Research Interests
Numerical weather prediction.
Data assimilation.
Observing system experiments (OSEs).
Observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs).
Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).
Reconnaissance aircraft observations.
Brittany Dahl
Senior Research Associate I (University of Miami/CIMAS), Hurricane Research Division
305.631.4402
4301 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149
“I am a scientist because I enjoy learning about the world around me and solving problems. While we have come a long way in our understanding of tropical cyclones over the years, we still fall short in our prediction of them. My research seeks to address this by studying methods of assimilating current observations into forecast models and exploring the potential benefits of new observations.”
Brittany Dahl’s work focuses on improving tropical cyclone prediction through assimilation of new and existing observations, particularly from reconnaissance aircraft. Her previous work includes observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) with observations from the NASA Global Hawk and Raytheon Coyote uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) as well as observations from an airborne phased array radar (APAR) that is under development at NCAR.
Current Work
Assessing the impact of microwave satellite radiance data from the soon-to-be-launched TROPICS CubeSat constellation and improving techniques for assimilating aircraft reconnaissance data in the new HAFS forecast model and participation in HRD’s Hurricane Field Program.
2014 M.S. Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
2011 B.S. Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
- Aksoy, A., J.J. Cione, B.A. Dahl, and P.D. Reasor. Tropical cyclone data assimilation with Coyote uncrewed aircraft system observations, very frequent cycling, and a new online quality control technique. Monthly Weather Review, 150(4):797-829, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-21-0124.1 2022
Ref. 4062 - Christophersen, H.W., B.A. Dahl, J.P. Dunion, R.F. Rogers, F.D. Marks, R. Atlas, and W.J. Blackwell. Impact of TROPICS radiances on tropical cyclone prediction in an OSSE. Monthly Weather Review, 149(7):2279-2298, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0339.1 2021
Ref. 3964 - Cione, J.J., G.H. Bryan, R. Dobosy, J.A. Zhang, G. de Boer, A. Aksoy, J.B. Wadler, E.A. Kalina, B.A. Dahl, K. Ryan, J. Neuhaus, E. Dumas, F.D. Marks, A.M. Farber, T. Hock, and X. Chen. Eye of the storm: Observing hurricanes with a small Unmanned Aircraft System. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(2):E186-E205, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0169.1 2020
Ref. 3748
2018 Aviation Week Laureate Award for Defense Dual Use
For use of the Coyote unmanned aerial system to gather data in the eye of Hurricane Maria, enabling NOAA to better forecast how intense the storm would be at landfall and more accurately estimate the magnitude of Maria’s storm surge.