DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

Research Interests

I am interested in the hydrological impacts caused by a storm system called atmospheric river (AR). ARs can cause extreme precipitation, flooding, landslides, storm surge and other disasters when they make landfall. It is projected that these hazards will likely intensify and become more frequent under climate change. My Master’s thesis research at UNC-Chapel Hill pertained to the climate variability and predictability of AR activity over the North Atlantic. Now I am working with Prof. Daniel Horton to investigate the hydrological extremes associated with both historical and future ARs in the west coast of US using a powerful model – the WRF-Hydro.

Presentations

• C. Li, A. L. Handwerger, J. Wang, D. E. Horton (2022). Modeling of AR-induced Post-wildfire Debris Flow Susceptibility in California, U.S.A., Abstract AS60-A004 to be presented at 2022 Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) Annual Meeting, virtual, 1–5 Aug, talk
• C. Li, G. Yu, J. Wang, X. Li, A. L. Handwerger, D. E. Horton (2022). A novel soil moisture calibration scheme for WRF-Hydro and its application in slow-moving landslide studies. Abstract 1033140 presented by J. Wang at Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting 2022, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 19-24 Jun, talk
• C. Li, A. L. Handwerger, J. Wang, W. Yu, X. Li, N. J. Finnegan, G. Buscarnera, D. E. Horton (2021). Use of WRF-Hydro to simulate runoff-generated debris flow hazard in burn scars, Abstract H55X-1006 presented at 2021 Fall Meeting, AGU, New Orleans, LA, 13-17 Dec, poster
• C. Li, W. Mei, Y. Kamae (2020). A cluster analysis of the tracks of North Atlantic wintertime atmospheric rivers and links to extreme precipitation and winds, Abstract AI11A-04 presented at 2020 Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, CA, 16-21 Feb, talk
• C. Li, W. Mei, Y. Kamae (2019). Variability and predictability of North Atlantic cold-season atmospheric river occurrence frequency in a set of high-resolution atmospheric simulations, Abstract GC43F-1325 presented at 2019 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA, 9-13 Dec, poster

Selected Publications

• C. Li, A. L. Handwerger, J. Wang, W. Yu, X. Li, N. J. Finnegan, Y. Xie, G. Buscarnera, & D. E. Horton (published on 27 Jul 2022) Augmentation of WRF-Hydro to simulate overland-flow- and streamflow-generated debris flow susceptibility in burn scars. Natural Hazard and Earth System Sciences. https://nhess.copernicus.org/preprints/nhess-2021-345/
• C. Li, W. Mei, Y. Kamae (2022) A cluster analysis of cold-season atmospheric river tracks over the North Atlantic and their linkages to extreme precipitation and winds. Climate Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06297-y
• C. Li, W. Mei, Y. Kamae (2021) Variability and predictability of cold-season North Atlantic atmospheric river occurrence frequency in a set of high-resolution atmospheric simulations. Climate Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-06017-y 

Teaching Assistantships

• 2022:  EARTH 101 - Earth Science for the 21st Century