Ting-Yu Cha receives third place in Wagner Memorial Award competition

Ph.D. student Ting-Yu Cha received third place in the Peter B. Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences competition. The paper she submitted, “Polygonal Eyewall Asymmetries During the Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Michael (2018),” highlights the importance of coastal radar observations with high temporal resolution and the single Doppler radar wind retrieval algorithm, which can help to improve tropical cyclone intensity forecasts and investigate real-time TC intensity and structure changes. This paper also was selected as an Editors’ Highlight by Eos in 2020. Cha’s co-authors on the paper were her adviser, Professor Michael Bell, Wen-Chau Lee and Alex DesRosiers.

“I would not have accomplished the work without Michael’s guidance and Wen-Chau’s and Alex’s contributions,” Cha said. “I am grateful that the research and my graduate experiences as a female international student were acknowledged by the selection committee, which motivates me even more to improve our scientific understanding of tropical cyclones.”