Food, travel and great weather: Meet Kumar Roy, our PIMS PDF at the University of Victoria.
By Lisa Sammoh, Communications and Events Assistant.
Kumar Roy works as a PIMS Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Boualem Khouider at Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Victoria. His current research topic is in the area of climate change modelling focusing on Stochastic models for clouds and tropical convection parameterization. He completed his Ph.D. degree in Meteorology and Oceanography from Andhra University, India in March 2022 and his research has been carried out at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, India. His research focuses on the development and application of sub-grid scale cloud models in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, as well as how these models affect the forecasting abilities of NWP models.
Tell us about your academic journey.
I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Burdwan University and Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in India, respectively. I also received the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scholarship from the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) during both degrees.
My passion for understanding weather phenomena such as thunderstorms, cyclones, and extreme events led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Meteorology and Oceanography at Andhra University; I also conducted research at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, India under the guidance of Dr. Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay and Prof. SSVS Ramakrishna. My thesis, “Observational and modelling studies of clouds and convective processes with emphasis on low-level clouds and its microphysical impact on precipitation,” focused on improving convective/microphysics parameterization in climate models and calibrating sub-grid scale convective parameterization using remote-sensing and observational data. I analyzed different coupled climate models related to cloud and convective processes, which helped me a lot in gathering knowledge about climate/atmospheric dynamics.
During my Ph.D., I attended international workshops and conferences and was awarded a Student Travel Grant from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2019 (USA) and WMO funding for the 6th Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (WGNE) workshop in the UK on systematic errors in weather and climate models in 2022.
I also contributed to the development of a short-range ensemble prediction model for the Indian monsoon and extreme events like tropical cyclones as part of the IITM team. This forecast generates an early alert about upcoming extreme events which in turn helps to control damages in a variety of ways. As well, in collaboration with Prof. Boualem Khouider (University of Victoria), I developed a Stochastic parameterization framework, by calibrating it through Indian radar data, and added a fourth cloud type (shallow cumulus) to it. After finding that the stochastic approach has the potential to improve the model’s fidelity from short to climate scale,I decided to pursue further research on stochastic parameterization with Prof. Khouider’s group.
What field are you in and what is your current research on?
My research in atmospheric science focuses on the impact of various cloud types, from low Stratocumulus to Deep convective, that have a significant impact on Earth’s radiative balance. I have published my Ph.D. research on this topic in several peer-reviewed journals. Currently, I am studying stochastic models for clouds and tropical convection parameterization within the field of climate change modeling.
What does research and life balance mean to you?
To me, balance between research and personal life means spending time with family and pursuing hobbies. I moved to Victoria in November 2022 when my daughter, Adira, was just one month old. Although she is currently in India with my wife, I make a video call with her every day because her smile brightens my day.
Cooking is my favorite hobby and I enjoy experimenting with different cuisines as a stress reliever. I also make time for cooking with friends, which helps me refresh my mind and generate new research ideas. Traveling to different places in India to explore diverse cultures and authentic cuisines is another hobby that invigorates my mind. I think travel is an investment in yourself; it frees my mind and boosts me with new ideas for research work. Listening to music is something I also enjoy doing while cooking or during my free time. On weekends, I like to watch movies and web series.
What has been your best discovery since arriving at the University of Victoria? What are you looking forward to learning and seeing about the city and university?
Being able to work with a mathematician(s) has provided me with a unique perspective on atmospheric science as a subject. In addition to my postdoctoral research, I also lead a small group of four graduate students in the PIMS First-Year Interest Group (FYIG) program, where we cover topics related to tropical meteorology and climate modeling, starting from the basics of atmospheric sciences. I am excited to begin teaching in the Fall semester.
Since arriving in Victoria in November 2022, I have found it to be a beautiful place that is very close to nature. I enjoy walking in Mount Douglas and exploring the beaches and parks around Victoria. Trying food from different restaurants is also a favorite pastime of mine.
Kumar will be speaking at the PIMS Emergent Research Seminar Series, on April 5, 2023, at 9:30 AM Pacific. Details on his talk and poster, Using data-driven stochastic lattice models to improve the representation of convection and clouds in Climate Models, can be found here.
