Ruth Lewis
Ruth's work focuses on the atmospheric boundary layer and its interaction with the land surface.
Current Activities
Ruth is currently working on improving the representation of the coupling between the land surface and the atmosphere at very high resolution by implementing a variable blending height into the Unified Model.
The blending height is the height above which variations in air flow due to changes in the surface conditions are no longer distinguishable. Instead, they have merged to form an overall profile which represents the surface conditions of a large area. By assuming that the blending height is at, or below, the lowest atmospheric model level, a heterogeneous surface can be coupled to a single, homogeneous boundary layer.
With improvements in model resolution, the lowest model level is now very close to the surface; at approximately two metres in model configurations such as the The UKV model - Kilometre-scale forecasting over the UK with the Unified Model. This is too low for a blending height (typical blending heights are assumed to be around 30-100 m above the surface), so the current method of coupling the land surface and the atmosphere must be altered. Ruth is therefore developing a method of passing atmospheric variables from a higher model level to the surface scheme.
Career Background
Ruth joined the Met Office in October 2013 as a member of the The Atmospheric Boundary Layer team, following a summer placement within Atmospheric Processes and Parametrizations. Prior to this, Ruth was studying for her first class MSc degree in Mathematics and Climate Science from the University of Exeter, where her Master's project focused on peatland hydrology and formation.