Read NASA News Release on Prof. Luo's research: NASA Data May Help Improve Estimates of a Hurricane's Punch

My research interest is satellite remote sensing and cloud studies in the context of global climate and climate change. In particular, I study tropical convective clouds and upper-tropospheric humidity (UTH) through analyzing satellite data, aircraft measurements and model simulations. Recently, I also become interested in hurricane studies and have been actively seeking satellite application of Emanuel's hurricane intensity theory.

My interest in clouds (and water vapor) started when I conducted my graduate research at Columbia University and NASA/GISS in connection with the ISCCP . This interest only grew stronger with my recent participation in NASA's CloudSat mission and European Union's MOZAIC project. Questions I strive to understand are: 1) How will NASA A-Train type synergy help add new insights into convective processes (e.g., buoyancy, entrainment, etc.) and help define future sensors (e.g., ACE)? 2) How will new space-borne technologies help hurricane intensity estimation? 3) How can we better understand UTH variations by bringing together aircraft and satellite measurements?

EAS 308: ESS: Modeling and Database
EAS 417: Satellite Meteorology (coming Fall 2010)
EAS B9014: Fundamentals of Atmospheric Science (tentative syllabus)
EAS 488/B8800: Climate & Climate Change (syllabus)

Atmospheric Science is an evolving field. A common misunderstanding among students is that it's a descriptive discipline. This might have been the case 50 years ago, but not any more. Our primary tool now is math/statistics and physics plus computer programming, so quantitative skills are needed.