Tropical Cyclones: Rainfall, Intensity Change, and Climatology

Welcome to Dr. Haiyan Jiang's FIU research group's homepage. We are located in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University in Miami, FL. We also collaborate with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research Division (HRD). Our website contains information about our research, group members, FIU meteorology courses, and education/outreach opportunities.


TRMM Tropical Cyclone Precipitation Feature (TCPF) Database


The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM, Kummerow et al., 1998) marks the first time that TCs in all ocean basins can be viewed by high resolution down-looking precipitation radar. After 12 years of successful operation, TRMM measurements, along with other NASA satellite measurements such as QuikSCAT and numerical model-based reanalysis, have provided invaluable sources of TC data for the study of TC intensification, rainfall, and environment. For studying TCs, our group maintains a record of all TRMM overpasses over Tropical Cyclones. This Tropical Cyclone related Precipitation Feature (TCPF) database can be viewed from the links below:


NOAA Joint Hurricane Testbed FY17 Project: Passive Microwave Intensity Estimation (PMW-IE) Model for Tropical Cyclones


The FIU PMW-IE Model is The Passive Microwave Intensity Estimation (PMW-IE) model is designed to estimate the current intensity of TCs using a set of 85-91 GHz and rain related variables from the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) 1C-constelation and 2A-GPROF-constellation near-real-time(NRT)products, respectively. It is currently undergoing real-time testing during the 2019 Atlantic, East Pacific, and Central Pacific Hurricane season (Jun 1- Nov 30, 2019).


Group members win prestigious NASA Earth & Space Science Fellowship


Group student Yongxian Pei was awarded the NASA NESSF Fellowship for 2014-2017 for his research entitled "Quantifying Asymmetries of Precipitation and Convection in Tropical Cyclones and Their Relationship to Storm Intensity Changes Based on 14 Years of TRMM Data".

Two of our group's students, Joe Zagrodnik & Cheng Tao, were awarded the NASA NESSF Fellowship for 2011-2014 for their research using the Tropical Cyclone Precipitation Feature (TCPF) Database. They were both featured in the FIU News article and video below:

Joe's project is titled, "Diurnal Cycle of Precipitation Features and Quantitative Comparison of Precipitation Algorithms in Tropical Cyclones." Cheng's project is titled, "Climatology of Hot Towers In Tropical Cyclones and Their Role In Tropical Cyclone Intensity Changes Based On 12 Years of TRMM Data."

Prospective Students


Undergraduate students with a strong interest in meteorology, remote sensing, and/or tropical cyclones are encouraged to apply for admission to the meteorology/geosciences graduate program at FIU. The department offers a limited number of teaching and research assistantships for MS and PhD degrees. We encourage highly qualified applicants to pursue the FIU Presidential Fellowship, which includes a tuition fee waiver and a $30,000/year stipend for 3 years. Interested applicants are encouaged to contact Dr. Jiang by January each year for Fall admission. Applications are due February 15th and must include GRE scores (plus TOEFL for international students), a resume or CV, letter of intent, and three letters of recommendation. Applications can be submitted through FIU Graduate Admissions.

Dr. Haiyan Jiang


Professor

Department of Earth & Environment

Email: haiyan.jiang@fiu.edu

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Publications