Weikang Qian

Focus Areas:

• Earth System Science
• Sustainability & Global Environmental Change

Country of Origin: China

Degree Program: PhD

Entered Program: Fall 2022

Expected Graduation: Spring 2027

Dissertation Topic: Quantifying the Contributions of Environmental Variables to Severe Convective Storms (SCS) Evolution: A Data-Driven Approach

Research Statement: My research focuses on understanding and forecasting extreme weather events, such as severe convective storms, based on remote sensing, causal inference, and interpretable AI/ML. Leveraging high-resolution environmental datasets and advanced computational methods, I aim to uncover the underlying mechanisms driving the development of extreme weather events. I am especially interested in enhancing early-warning systems and climate resilience by developing data-driven models at multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Adviser: Dr. Berry Wen

Educational Background

• M.S. in Geography, East China Normal University, 2021
• B.S. in Geography, East China Normal University, 2018

Recent Publications

Yi, C., Yu, M., Qian, W., Wen, Y., & Yang, H. (2026). Efficient kilometer‐scale precipitation downscaling with conditional wavelet diffusion. Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation, 3(2), e2025JH000941.

Kisembe, J., Wen, Y., Wainwright, C. M., Funk, C., Odongo, R. I., & Qian, W. (2026). Contrasting Changes in Rainy Season Length, Rainfall Frequency, and Intensity across Eastern Africa. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 27(3), 325-342.

Qian, W., Wen, Y., Gao, S., Li, Z., Kisembe, J., & Jing, H. (2025). Evaluation of near‐surface specific humidity and air temperature from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) over oceans. Earth and Space Science, 12(4), e2024EA003856.

Kisembe, J., Li, J. L. F., Wen, Y., Lee, W. L., Qian, W., Li, Z., & Jiang, J. H. (2024). Assessing the impacts of falling ice radiative effects on the seasonal variation of land surface properties. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129(15), e2024JD040991.