Hao FuPostdoctoral Scholar

Email:

haofu@uchicago.edu

Office:

Hinds 479

Biography

• Joined the University of Chicago in 2023
•  Ph. D. in Earth System Science, Stanford University, 2023
• Master study in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2015-2018
• B. S. in Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, 2015

Preferred Pronouns: He/HIm

Research Interests

I use a combination of theory, numerical models, and laboratory experiments to study atmospheric convection, vortices, and waves.

I was caught by geophysical fluid dynamics when designing and playing with a rotating tank at Nanjing University. The beautiful vortices of rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection led me to its atmospheric analog – tropical cyclone. In my Ph. D., I built a preliminary theoretical framework of spontaneous tropical cyclogenesis with an intertwining view of hydrodynamic instability and multiscale interaction.

To me, a tropical cyclone precursor vortex is like a family that nurtures many convective clouds. It remains unclear what is the best framework to depict this system. Asymptotic analysis? Turbulence? Statistical mechanics? Or quantum mechanics? Does it have a laboratory analog?

Selected Publications 

Fu, H. & Lin, Y., (2019). A kinematic model for understanding rain formation efficiency of a convective cell. J. Adv. Model. Earth. Syst., 11(12), 4395-4422. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS001707

Fu, H., (2021) A linear stability analysis of two-layer moist convection with a saturation interface. J. Fluid Mech., 928, A13. https://www.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.784

Fu, H. & O’Neill, M., (2021) The role of random vorticity stretching in tropical depression genesis. J. Atmos. Sci., 78(12), 4143-4168. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-21-0087.1