Sundararaman Gopalakrishnan

Dr. Sundararaman “Gopal” Gopalakrishnan  is a senior meteorologist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)’s Hurricane Research Division (HRD) and principal architect of NOAA’s Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) system. His research involves simulating a variety of complex, non-linear, scale interacting systems starting from dry thermals (Large Eddy Simulations) to hurricanes; examining the mesoscale structures and evolution as well as the mechanism(s) whereby they develop; testing theories, hypotheses and various near-surface model physical representations; and finally interpreting, to the extent possible, the modeled and the observed behavior of these systems. He has over 60 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. In the past, he has served as an Associate Editor for the Monthly Weather Review and Weather and Forecasting. Dr. Gopal is the co-editor of the textbook entitled “Advanced Numerical Modeling and Data Assimilation Techniques for Tropical Cyclone Predictions (publishers: Capital Press, India, and Springer, Germany). Gopal is the head of the modeling group at the Division where he supervises and mentors advanced scientists and students at post-graduate as well as post-doc levels. He is also the leader of Next-Generation Hurricane Prediction Program and Research to Operational transitions in NOAA. He is currently serving as the developmental manager for NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP).