Sponsored by the NERC-funded GW4+ DTP and working with the Met Office studying vertical coupling in an extended unified model.

Matthew graduated from the University of Bath in 2016 with an MMath in Mathematics with Study Year Abroad. His final year project was titled “Planetary Motion in Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity”, which involved comparing planetary orbits in a Newtonian and Einsteinian setting, and modelling these orbits. His interests continue to lie in the field of numerical modelling, now being applied to weather prediction and climate. Outside of mathematics, Matthew is a keen skier/snowboarder and enjoys playing squash and duplicate bridge.

Research project title:
Raising the Roof: Extension of the Met Office’s Unified Model into the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere

Supervisor(s):
Chris Budd, Nick Mitchell, David Jackson, John Thuburn

Project description:
Forecasting weather in the lower thermosphere (85 – 120 km) is of particular interest due to its impact on spacecraft re-entry and radio communications. To this end, Matthew was extending the current 85 km upper boundary on the Met Office’s Unified Model (UM) to a height of around 120 km. Thus, he was raising the roof on current numerical weather prediction and paving the way for the development of a coupled whole atmosphere model. In particular, the work focused on including the correct physical processes in the high atmosphere. This included accurately depicting the reversal of the mesospheric zonal jets, forced by gravity waves (GWs). In order to do this, tuning of the GW forcing schemes was required, which is performed by a comparison with radar and satellite data collected by the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering.