Paul Kucera

Mgr, International Cap & Bus Dev

Information

Bio

Dr. Kucera received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa in 2002. He has over 20 years of field research experience and has been involved in over 12 field programs. His primary technical expertise is in weather radar applications, precipitation estimation/validation, polarimetric weather radar, hydro-meteorology, model verification, and weather modification assessment programs. Recent research has focused on precipitation studies in arid climates, evaluation of cloud seeding for rainfall enhancement, characterization of storms in West Africa and Panama, snowfall estimation in St Johns, Newfoundland, cloud studies using CloudSat, and diagnostic evaluation of hurricane forecasts. He has over five years of university teaching experience at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and has led a number of mentoring and training programs at NCAR.

For the past four years, Dr. Kucera has been the Project Scientist leading an effort to enhance the weather service capacity in Saudi Arabia through model and observational network development. Dr. Kucera has also led research studies in West Africa. He was responsible for the airborne research operations, radar operations and networking, education and outreach, and evaluating cloud seeding programs. For the NASA (NAMMA) field program in Senegal and the NASA TC4 field program, he served as the lead science project scientist for the NASA polarimetric Doppler weather radar (NPOL). For the past three years, he has directed a NASA funded effort that uses CloudSat for improving aviation applications. Also, he leads a verification effort for the evaluation of experimental forecasts in support of the NOAA Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP).

Publications

Polyak, I., G. R. North, P. A. Kucera, and N. R. Smith, 1997: Variability of the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment rain rate observations. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 11103-11111

Short, D. A., P. A. Kucera, B. S. Ferrier, J. C. Gerlach, S. A. Rutledge, and O. W. Thiele, 1997: Shipboard radar rainfall patterns within the TOGA COARE IFA. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 78, 2817-2836

Kruger, A., P. A. Kucera, and W. F. Krajewski, 1999: TOGA COARE shipborne radar-rainfall products. Water Resour. Res., 35, 2597-2600

Tokay, A., A. Kruger, W. F. Krajewski, A. J. P. Filho, and P. A. Kucera, 2002: Measurements of drop size distribution in the southwestern Amazon basin. J. Geophys. Res., 107.

Ridley, B., L. Ott, K. Pickering, L. Emmons, D. Montzka, A. Weinheimer, D. Knapp, F. Grahek, L. Li, G. Heymsfield, M. McGill, P. A. Kucera, M. J. Mahoney, D. Baumgardner, M. Schultz, and G. Brasseur, 2004: Florida Thunderstorms: A Faucet of Reactive Nitrogen to the Upper Troposphere. J. Geophys. Res., 109, 2004JD004769.

Kucera, P. A., C.B. Young, and W.F. Krajewski, 2004: Geographic Information System based studies of radar beam blockage: A case study of Guam. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. 24, 995-1006.

Gochis, D., P. A. Kucera, and co-authors, 2005: Meeting summary of UCAR/NCAR Junior Faculty Forum on Future Scientific Directions: The water cycle across scales working group. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 86, 1743-1746.

Williams, C. R., K. S. Gage, W. Clark, and P. A. Kucera, 2005: Vertically pointing profiling radars used to calibrate and monitor the reflectivity of scanning weather radars. Journal of Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 22, 1004-1018.

Habib, E., C. G. Malakpet, A. Tokay, and P. A. Kucera, 2008: Sensitivity of streamflow simulations to temporal variability and estimation of Z-R relationships. J. Hydrologic Engineering, 13, 1177-1186, DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0699(2008)13:12(1177).

Rickenbach, T. M., P. A. Kucera, M. Gentry, L. Carey, A. Lare, R.-F. Lin, B. Demoz, and D. O’C. Starr, 2008: Evolution of anvil clouds and convective systems on 23 July 2002 during CRYSTAL-FACE. Mon. Wea. Rev., 136, 3917-3932.

Lamptey, B. L., R. E. Pandya, T. T. Warner, R. Boger, R. T. Bruintjes, P. A. Kucera, A. Laing, M. W. Moncrieff, M. K. Ramamurthy, and T. C. Spangler, 2009: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: The UCAR Africa Initiative. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 90, 299-303.

Lyon, S. W., P. A. Kucera, and co-authors, 2008: Coupling terrestrial and atmospheric water dynamics to improve prediction in a changing environment. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, 1275-1279.

Kucera, P. A., A. Theisen, and D. Langerud, 2008: Polarimetric Cloud Analysis and Seeding Test (POLCAST). J. Wxmod., 40, 64-76.

Newman, A. J., P. A. Kucera, C. R. Williams, and Larry F. Bliven, 2009: Snowflake Size Spectra Retrieved From a UHF Vertical Profiler. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 180-199.

Newman, A. J., P. A. Kucera, and Larry F. Bliven, 2009: Presenting the Snowflake Video Imager (SVI). J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 167-179.

Grant, D. D., J. D. Fuentes, M. S. DeLonge, S. Chan, E. Joseph, P. A. Kucera, S. A. Ndiaye, and A. T. Gaye, 2008: Ozone transport by mesoscale convective storms in western Senegal. Atmos. Environ., 42, 7104-7114.

Theisen, C. J., P. A. Kucera, and M. R. Poellot, 2009: A Study of Relationships between Tropical Thunderstorm Properties and Corresponding Anvil Cloud Characteristics, J. Meteor. and Climate, 48, 1882-1901.

DeLonge, M. S., J. D. Fuentes, S. Chan, P. A. Kucera, E. Joseph, A. T. Gaye, B. Daouda, 2010: A convective storm and associated surface-atmosphere interactions in coastal Senegal during NAMMA-06. J. Geophys. Res. – Atmos., 115, D10213, 16 pp, doi:10.1029/2009JD012518, 2010.

Jenkins, G., P. A. Kucera, E. Joseph, J. Fuentes, A. Gaye, J. Gerlach, F. Roux, N. Viltard, M. Papazzoni, A. Protat, D. Bouniol, A. Reynolds, J. Arnault, D. Badiane, F. Kebe, M. Camara, S. Sall, S. A. Ndiaye, and A. Deme, 2010: Coastal observations of weather features in Senegal during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis Special Observing Period 3. J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos, 115, D18108, doi:10.1029/2009JD013022.

Morris, G. A., A. M. Thompson, K. E. Pickering, S. Chen, E. J. Bucsela, P. A. Kucera, 2010: Observations of ozone production in a dissipating tropical convective cell during TC4. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 11189-11208, http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/11189/2010, doi:10.5194/acp-10-11189-2010.

Kucera, P.A., D. Axisa, R. P. Burger, D. R. Collins, R. Li, M. Chapman, R. Posada, T. W. Krauss, and A. S. Ghulam, 2010: Features of the Weather Modification Assessment Project in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia. J. Wxmod., 42, 76-103.

Delene, D, C. Grainger, P. Kucera, D. Langerud, M. Hamm, R. Mitchell, and C. Kruse, 2011: The second polarimetric cloud analysis and seeding test. J. Wxmod, 43, 14-28.

Rasmussen, R., B. Baker, J. Kochendorfer, T. Meyers, S. Landolt, A. P. Fischer, J. Black, J. Theriault, P. Kucera, D. Gochis, C. Smith, R. Nitu, M. Hall, S. Cristanelli, and E. Gutmann, 2012: The NOAA/FAA/NCAR Winter Precipitation Test Bed: How Well Are We Measuring Snow? Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00052.1.

Klotz, B. W. and P. A. Kucera, 2012: Observations of coastally transitioning West African Mesoscale Convective Systems during NAMMA. International Journal of Geophysics, doi:10.1155/2012/438706.

Kucera, P. A., E. E. Ebert, F. J. Turk, V. Levizzani, D. Kirschbaum, F. J. Tapiador, P. Xian, A. Loew, and M. Borsche, 2012: Precipitation from Space: Advancing Earth System Science. Submitted to Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (in publication).

Gultepe, I., G. A. Isaac, P. Joe, P.A. Kucera, J. Theriault, and T. Fisico, 2012: RND mountain top research site: Measurements and uncertainties for extreme weather conditions. Submitted to Pure and Applied Geophysics. (in publication).

Joe. P., B. Scott, C. Doyle, G. Isaac, I. Gultepe, D. Forsyth, S. Cober, E. Campos, I. Heckman, N. Donaldson, D. Hudak, R. Rasmussen, P. A. Kucera, R. Stewart, J. M. Thériault, T. Fisico, K. Rasmussen, H. Carmichael, A. Laplante, M. Bailey, and F. Boudala, 2012: The Monitoring Network of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Submitted to Pure and Applied Geophysics. (in review).

Publications and Presentations (45)
Title	Source	Date
On the detection of icing conditions at altitude in conjunction with mesoscale convective complexes using balloon sondes	Monthly Weather Review	2023-09-01
Effect of dust on rainfall over the Red Sea coast based on WRF-Chem model simulations	Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics	2022-07-06
The HurricaneRiskCalculator®️ web app: Enhancing public safety, resilience, and adaptation through actionable assessments of structure-specific wind risks	Symposium on Hurricane Risk in a Changing Climate 2022	2022-06-06
Improving predictions of tropical cyclone rapid intensification through ensemble post processing	35th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology	2022-05-11
Updates on the Hurricane Risk Calculator: App capabilities, risk messaging, and pilot testing	34th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology	2021-12-05
Snowfall in the Northern Great Lakes: Lessons learned from a multisensor observatory	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2021-07-01
A generalized rapid intensification prediction framework	34th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology	2021-05-10
The Model Evaluation Tools (MET): More than a decade of community-supported forecast verification	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2021-04-01
The Hurricane Risk Calculator: Working toward enhancing our nation's readiness, responsiveness, and resilience to hurricanes through probabilistic risk frameworks for evacuation decision support	100th AMS Annual Meeting	2020-01-15
Using radar reflectivity to evaluate the vertical structure of forecast convection	Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology	2018-12-01
Observations and cloud-resolving modeling of haboob dust storms over the Arabian Peninsula	Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres	2018-11-16
Global precipitation measurements for validating climate models	Atmospheric Research	2017-11-01
Mineral dust acting as giant CCN: Aircraft measurements of dust-cloud interactions in Saudi Arabia	DUST 2016 - 2nd International Conference on Atmospheric Dust	2016-06-17
Deployment and performance analyses of high-resolution Iowa XPOL radar system during the NASA IFloodS campaign	Journal of Hydrometeorology	2016-02-01
Raindrop size distribution and rain characteristics during the 2013 great Colorado flood	Journal of Hydrometeorology	2016-01-01
Dust modeling over Saudi Arabia using WRF-Chem: March 2009 severe dust case	Atmospheric Environment	2015-10-01
The great Colorado flood of September 2013	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2015-09-01
Spare change: Evaluating revised forecasts	Mausam	2015-07-01
Simulation of flash-flood-producing storm events in Saudi Arabia using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model	Journal of Hydrometeorology	2015-04-01
TCMT Evaluation for the HFIP Reconnaissance Data Impact Tiger Team (RDITT)	NCAR Technical Note	2014-11-01
Model-evaluation tools for three-dimensional cloud verification via spaceborne active sensors	Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology	2014-09-01
Experimental model evaluations for tropical cyclone forecasting [presentation]	31st Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology	2014-04-03
RDITT Evaluation by TCMT [presentation]	HFIP Annual Review Meeting	2014-02-19
Experimental model evaluations for tropical cyclone forecasting [poster]	22nd Conference on Numerical Weather Prediction	2014-02-06
Leading efforts to improve global quantitative precipitation estimation	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2014-02-01
The monitoring network of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics	Pure and Applied Geophysics	2014-01-01
Roundhouse (RND) mountain top research site: Measurements and uncertainties for winter alpine weather conditions	Pure and Applied Geophysics	2014-01-01
Precipitation from space: Advancing earth system science	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2013-03-01
How well are we measuring snow: The NOAA/FAA/NCAR Winter Precipitation Test Bed	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2012-06-01
Observations of coastally transitioning West African mesoscale convective systems during NAMMA	International Journal of Geophysics	2012-01-01
Features of the Weather Modification Assessment Project in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia	Journal of Weather Modification	2010-10-26
Coastal observations of weather features in Senegal during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis Special Observing Period 3	Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres	2010-09-18
Observations of ozone production in a dissipating tropical convective cell during TC4	Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics	2010-08-11
A study of relationships between Florida thunderstorm properties and corresponding anvil cloud characteristics	Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology	2009-09-01
International Relations: The UCAR Africa Initiative	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2009-03-01
Snowflake size spectra retrieved from a UHF vertical profiler	Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology	2009-02-01
Presenting the Snowflake Video Imager (SVI)	Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology	2009-02-01
Sensitivity of streamflow simulations to temporal variability and estimation of Z-R relationships	Journal of Hydrologic Engineering	2008-12-01
Application of MET for the validation of precipitation estimates [poster]	4th IPWG Workshop on Precipitation Measurements	2008-10-15
The relationship between anvil clouds and convective cells: A Case study in south Florida during CRYSTAL-FACE	Monthly Weather Review	2008-10-01
Coupling terrestrial and atmospheric water dynamics to improve prediction in a changing environment	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society	2008-09-01
Ozone transport by mesoscale convective storms in western Senegal	Atmospheric Environment	2008-09-01
Polarimetric cloud analysis and seeding test (POLCAST)	Journal of Weather Modification	2008-04-01
The UCAR Africa Initiative - Overview and update [presentation]	24th International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology	2008-01-21
Florida thunderstorms: A faucet of reactive nitrogen to the upper troposphere	Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres	2004-07-12

Curriculum Vitae

Paul A. Kucera

Project Scientist

National Center for Atmospheric Research/Research Applications Laboratory

Boulder, Colorado, 80307 USA

Professional Preparation

University of North Dakota B.S. Meteorological Studies 1991

Texas Tech University M.S. Atmospheric Science 1993

The University of Iowa Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2002

Thesis: Performance Characteristics of a Spaceborne Precipitation Radar Over an Ocean Validation Site

Appointments

2006-Present Associate and Project Scientist, Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

2001-2006 Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota

Publications

DeLonge, M. S., J. D. Fuentes, S. Chan, P. A. Kucera, E. Joseph, A. T. Gaye, B. Daouda, 2010: A convective storm and associated surface-atmosphere interactions in coastal Senegal during NAMMA-06. J. Geophys. Res., 115, D10213, 16 pp, doi:10.1029/2009JD012518, 2010.

Kucera, P. A., E. E. Ebert, F. J. Turk, V. Levizzani, D. Kirschbaum, F. J. Tapiador, P. Xian, A. Loew, and M. Borsche, 2012: Precipitation from Space: Advancing Earth System Science. Submitted to Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (in revision).

Kucera, P.A., C.B. Young, and W.F. Krajewski, 2004: Geographic Information System based studies of radar beam blockage: A case study of Guam. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. 24, 995-1006.

Newman, A. J., P. A. Kucera, C. R. Williams, and Larry F. Bliven, 2009: Snowflake Size Spectra Retrieved From a UHF Vertical Profiler. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 180-199.

Newman, A. J., P. A. Kucera, and Larry F. Bliven, 2009: Presenting the Snowflake Video Imager (SVI). J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 167-179.

Education

Degree	School Name	Country	Field of Study
MS	Texas Tech University	United States of America	Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
PhD	University of Iowa	United States of America	Civil Engineering
BS	University of North Dakota	United States of America	Atmospheric Science/Meteorology

Interests

Project management, directing international field programs, polarimetric radar evaluation, quantitative precipitation estimation, verification studies, student mentoring

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Paul A. Kucera

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