Career Interest

I enjoy working with meteorological and climate datasets and applying geospatial analysis to uncover meaningful patterns. I am particularly interested in translating climate research into practical risk solutions that support early preparedness for weather extremes.

In practice, this has meant developing workflows that transform complex climate and hydrometeorological data into clear, actionable insights. I am eager to bring these skills of large-scale data analysis, meteorological knowledge, and a solutions-focused mindset to projects that bridge climate science with decision-making and planning.

My blogpost

Summer heat in cities doesn’t just raise the temperature; it may also set the stage for heavier downpours. On hot afternoons, Richmond’s surfaces can run several degrees hotter than nearby areas. But what does that mean for storms later in the day?
This blog for the Virginia Climate Center explores how urban heat may be linked to short short-duration, localized downpours downwind of the city. This blog builds on decades of urban climate research showing that cities can influence rainfall patterns, with classic examples from larger metros.
Let’s find out what that might mean in a midsized city like Richmond.

Poster Presentation

This summer, I participated in the NCAR | UCAR Microscale and Mesoscale Meteorology (MMMM) CELSIUS Summer Visitor Program, where I engaged in collaborative discussions, professional development workshops, and career guidance sessions with NCAR scientists. As part of the program, I presented my research during the 2025 Summer Student Conference hosted by NSF NCAR, UCAR, UCP, and CIRES. My poster, “Surface Urban Heat Island Impacts on Extreme Precipitation in Richmond, Virginia,” highlighted findings from my master’s thesis, exploring how extreme urban heat can intensify localized rainfall events in and around the city.

Featured Projects

Urban Heat Islands and Short-Duration Extreme Rainfall

Is city heat driving localized extreme rainfall in mid-sized U.S. cities??

Urban-Rural classification (ArcGIS)

Defining Local Climate Zone (Urban and Rural Domain) for Richmond, VA using ArcGIS for estimating Urban Heat Island Intensity

CESM/CLM Simulation

Simulating climate response to increased urban land fraction using CLM in CESM 2.1.5

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Climate Predictability

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Project 6

work in progress

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Project 7

work in progress

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Project 8

work in progress

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Project 9

Ongoing

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Project 10

Coming soon

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Project 11

Future work

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Project 12

Future work.

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Technical Skills

Spatial Data Analysis

Geospatial workflows with ArcGIS Pro, GeoPandas, Rasterio, and rioxarray.

Skilled in mapping, buffer/overlay analysis, and urban–rural Local climate Zone classification.

Data Management & Visualization

Python (Xarray, Pandas, Matplotlib, Cartopy, Seaborn, Plotly) to process and visualize large climate and hydrometeorological datasets.

High-Performance Computing (HPC)

Handling multi-terabyte climate data using SLURM job scheduling, Dask parallel workflows.

HPC clusters such as GMU Hopper and NCAR Derecho/Casper.

Climate & Weather Data/Modeling

Analyzing Large-scale climate datasets, such as reanalysis (NLDAS, NARR), Stage IV QPE, and satellite-based land surface products.

CESM/CLM experiments for urban climate studies.

Get in touch

Please feel free to contact me at my email address or through my LinkedIn Account below.

Email: aashmaacharya12@gmail.com