Professor Douglas Parker

Profile

I am a Meteorologist studying the physics and fluid dynamics of the climate system. My research group investigates the dynamics of weather systems such as cumulonimbus storms, cyclones and monsoons, in the Earth’s changing climate. We conduct observational and theoretical studies to develop new models of these weather patterns, to explain their role in the the global circulation and to explain their impacts. Our work contributes to improving weather and climate predictions, and making these predictions more relevant to society. Increasingly we develop and use machine-learning and AI-based models. I have led and participated in a number of field campaigns, in the UK, Africa and India.

Within the University of Leeds I have a joint position between the School of Earth, Environment & Sustainability (SEES) and the School of Mathematics. From 2010 to 2019 I was responsible for the coordination of the University's formal partnership with the Met Office. I now have an adjoint position at NORCE-Climate in Bergen (2021-2026).

Research interests

My research is concerned with the physics and dynamics of weather systems in Earth’s changing climate. I study the interaction of weather systems with global circulation, their impacts on society, and the development of practical solutions for the use of weather and climate information. Much of my work has been conducted in collaboration with the Met Office, and has contributed to improvement in the Met Office's weather and climate forecasting systems.

I led and co-edited a textbook on weather forecasting in West Africa: "Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook". The book has been translated into French and more than 300 copies have been distributed to the forecasting and training centres in Africa, funded by the Met Office and Météo-France.

Some project links:

• GCRF African SWIFT: African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (2017-2022). SWIFT has brought about transdisciplinary solutions to improve weather forecasts in Africa, and thereby to increase the resilience of millions of vulnerable people in the continent to high-impact weather. SWIFT is a consortium of 16 partners, including 10 African universities and agencies, with strong support from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
• African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA, 2003-2019); AMMA has been the most extensive multidisciplinary research programme ever conducted in Africa. I led AMMA-UK, as well as co-leading the AMMA Radiosonde Programme and the AMMA Monsoon-Season Special Observing Periods (SOPs).
• AMMA International database.
• AMMA-2050 (DFID-NERC Future Climates for Africa (FCFA) regional project, 2015-2019);
• IMPALA (FCFA project, improving climate models for Africa, 2015-2019);
• VERA (NERC West Africa vegetation/rainfall, 2015-2018);
• INCOMPASS (Indian monsoon campaign 2016, analysis and modelling);
• Convective Storm Initiation Project (CSIP);
• Cascade Cloud-resolving simulations of the tropical atmosphere;
• Ewiem Nimdie - a Partnership for the development of academic programmes in Meteorology and Climate Science at KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana;
• JET2000: Aircraft observations of the African Easterly Jet system.

Primary investigator (PI)

• African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA)
• JET2000 Project
• Nowcasting with AI for African Rainfall
• The African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis for 2050 (AMMA-2050) project: The University of Leeds helps advise on future climate change over West Africa.
• WISER Early Warnings for Southern Africa (WISER-EWSA)

Co-investigator (Co-I)

• Diabatic evolution of clouds in a Lagrangian framework: turbulence, vorticity dynamics and precipitation effects
• Project IMPALA (Improving Model Processes for African cLimAte)

Qualifications

• PhD, Meteorology, University of Reading
• MA, Mathematics, University of Cambridge

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society

Student education

I am module leader for SOEE2210 Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics.

I supervise student projects in SEES and the School of Mathematics, including projects related to extreme weather, climate change and climate data analysis.

Together with Sylvester Danuor, I led a project to develop new Meteorology and Climate Science degrees at KNUST in Ghana in 2008. The programme has thrived and KNUST is now one of the top African centres in our field. We held a summer school in Ghana in 2008: the event was a remarkable academic experience, repeated in 2010 and 2019.

I have developed weather forecaster training materials and contributed to the training of forecasters in the UK, Africa, Caribbean and Southeast Asia.

Research groups and institutes

• Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science
• water@leeds
• Dynamics and Clouds

Current postgraduate researchers

• James Bassford
• Yutong Lu
• Christopher Downing