Laura Legnani

Per il ciclo “Environmental Meteorology Seminar”, lunedì 23 giugno alle ore 14:30 si terrà il seminario dal titolo: “Atmospheric Rivers and Extreme Precipitation: Research and Applications at the Center For Western Weather and Water Extremes”, a cura di M. Ralph e L. Delle Monache del Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) dell’ Università della California (San Diego). Sarà possibile assistere al seminario in presenza, presso la Lecture Room 2R (Floor 2) del DICAM dell’ Università di Trento, o online su zoom, collegandosi al seguente link: https://unitn.zoom.us/j/87802819280 (Meeting ID: 878 0281 9280, Passcode: 251725). I relatori saranno al DICAM dalla mattina del 23 giugno alla mattina del 24 giugno. Chi desiderasse incontrarli può contattarli per organizzare un incontro: ldellemonache@ucsd.edu, mralph@ucsd.edu AbstractAt the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes we focus onunderstanding the physical processes that create extremes inprecipitation, ranging from flood to drought, and on advancing extremeweather monitoring, predictions, climate projections, and decisionsupport tools. In this seminar we will discuss our research onatmospheric rivers (ARs), bands of moisture in the sky that can carrymore water (as vapor) than any terrestrial river in the world (asliquid), which can deliver as much as half of California’s watersupply in a handful of precipitation events every year. We willintroduce the AR scale and discuss how climate change may impact thefrequency and intensity of ARs. We will then talk about the ARReconnaissance program, a Research and Operations Partnership with theU.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s NationalCenter for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) that employs U.S. Air Forceand NOAA aircrafts, along with other data collection methods, to fillcritical data gaps needed to improve forecasts of landfalling ARsaffecting the U.S. West Coast. Next, we will introduce theForecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) program, which isexploring how advances in weather prediction and observations can informreservoir operations to improve the water supply and reduce the risk offlooding. We will conclude with an overview of CW3E’efforts ondeveloping physics- and AI-based prediction capabilities to betterforecast ARs and the associated extreme precipitation.F. Martin Ralph’s BioDr. F. Martin Ralph is a meteorologist focused on atmospheric rivers,understanding the origins of floods, and improving predictions for watermanagement and flood control applications. After 21 years at NOAA, hecreated the “Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes” at UCSan Diego. He’s published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articlesand has developed programs on new science and technology and theirapplication to solving practical problems. He is a leading expert onatmospheric rivers and provides input to policymakers on western weatherand water extremes. He is a leader in the development ofForecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO), working closely withfederal, state, and local water managers. He is a Fellow of theAmerican Meteorological Society and has received awards from severalorganizations. He has a B. S. in Meteorology from the University ofArizona and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from UCLA.Luca Delle Monache’s BioDr. Luca Delle Monache is the Director of Research of the Center forWestern Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), Scripps Institution ofOceanography, University of California San Diego. Dr. Delle Monacheoversees the research and development of the Center’s modeling, dataassimilation, postprocessing, artificial intelligence, hydrology,subseasonal-to-seasonal, and supercomputing capabilities, with the goalof maintaining state-of-the-art models and tools while activelyexploring innovative algorithms and approaches. In close coordinationwith the Center Director and the management team, he develops newscientific and programmatic strategies to maintain and further expandCW3E leadership on understanding, observing, and predicting extremeevents in Western North America and other regions across the world. Hisinterests include predicting extreme weather and water events vianumerical weather prediction, data assimilation, artificialintelligence, and the design of ensemble methods for probabilisticprediction and uncertainty quantification. He has also made severalcontributions to renewable energy and air quality. He earned an M.S. inMathematics from the University of Rome, Italy, an M.S. in Meteorologyfrom San Jose State University, U.S., and a Ph.D. in AtmosphericSciences from the University of British Columbia, Canada.