BIOSKETCH:
Prof. Zhang received professional training from the
Department of Meteorology, The
Pennsylvania State University where he obtained his M.S. in 1981 and Ph.D. in 1985.
From 1986 to 1988, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research
(NCAR), which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
After spending one year in the
University of Toronto, he took a faculty
position in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
at McGill University . He joined the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
of University of Maryland in September 1996.
Prof. Zhang works on the modeling and understanding of fundamental processes
taking place in squall lines, mesoscale convective complexes, hurricanes and heavy rain-
(or snow-) storms, tropical and extratropical cyclones, gravity waves, frontal
circulations and topographically generated weather phenomena. His
research involves simulating a variety of different severe convective systems and cyclones;
examining the meso-beta-scale structures and evolution as well as the mechanism(s)
whereby they develop; testing theories, hypotheses and various model physical
representations; and finally interpreting, to the extent possible, the observed
behaviors of these weather systems. His research interests also include
the development and improvement of the planetary boundary layer and cumulus
parameterization techniques, cloud representations in mesoscale numerical
models, and the improvement of warm-season quantitative precipitation forecasts
and severe weather warnings.
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