Lee Hawkness-Smith

Dr Lee Hawkness-Smith is a Senior Scientist in the Assimilation of Surface-based Observations Group at MetOffice@Reading, collaborating with the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology. His expertise spans radar observations, cloud microphysics, and data assimilation. He holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Durham University (2004) and completed his doctoral research on drizzle representation in weather models at the University of Reading (2010).

Lee leads the development of Next Generation Observation Processing systems using the JEDI framework, focusing on integrating high-resolution surface-based observations into weather forecasting models. His work on radar reflectivity assimilation in the UKV model improves thermodynamic and moisture field accuracy. He collaborates with operational meteorologists and the Flooding From Intense Rainfall programme to enhance flood forecasting. His office is located at BH 2L71.