Helen Johnson
Helen works on representing snow and lakes within the JULES land surface model.
Areas of expertise
- Land surface modelling
- Snow
- Lakes
- Surface albedo
Current activities
Helen is a scientist within the land surface processes group, focusing on improving representations of snow and lake processes within the JULES land surface model.
Helen is currently working on evaluating and improving the ability to predict snow reflectivity (‘albedo’). This is an important model variable because the amount of sunlight that is reflected vs. absorbed by a snowpack has substantial impacts on the timing of snow melt and the seasonal patterns of water availability in snow-fed river catchments.
Helen is also working to implement the FLake model in within Met Office forecasting systems to improve weather predictions in areas where there are lakes. Lakes have very different properties to the surrounding land surface so their presence can affect near surface temperature and wind.
Career background
Helen joined the Met Office in 2012 after completing an MPhys in Physics at Cardiff University. Whilst working for the Met Office, Helen undertook a PhD with the University of Reading to develop a method for representing black carbon (BC) concentration in snow and study the impacts of including BC snow darkening effects in the JULES land surface model.
