Xuanyu Chen
Position
Research Associate
Division
Atmosphere-Ocean Processes and Predictability
Affiliation
Contact
About
I am a physical oceanographer who is fascinated by weather and clouds. My interest in connecting the oceans and extreme weather has led me to study air-sea interactions at scales of 100 km and smaller. In particular, I want to understand better the ocean's imprint on the atmospheric boundary layer and to improve its representation in high-resolution Earth System Prediction Models.
My current research focuses on shallow convection, which I think it is one of the important building blocks (or fuels) for tropical weather, ranging from a single raining cumulonimbus to mesoscale convective systems to tropical cyclones. In the past, I have also done research about air-sea momentum fluxes and storm surge. While numerical modeling is the central pillar of my research, I also value analyzing observations and have successfully integrated both components in my work.
My current research focuses on shallow convection, which I think it is one of the important building blocks (or fuels) for tropical weather, ranging from a single raining cumulonimbus to mesoscale convective systems to tropical cyclones. In the past, I have also done research about air-sea momentum fluxes and storm surge. While numerical modeling is the central pillar of my research, I also value analyzing observations and have successfully integrated both components in my work.
Research Interests
- Air-Sea Interactions
- Shallow Convection
- Ocean Surface Waves
- Numerical Modeling
Education
- Ph.D., Physical Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Aug 2020
- B.S., Marine Science, Ocean University of China, Jun 2015
Selected Publications
- Chen, X., Dias, J., Wolding, B., Blossey, P. N., DeMott, C., Pincus, R., Thompson, E. J. (2025). Impacts of weak sea surface temperature warm anomalies on local trade cumulus cloudiness in large eddy simulations. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 17, e2024MS004778. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024MS004778
- Chen, X., J. Dias, B. Wolding, R. Pincus, C. DeMott, G. Wick, E. J. Thompson, and C. W. Fairall (2023). Ubiquitous Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies Increase Spatial Heterogeneity of Trade Wind Cloudiness on Daily Time Scale. J. Atmos. Sci., 80, 2969–2987, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-23-0075.1.
- Chen, X., T. Hara, & I. Ginis (2020). Impact of shoaling ocean surface waves on wind stress and drag coefficient in coastal waters: 1. Uniform wind. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(7), e2020JC016222.
- Chen, X., I. Ginis, & T. Hara (2020). Impact of shoaling ocean surface waves on wind stress and drag coefficient in coastal waters: 2. Tropical Cyclones. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(7), e2020JC016223.
- Chen, X., I. Ginis., & T. Hara (2018). Sensitivity of offshore tropical cyclone wave simulations to spatial resolution in wave models. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 6(4), 116.
Presentations
- Chen, X. et al. Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies Excite Trade Cumulus Generation in North Atlantic Trades: Satellite Observations and Large Eddy Simulations. MMM NCAR. Apr 25, 2024
- Chen, X., Dias, J., Wolding, B., Pincus, R., DeMott, C., Wick, G., Thompson, E.J., and Fairall, C. (2023). Trade Cumulus Cloudiness Modulated by Weak Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies during Atlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction Campaign. 103rd Amer. Meteor. Soc. Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 8-12 January.
- Chen, X., Dias, J., Wolding, B., Pincus, R., DeMott, C. (2023). Understanding the Impact of SST Spatial Anomalies on Shallow Mesoscale Cloud Organization with Large Eddy Simulations. 103rd Amer. Meteor. Soc. Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 8-12 January.
- Chen, X., Ginis, I., Hara, T. (2021). Impacts of Shoaling Ocean Surface Waves on Wind Stress and Drag Coefficient. DHS Coastal Resilience Center 6th Annual Meeting. Virtual, Apr 21.