Research Group

Our group studies land-atmosphere interactions, hydrology, water resources, land surface modeling, Earth system predictability, and AI-enabled environmental prediction. We work across observations, process-based models, Earth-system models, and machine learning. Yang has built a multigenerational research lineage spanning land-surface model development, hydrologic prediction, land–atmosphere coupling, regional climate modeling, remote-sensing data assimilation, urban climate, and emerging AI-enabled Earth-system prediction. His 24 Ph.D. alumni and former postdoctoral researchers have carried these threads into universities, national laboratories, federal agencies, industry, and operational prediction centers worldwide. Many of the group's signature advances were trainee-led, including highly cited work on flood modeling, groundwater–climate interactions, continental river routing, Noah-MP hydrology and plant hydraulics, dust–monsoon coupling, dynamical downscaling, and urban precipitation.

Research Areas in the Group

• Land surface modeling and Noah-MP development
• Hydrologic prediction and water resources
• Droughts, floods, freezing rain, and compound extremes
• Land-atmosphere coupling and Earth-system predictability
• AI and machine learning for environmental prediction
• Infrastructure resilience and climate-risk applications

Alumni

This section will be expanded to include former Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars, and collaborators.

Former M.S. Students

• Lisa Helper - M.S., 2012; Now Asset Team Leader for the San Juan Basin, Geologist at Hilcorp
• Alex Resovsky - M.S., 2015; Now Project Engineer, Cipeta
• Qianru Zeng - M.S., 2004; Now Audit Experienced Associate at PwC

Former Ph.D. Students

• Jagger Alexander - Ph.D., 2025; Now a medical student at Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
• Xitian Cai - Ph.D., 2015; Now Associate Professor at Sun Yat-sen University
• Seungwon Chung - Ph.D., 2024; Now Postdoctoral Associate at Ehwa Womans University
• Cedric David - Ph.D., 2009; Now Scientist at JPL
• Kwun Yip (Samuel) Fung - Ph.D., 2023;Now Postdoctoral Fellow at GFDL/Princeton
• Lindsey Gulden - Ph.D., 2009; Now Research Scientist at MIT
• Maryia Halubok - Ph.D., 2018, Now Program Manager at Canadian Standards Association
• Xiaoyan Jiang - Ph.D., 2010; Now Senior Scientist at Shell
• Qinjian Jin - Ph.D., 2015; Now Assistant Teaching Professor at University of Kansas
• Harsh Kamath - Ph.D., 2026; Research Scientist at the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL)
• Yonghwan Kwon - Ph.D., 2016; Now Scientist, Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems (KIAPS)
• Lingcheng Li - Ph.D., 2020; Now Earth Scientist at PNNL
• Peirong Lin - Ph.D., 2018; Now Assistant Professor at Peking University
• Marla R. Knebl Lowrey - Ph.D., 2006; Now Choral Director & Vocal Coach at The San Fernando Valley Youth Chorus
• Mahmoud Mbarak - Ph.D., 2025; Now Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University
• Sagar Parajuli - Ph.D., 2016; Now Research Scientist at California Air Resources Board
• Enrique Rosero - Ph.D., 2009; Now Data Scientist at Leg Up Data
• Mingjie Shi - Ph.D., 2013; Now Earth Scientist at PNNL
• Hua Su - Ph.D., 2009; Now Chief Engineer, Austin, TX
• Xinxin Sui - Ph.D., 2025; Now Postdoctoral Researcher at Colorado School of Mines
• Sabiha Tabassum - Ph.D., 2023; Now Water Resources Engineering at WSP in the U.S.
• Ahmad A. Tavakoly - Ph.D., 2014; Now Senior Research Civil Engineer at U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
• Wen-Ying Wu - Ph.D., 2021; Now Research Scientist at LLNL
• Yongfei Zhang - Ph.D., 2015; Now Associate Research Scientist at ESSIC, University of Maryland

Former Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Scientists

• Dr. Armaghan Abed-Elmdoust, 2017-2018
• Dr. David Arctur, 2016-2020
• Dr. Cedric David, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin (2009). Research interests: GIS, hydrological modeling, river routing, parallel computing, September 2009 - August 2012
• Dr. Ying Han, Ph.D., Nanjing University (2008). Research interests: regional dust modeling, October 2011 - December 2011
• Dr. Mingxing Li,2012-2013
• Dr. Seungbum (Bryan) Hong, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina (2008). Research interests: remote sensing data analysis, data image processing, land surface modeling, hydrology, September 2008 - February 2011
• Dr. Jeff Chun-Fung Lo, Ph.D., The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2006). Research interests: Regional Climate Downscaling, Computer Modeling of Land/Sea Breezes, Air Quality, March 2006 - March 2008
• Dr. Guo-Yue Niu, 1998-2009
• Dr. Jessica B. T. Rasmussen, Ph.D., The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2006). Research interests: isotopic methods, caves, climate change, late Holocene climate variability, February 2007-February 2009
• Dr. Naveen Sudharsan, 2022-2024
• Dr. Xuemei Wang, 2006-2007
• Dr. Jiangfeng Wei, 2012-2017
• Dr. Yiwen Xu, Ph.D., University of Iowa (1998). Research interests: Air Quality, 2 November, 2004-16 August, 2005
• Dr. Yongsheng Xu, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island (2006). Research interests: physical oceanography, satellite data analysis, land surface hydrological modeling, October 2007 - October 2008
• Dr. Zhongfeng Xu, Ph.D., Nanjing University (2008). Research interests: regional climate modeling and dynamical climate downscaling, January 2011- December 2011
• Dr. Long Zhao, 2015-2017

Visiting Graduate Students

• Qingyun Bian, 2018-2019
• Lijun Chao, 2018
• Wenli Fei
• Xiaodan Guan, 2009-2011
• Jifu Guo, 2019-2020
• Mengyao Guo, 2019-2021
• Ruiping Guo, 2008-2009
• Wei Hu, 2019-2020
• Mengjie Jin, 2017-2018
• Jingjing Liang, 2018-2019
• Xiaolu Ling, 2014-2015
• Jiamin Ou, January 2018

Visiting Scholars Mentored, Sponsored or Financially Supported

• Dr. Weijing Chen
• Professor Jie Cheng, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China. November 2003 - April 2004. Research interests: "Proxy data and modeling of the Holocene climate in the source area of the Yellow river, Northeast Tibetan Plateau"
• Dr. Chunlin Huang
• Dr. Bolun Li
• Dr. Kai Li
• Dr. Xiaofeng Li
• Dr. Jianguo Liu
• Dr. Yonghe Liu
• Dr. Wenchao Ma
• Dr. Jing Meng
• Dr. Cheng Qian
• Dr. Manmeet Singh
• Dr. Francis Chi-Yung Tam
• Dr. Ye Tian
• Dr. Fang Wang
• Dr. Jingbing Xiao, Cielo Wind Power Company, Austin, TX, USA. 1 August, 2005 - 31 July, 2006. Research interests: "Forecasting Local-scale Wind Speed and Direction in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Using Weather Research and Forecasting Model"
• Dr. Lianqing Xue, 2015-2016
• Dr. Xinping Zhang, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China. 6 September, 2005 - 24 February, 2006. Research interests: "Stable Water Isotopes in the Community Land Model"
• Dr. Hui Zheng
• Dr. Ziyan Zheng

Invited Collaborators or Seminar Speakers

• Dr. Fei Chen, Scientist III, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 15-20 October, 2006, Seminars: "Land Surface Modeling In Numerical Weather Prediction Models", "Challenges In Developing An Integrated Mesoscale Urban Modeling System" and "Investigating Mesoscale Land-Atmosphere Interactions And Their Impacts On Precipitation Under The NCAR Water Cycle Across Scales Program".
• Professor Robert E. Dickinson, Georgia Institute of Technology. 16-18 November, 2004. Seminar: "Including Land in a Climate Model"
• Professor Robert E. Dickinson, Georgia Institute of Technology. 22-24 March, 2006. Seminars: "Issues in modeling canopy radiation in climate models (latest ideas)" and "Dynamic vegetation and carbon as a component of climate prediction"
• Dr. Mike Ek
• Dr. Dabo Guan
• Prof. Jinjun Ji, Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate Asia (RCE-TEA), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. 6-9 October, 2010
• Dr. Gensuo Jia
• Dr. Rick Lawford, NOAA Program Manager and Director of US CCSP GWCP Office, 5-26 February, 2003, Seminar: “National and International Climate and Water Programs: Issues and Opportunities”
• Dr. Dennis Lettenmaier
• Prof. Zhuguo Ma, Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate Asia (RCE-TEA), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. 27 October-23 November, 2008. Seminars: "North China Droughts", "Coordinated Flux Measurements in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions in North China"
• Ken Mitchell, January 2007
• Roy Rasmussen, January 2007
• Professor Alan Robock, Rutgers University 1-4 March, 2006 Seminars: "Comparing Climatic Response to Low and High Latitude Volcanic Eruptions" and "Using Soil Moisture Observations to Study Climate Variations, to Evaluate Climate Models, and as Ground Truth for Remote Sensing"
• Professor Soroosh Sorooshian, University of California, Irvine 1-2 May, 2005
• Dr. Youlong Xia, NCEP/EMC, NOAA 23-27 February, 2009

Graduate Students Mentored, Supervised or Sponsored

• Laurel (Lelan) Anstead, MS Candidate. BA Asian Area Studies (1987), BS Microbiology (1988), University of Illinois, Urbana. MA Education (1993), Illinois State University. Research interests: environmental policy, air quality policy
• Amanda Barr, Ph.D. Aspirant, BS Astronomy (2003), University of Texas at Austin; MS Environmental Science (2006), Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. Research interests: global warming, data analysis
• Sarah Doyle, BS Chemistry (2003), University of Texas at Austin.
• Hee Jeung Kim, September 2010 - July 2011, Ph.D. Aspirant. MS Environmental Science (2003), Pusan University. Research interests: climate change, air quality, atmospheric chemistry, climate modeling and data analysis
• Jacqueline (Jacki) Kinney, Ph.D. Aspirant. BS Meteorology (2003), Texas A&M University; MS Meteorology (2005), Texas A&M University. Research interests: atmospheric radiation, climatology
• Vaidya Varada, September 2002 - May 2003, MS Physics, University of Pune, Pune, India; MTech Atmospheric Physics, University of Pune, Pune, India.
• Benjamin Wagman, June 2009 - August 2010, Ph.D. Aspirant. BA Physics with a double major in Anthropology (2009), Grinnell College. Research interests: climate science, climate change, paeloclimate, climate modeling
• Yang Xue, September 2009 - January 2010, Ph.D. Aspirant. MS Geophysics (2009), University Stuttgart. Research interests: geodesy, geophysics, climate science, hydrology
• Gang Zhang, September 2010 - August 2012, Ph.D. Aspirant. BS Atmospheric Science (2010), Lanzhou University. Research interests: ensemble climate prediction, land-atmosphere interaction dynamics