Matthew R. Kumjian

About

Matthew R. Kumjian is a Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State. His research specialties include cloud physics and radiation, mesoscale meteorology, and severe weather. His specific research interests focus on radar meteorology, especially applications of dual-polarization radar, as well as clouds and precipitation physics, winter storms, severe convective storms, microphysical modeling, and related atmospheric phenomena. Kumjian holds a Ph.D. in Meteorology from The University of Oklahoma, earned in 2012, along with a master's degree in Meteorology from the same institution obtained in 2008, and a B.S. in Meteorology completed in 2006. His academic and research work is dedicated to understanding and modeling complex atmospheric processes, contributing to advancements in weather prediction and severe weather analysis.

Research topics

• Meteorology
• Geology
• Environmental science
• Computer Science
• Climatology
• Geography
• Physics
• Atmospheric sciences
• Mechanics
• Political Science

Selected publications

• Confronting the Challenge of Modeling Cloud and Precipitation Microphysics

  Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems · 2020 · 605 citations

  refers to the microscale processes that affect cloud and precipitation particles and is a key linkage among the various components of Earth's atmospheric water and energy cycles. The representation of microphysical processes in models continues to pose a major challenge leading to uncertainty in numerical weather forecasts and climate simulations. In this paper, the problem of treating microphysics in models is divided into two parts: (i) how to represent the population of cloud and precipitatio…

  DOI

• A Storm Safari in Subtropical South America: Proyecto RELAMPAGO

  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2021 · 116 citations

  Abstract This article provides an overview of the experimental design, execution, education and public outreach, data collection, and initial scientific results from the Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. RELAMPAGO was a major field campaign conducted in the Córdoba and Mendoza provinces in Argentina and western Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil in 2018–19 that involved more than 200 scien…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Hail Growth Trajectory Model for Exploring the Environmental Controls on Hail Size: Model Physics and Idealized Tests

  Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences · 2020 · 105 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract A detailed microphysical model of hail growth is developed and applied to idealized numerical simulations of deep convective storms. Hailstone embryos of various sizes and densities may be initialized in and around the simulated convective storm updraft, and then are tracked as they are advected and grow through various microphysical processes. Application to an idealized squall line and supercell storm results in a plausibly realistic distribution of maximum hailstone sizes for each. S…

  DOI

• Chasing Snowstorms: The Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) Campaign

  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2022 · 95 citations

  Abstract The Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) is a NASA-sponsored field campaign to study wintertime snowstorms focusing on East Coast cyclones. This large cooperative effort takes place during the winters of 2020–23 to study precipitation variability in winter cyclones to improve remote sensing and numerical forecasts of snowfall. Snowfall within these storms is frequently organized in banded structures on multiple scales. The c…

  PublisherDOI

• Gargantuan Hail in Argentina

  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2020 · 72 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract On 8 February 2018, a supercell storm produced gargantuan (>15 cm or >6 in. in maximum dimension) hail as it moved over the heavily populated city of Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba Province, Argentina. Observations of gargantuan hail are quite rare, but the large population density here yielded numerous witnesses and social media pictures and videos from this event that document multiple large hailstones. The storm was also sampled by the newly installed operational polarimetric C-ba…

  DOI

Recent grants

• PREEVENTS Track 2: Collaborative Research: Improving High-Impact Hail Event Forecasts by Linking Hail Environments and Modeled Hailstorm Processes

  NSF · $305k · 2019–2023

• Collaborative Research: An Integrated Understanding of the Initiation and Subsequent Dynamical and Microphysical Characteristics of Deep Convective Storms during RELAMPAGO

  NSF · $368k · 2017–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Alexander V. Ryzhkov

  Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies

  102 shared

• Terry J. Schuur

  NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory

  34 shared

• Pavlos Kollias

  Stony Brook University

  32 shared

• Robert S. Schrom

  Goddard Space Flight Center

  28 shared

• Marcus van Lier‐Walqui

  Goddard Institute for Space Studies

  27 shared

• O. P. Prat

  26 shared

• Mariko Oue

  Stony Brook University

  26 shared

• Scott M. Ganson

  24 shared

Similar researchers at Pennsylvania State University

• William H. Bruneh-99
• Jose D. Fuentesh-60
• Sukyoung Leeh-53