Dr Dan Copsey
Dan works in developing and assessing the Met Office Hadley Centre's climate models.
Areas of expertise
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Atmosphere-ocean coupled climate model configuration management
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Climatological model assessment
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Atmosphere-ocean coupled forecast model development
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Tropical cyclones.
Current activities
Dan is a scientist working on climate model development. In particular Dan is involved in developing the atmosphere-ocean coupled configuration of the Met Office climate prediction model: HadGEM3 family model. He does this via a "Configuration Management" process where he gets new code from developers that represent improvements to the science in the model and tests and evaluates that code in suitable climate configurations.
Dan is also involved in assessing the climate model which involves running the climate model with external forcings similar to what the real world experienced over the past 30 years. He then compares the climate model's climatology, variability and climate processes with those of the real world. The aim is that as the climate model's atmosphere develops it behaves more and more like the atmosphere of the real world. He feeds back his assessment results to the developers to aid future development.
Dan is also involved in developing the coupled atmosphere-ocean weather forecast model with a particular interest in the representation of tropical cyclones in this model.
Career background
Dan has been a member of the Global coupled modelling group since the group's formation in 2010. Prior to that he was a member of the Understanding Climate Change group, the group he joined when first starting out in the Met Office in 2006. Prior to joining the Met Office, Dan completed a PhD in decadal climate variability at the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading. Dan also has a masters degree in meteorology at the University of Reading and a bachelors degree in electrical engineering at the University of Southampton.
