Joseph Smith
- Email: eejasm@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: Developing novel nowcasting techniques for convective activity in the Maritime Continent
- Supervisor: Professor Cathryn Birch, Prof John Marsham, Dr Massimo Bollasina, Dr George Pankiewicz
Profile
I am a postgraduate researcher working in the Atmospheric Dynamics group within the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science. I am funded by Natural Environemnt Research Council through the SENSE Earth Observation CDT.
My research focuses on developing new techniques to predict extreme weather in the Maritime Continent. I am particularly interested in new methods for the very short term prediction of weather (approximately 0-6 hours ahead), where numerical weather prediction models have little skill and practical application. In particular, I aim to apply machine learning techniques to the vast amounts of available optical imagery from geostationary weather satellites to identify storm cells, track their propagation and make predictions on their future state.
Prior to starting my PhD I graduated from the University of Bath with a BSc in Physics. My final year project aimed at developing novel techniques for stripping cladding modes from optical fibres in order to improve signal quality. I then worked for one year as a Data Scientist for a start-up in the software quality assurance industry.
Research interests
- Tropical meteorology
- Atmospheric physics
- Satellite optical imagery
- Random forests
- Deep learning architectures
- Probabilistic forecasting
Qualifications
- BSc Physics
Research groups and institutes
- Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science