Harrison Tran
I am a MS student in Grant Petty’s research group and joined the AOS community in 2022. My research interests include synoptic meteorology, tropical cyclone morphology and prediction, satellite meteorology, and the synthesis of observation platforms for both climatological and forecasting applications. My current work is extending the climatology of maritime rainfall before the advent of modern satellite-based rainfall estimation techniques.
I received a Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Science from Cornell University in 2022, accompanied by a minor in Computer Science. My research there included space-based analyses of volcanic thermal hotspots and changes in extreme rainfall return intervals. During my time at Cornell, I also participated in the NOAA Lapenta Student Internship Program at the Weather Prediction Center, restoring the center’s tropical cyclone rainfall analog tool and expanding the center’s tropical cyclone rainfall database.
Growing up in Austin, Texas, I became interested in atmospheric science following the wall-to-wall coverage of severe weather. There was not a singular event that galvanized my interest in meteorology, but a hail-producing severe thunderstorm in May 2005 and the active Atlantic hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 are among the earliest meteorological events I can recall. I have also written articles on Wikipedia—primarily concerning tropical cyclones—since 2009.