Zhixiao Zhang

I am a postdoctoral researcher working under the guidance of Professors Hannah Christensen and Tim Woollings.

I am broadly interested in investigating the energy cascade and its reflection from small-scale to meso- and large-scale circulations in a warming atmosphere, with a particular focus on convective organization, which aggregates discrete clouds into severe storms. My research aims to:

• Diagnose model biases in representing convective organization using Lagrangian analysis on simulations, observations, and analysis increment.
• Develop data-driven parameterizations that leverage both stochastic physics and machine learning to mitigate these biases.
• Apply these advanced parameterizations to improve the prediction of extreme precipitation events and the Madden-Julian Oscillation.