Lei Zhao
· Assistant Professor of Environmental EngineeringUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Civil and Environmental Engineering
Active 2009–2026
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About
Professor Lei Zhao leads the Urban Climate AI Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focusing on the dynamic feedbacks between land and the atmosphere that significantly influence climate variability and climate change. His research addresses how anthropogenic activities alter biogeochemical and biophysical processes at the Earth's surface, which can either exacerbate or mitigate the impacts of climate change. This work is critical for understanding surface-atmosphere coupling, global atmospheric dynamics, future climate projections, and strategies for climate change adaptation. The group's research centers on the physical and engineering processes within the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, a region where most human activities and environmental systems are concentrated. By studying these dynamics, Professor Zhao's work provides important insights into human-environment interactions, global atmospheric behavior, climate change, and sustainable development. The research approach integrates theory, numerical modeling, remote sensing, in situ observations, and advanced Artificial Intelligence methods to investigate environmental fluid mechanics and land-atmosphere dynamics related to urban environments, hydroclimatology, climate change, climate impacts, and adaptation.
Research topics
- Geology
- Geography
- Meteorology
- Environmental science
- Climatology
- Atmospheric sciences
- Computer Science
- Ecology
- Environmental resource management
- Engineering
Selected publications
Global multi-model projections of local urban climates
Nature Climate Change · 2021 · 334 citations
1st authorCorrespondingIncreased heat risk in wet climate induced by urban humid heat
Nature · 2023 · 253 citations
Cooling hot cities: a systematic and critical review of the numerical modelling literature
Environmental Research Letters · 2021 · 222 citations
Abstract Infrastructure-based heat reduction strategies can help cities adapt to high temperatures, but simulations of their cooling potential yield widely varying predictions. We systematically review 146 studies from 1987 to 2017 that conduct physically based numerical modelling of urban air temperature reduction resulting from green-blue infrastructure and reflective materials. Studies are grouped into two modelling scales: neighbourhood scale, building-resolving (i.e. microscale); and city s…
Earth system science data · 2025-05-21 · 11 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract. High-resolution urban climate modeling has faced substantial challenges due to the absence of a globally consistent, spatially continuous, and accurate dataset to represent the spatial heterogeneity of urban surfaces and their biophysical properties. This deficiency has long obstructed the development of urban-resolving Earth system models (ESMs) and ultra-high-resolution urban climate modeling, over large domains. Here, we present U-Surf, a first-of-its-kind 1 km resolution present-da…
CMIP7 data request: impacts and adaptation priorities and opportunities
Geoscientific model development · 2025-12-04 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 7 (CMIP7) undertook an extensive process to gather community input and refine data requests related to impacts and adaptation applications of Earth System Model (ESM) outputs. The Impacts and Adaptation (I&A) Data Request Team worked with CMIP7 leadership to distribute an open solicitation across many communities that use climate model outputs requesting inputs for new and existing variables, the most applicable temporal character…
Recent grants
Frequent coauthors
- 42 shared
Keith W. Oleson
- 39 shared
Xuhui Lee
- 36 shared
Phong V. V. Le
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- 36 shared
Andrew W. Taylor‐Robinson
University of Pennsylvania
- 36 shared
Brian F. Allan
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- 36 shared
Praveen Kumar
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- 36 shared
Thanh H. Nguyen
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- 36 shared
Jinhui Yan
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Awards & honors
- NSF CAREER Award
- Timothy Oke Award from the International Association for Urb…
- AGU Global Environmental Change Early Career Award from the…
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