Cheng-Hsuan Lu

Dr. Cheng-Hsuan (Sarah) Lu is a Research Faculty member at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC), University at Albany, State University of New York. She holds a 50% appointment as a Senior Research Scientist at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, CO) and a 50% appointment as a Research Scientist at ASRC (Albany, NY).

• PhD in Atmospheric Science, University at Albany
• MS in Atmospheric Sciences, University at Albany
• BS in Atmospheric Physics, National Central University, Taiwan

Dr. Lu's research focuses on:

• Quantifying tropospheric aerosol distributions and their impact on weather and climate predictions
• Improving aerosol forecasts through assimilation of satellite and in situ observations
• Regional air quality modeling to study pollutant transport, evolution, and source contributions

Her recent work leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze surface PM2.5 dynamics and has developed the IDEA-NYS air quality forecast system for real-time aerosol detection and trajectory analysis. She collaborates on projects investigating aerosol-radiation-cloud interactions in the Unified Forecast System (UFS) and their influence on hurricane track and intensity predictions.

Key scientific awards and grants include:

• NOAA JPSS Proving Ground Risk Reduction award NA21OAR4310383
• University Corporation for Atmospheric Research CPAESS award SUBAWD001880
• New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) award 100417
• NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) Modeling, Analysis, Prediction, and Projections (MAPP) award NA14OAR4310182

Dr. Lu's lab integrates numerical models with multi-platform observations (including NYS Mesonet data) to study local weather-air quality interactions, wildfire smoke plume transport, and PBL evolution effects on pollutant mixing. Her students and collaborators include Chin-An Lin (PhD candidate), Wei-Ting Hung (PhD graduate), and co-advised researchers like Liam Sheji and Vishal Bagadia.