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Dr Michael Baidu

Dr Michael Baidu

  • Position: Research Fellow
  • Areas of expertise: Tropical convection; Mesoscale Convective Systems; High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction Models; Nowcasting with Deep Learning; Boundary Layer Meteorology
  • Email: M.Baidu@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 10.05 Priestly Building
  • Website: Twitter | LinkedIn | Googlescholar

Profile

I am a Research Fellow currently currently working on the UM Boundary-layer REpresentation with Land-Atmosphere (UMBRELLA) project in the Institute of Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS) at the University of Leeds. I have also worked as a Data Scientist at the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA).
I hold a PhD in Atmospheric Science from ICAS in the University of Leeds and a Postgraduate Diploma in Earth System Physics from the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. I also hold both Bachelors and MPhil degrees in Meteorology and Climate Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.  
 

Responsibilities

  • Research Fellow in Atmospheric Boundary Layer Modelling

Research interests

Some of the research projects I have been involved in are listed below:

October 2023 - present

Research Fellow in Atmospheric Boundary Layer Modelling, UMBRELLA project, Institute for Climate at Atmospheric Science (ICAS), University of Leeds.
Conducting idealised large eddy simulations and realistic case studies with the Met Office Unified Model. Analysing model simulations and observations to understand the processes controlling boundary layer structure over variable terrain and how these couple with convection. Evaluating the representation of these processes at different model resolutions with different parametrisation schemes. Investigating interesting case studies with observational in-situ and remote sensing data.

June 2023 - present
Advancing Nowcasting with Deep Learning (ANDeL) for West Africa.
A grant for Oracle Cloud account has been won with other teammates of mine to improve Nowcasting over Africa using Deep Learning. We are training the model with satellite data, NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) data, Global Telecommunication Systems (GTS) data and other parameters from ERA5 reanalysis dataset to improve nowcasting over West Africa. 

September 2022 – September 2023
Data Scientist, Leeds Institute of Data Analytics (LIDA), University of Leeds.
Data Analysis, Machine Learning, modelling and prediction. Project with the Leeds City Council (LCC) on Educational Engagement and Early Help Analytics. Built a Random Forest, Logistic Regression and Linear Regression Models for predicting educational engagement. Alan Turing Data Study group: Detecting and locating Earthquakes with Machine Learning. A prediction model for locating earthquake was created using Random Forest algorithm. The model was trained using the maximum amplitude and the time of occurrence of earthquakes within a fixed window across all stations.

October 2018 – November 2022
 PhD (Atmospheric Science)

Characterising Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs) and evaluating precipitation forecasts
The PhD studenship was awarded as part of the GCRF African SWIFT project (https://africanswift.org/) to investigate the (thermo-)dynamic environments associated with the intensities of Mesoscale Convective Systems and their representation in the Met Office Tropical African Model. The effects of vertical wind shear on MCSs was also assessed in detail. 

 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • 2018 -2022 PhD (Atmospheric Science), ICAS, University of Leeds
  • 2016-2017: PGDip (Earth System Physics), International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste-Italy
  • 2014-2016: MPhil (Meteorology and Climate Science), Kwame Nkrumah Univ. of Science & Tech., Ghana
  • 2009-2013: BSc (Meteorology and Climate Science), Kwame Nkrumah Univ. of Science & Tech., Ghana

Professional memberships

  • Member of the conference planning committee, Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) Students and Early Career Scientist Conference 2020-2021.
  • Member of the conference planning committee, RMetS Students and Early Career Scientist Conference 2021-2022.
  • RMetS Yorkshire Committee, RMetS Yorkshire Local Centre, Leeds (2020-present).
  • Organising Committee Member, Atmospheric Dynamics and Clouds research group, Institute of Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS), University of Leeds (2020-2022).
  • Organising Committee Member, ICAS Annual Science Meeting, University of Leeds (2022)

Student education

I have assisted in teaching some of the meteorology courses and data analysis using python. I also help in training students in data analysis for research at the Faculty of Medicine and Health in School of Medicine, University of Leeds.