (Lelan) Anstead, MS Candidate. BA Asian Area Studies (1987), BS Microbiology (1988), University of Illinois, Urbana. MA Education (1993), Illinois State University.
Research interests: environmental policy, air quality policy

Visiting Scholars:

Ms. Xiaodan Guan, Visiting Ph.D. student, Lanzhou University, China
9 September, 2009 - 8 September 2011
Research interests: land-atmosphere interaction, land surface modeling, semi-arid regions

Ms. Ruiping Guo, Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
12 September, 2008 - 12 September, 2009.
Research interests: climate modeling, crop modeling

Dr. Jingbing Xiao, Cielo Wind Power Company, Austin, TX, USA.
1 August, 2005 - 31 July, 2006.
Research interests: "Forecasting Local-scale Wind Speed and Direction in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Using Weather Research and Forecasting Model".

Professor Xinping Zhang, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.
6 September, 2005 - 24 February, 2006.
Research interests: "Stable Water Isotopes in the Community Land Model".

Professor Jie Cheng, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China.
November 2003 - April 2004.

Research interests: "Proxy data and modeling of the Holocene climate in the source area of the Yellow river, Northeast Tibetan Plateau".

Visitors:

Professor Jinjun Ji, Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate Asia (RCE-TEA), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
6-9 October, 2010

Dr. Youlong Xia, NCEP/EMC, NOAA

23-27 February, 2009

Dr. Zhuguo Ma, Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate Asia (RCE-TEA), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
27 October-23 November, 2008
Seminars: "North China Droughts", "Coordinated Flux Measurements in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions in North China".

Dr. Fei Chen, Scientist III, National Center for Atmospheric Research
15-20 October, 2006
Seminars: "Land Surface Modeling In Numerical Weather Prediction Models", "Challenges In Developing An Integrated Mesoscale Urban Modeling System" and "Investigating Mesoscale Land-Atmosphere Interactions And Their Impacts On Precipitation Under The NCAR Water Cycle Across Scales Program".

Professor Robert E. Dickinson, Georgia Institute of Technology
22-24 March, 2006
Seminars: "Issues in modeling canopy radiation in climate models (latest ideas)" and "Dynamic vegetation and carbon as a component of climate prediction".

Professor Alan Robock, Rutgers University
1-4 March, 2006
Seminars: "Comparing Climatic Response to Low and High Latitude Volcanic Eruptions" and "Using Soil Moisture Observations to Study Climate Variations, to Evaluate Climate Models, and as Ground Truth for Remote Sensing".

Professor Soroosh Sorooshian, University of California, Irvine
1-2 May, 2005

Professor Robert E. Dickinson, Georgia Institute of Technology
16-18 November, 2004
Seminar: "Including Land in a Climate Model"

Dr. Rick Lawford, NOAA Program Manager and Director of US CCSP GWCP Office
5-26 February, 2003
Seminar: “National and International Climate and Water Programs: Issues and Opportunities”.

Former Postdoctoral Fellows or Research Associates:

Dr. Hua Su, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin (2009).
Research interests: land data assimilation, snow-climate interaction, regional climate modeling

Dr. Mingxing Li, Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences (2010).
Research interests: soil moisture, land surface modeling, groundwater-atmosphere interaction (April 2012 to March 2013)

Dr. Cédric H. David, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin (2009).

Research interests: GIS, hydrological modeling, river routing, parallel computing (September 2009 to August 2012)

Dr. Zhongfeng Xu, Ph.D., Nanjing University (2008).
Research interests: regional climate modeling and dynamical climate downscaling (January 2011 to December 2011)

Dr. Ying Han, Ph.D., Nanjing University (2008).
Research interests: regional dust modeling (October 2011 to December 2011)

Dr. Seungbum (Bryan) Hong, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina (2008).
Research interests: remote sensing data analysis, data image processing, land surface modeling, hydrology (September 2008 to February 2011)

Dr. Guo-Yue Niu, Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (1996).
Research interests: Climate Modeling, Land Surface Modeling, Interaction of Terrestrial and Atmospheric Hydrological Processes (June 1998 to August 2009)

Dr. Jessica B. T. Rasmussen, Ph.D., The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2006).
Research interests: isotopic methods, caves, climate change, late Holocene climate variability (February 2007 to February 2009)

Dr. Jeff Chun-Fung Lo, Ph.D., The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2006).
Research interests: Regional Climate Downscaling, Computer Modeling of Land/Sea Breezes, Air Quality (March 2006 to March 2008)

Dr. Yongsheng Xu, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island (2006).

Research interests: physical oceanography, satellite data analysis, land surface hydrological modeling (October 2007 to October 2008)

Dr. Xuemei Wang, Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences (1999).
Visiting from Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China.
Research interests: Air Quality, BVOC Emissions, Climate Change, Large Eddy Simulations, Numerical Modeling (September 2006 to February 2007)

Dr. Yiwen Xu, Ph.D., University of Iowa (1998).

Research interests: Air Quality (November 2004 to September 2005)