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Home » Staff Profiles
Ligia Bernardet
GSL Staff Profiles
Title
Supervisor Meteorologist
Email
ligia.bernardet@noaa.gov
Phone
307-206-4292
Address
DSRC
325 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80305-3328
Affiliation
Federal
Awards

Profile

Ligia Bernardet, Earth Prediction Advancement Division (EPAD) Chief


My work straddles the interface between research and operations in numerical weather prediction. As the Chief of the GSL Earth Prediction Advancement Division, I contribute to planning and supporting the execution of model development in the areas of physical parameterizations, interactions between domains of the earth system (atmosphere, land, ocean, and sea ice), air composition, and atmospheric chemistry. Our products are used by the National Weather Service to create numerical guidance for forecasters and by the general community to conduct research. I am passionate about creating mechanisms that facilitate synergistic interactions between the research and operational communities. For that reason, I work on projects for the Developmental Testbed Center that aim at engaging the academic community in using NOAA models and evaluating innovations supplied by the community. Connecting with the research community is a key ingredient for accelerating the transition of innovations to operations and creating better forecasts.

Research Interests
  • Numerical weather prediction
  • Atmospheric physics
  • Convective systems
  • Tropical meteorology
  • Forecast verification and assessment
  • Model infrastructure
  • Community support and outreach

Education
  • B. S. in Meteorology from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • M. S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Ph. D. in Atmospheric Sciences from Colorado State University

Experience
  • Meteorologist at the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory, Boulder, CO (2019 - present)
  • Senior Scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRES) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (2010 - 2019)
  • Project Scientist III at the Systems Research Group, Boulder, CO (2003-2010)
  • Interamerican Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, Brazil (1999-2001)
  • National Research Council postdoctoral fellow, Boulder, CO (1997-1999) 

Professional Activities
  • Deputy Director for GSL, Developmental Testbed Center (Jul 2020 - present)
  • Member, Unified Forecast System Physics Working Group (2018 - present)
  • Member, American Meteorological Society (1996 - present)
  • Member, Unified Forecast System Steering Committee (Jan 2018 - present)

Related links

Peer-Reviewed Publications
Liu Q, Zhang X, Tong M, Zhang Z, Liu B, Wang W, Zhu L, Zhang B, Xu X, Trahan S, Bernardet L, Mehra A, Tallapragada V. Vortex Initialization in the NCEP Operational Hurricane Models. Atmosphere. 2020; 11(9):968. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11090968

Bao, S., L. Bernardet, G. Thompson, E. Kalina, K. Newman, and M. Biswas, 2020: Impact of the Hydrometeor Vertical Advection Method on HWRF’s Simulated Hurricane Structure. Wea. Forecasting, 35, 723–737, https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-19-0006.1.

Biswas, M. K., and Coauthors, 2020: Evaluation of the Grell–Freitas Convective Scheme in the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Model. Wea. Forecasting, 35, 1017–1033, https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-19-0124.1.

Bernardet, L., L. Carson, and V. Tallapragada, 2017. The Design of a Modern Information Technology Infrastructure to Facilitate Research-to-Operations Transition for NCEP’s Modeling Suites. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 98, 899–904, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00139.1.

Bernardet L., V. Tallapragada, S. Bao, S. Trahan, Y. Kwon, Q. Liu, M. Tong, M. Biswas, T. Brown, D. Stark, L. Carson, R. Yablonsky, E. Uhlhorn, S. Gopalakrishnan, X. Zhang, T. Marchok, Y.-H. Kuo, and R. Gall, 2015. Community support and transition of research to operations for the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast (HWRF) model. Bull. of the Amer. Meteor. Soc, 96, 6. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00093.1.

Tallapragada, V., L. Bernardet, M. K. Biswas, I. Ginis, Y. Kwon, Q. Liu, T. Marchok, D. Sheinin, B. Thomas, M. Tong, S. Trahan, W. Wang, R. Yablonsky, X. Zhang, 2015: Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Model: 2015 Scientific Documentation, NCAR/TN-522+STR. 122pp. Available at https://opensky.ucar.edu/islandora/object/technotes%3A535.

Yablonsky, R. M., I. Ginis, B. Thomas, V. Tallapragada, D. Sheinin, and L. Bernardet, 2015. Description and analysis of the ocean component of NOAA’s operational Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model. J. Atmos. and Oceanic Tech., 32, 144-163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-14-00063.1. 

Biswas, M. K., L. Bernardet, and J. Dudhia, 2014. Sensitivity of hurricane forecasts to cumulus parameterizations in the HWRF model. Geophys. Res. Lett, 41, doi:10.1002/2014GL062071. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014GL062071. 

Doyle, J. D., S. Gaberšek, Q. Jiang, L. Bernardet, J. M. Brown, A. Dörnbrack, E. Filaus, V. Grubišić, D. Kirshbaum, O. Knoth, S. Koch, I. M. Stiperski, S. Vosper, S. Zhong, 2011. An intercomparison of T- REX mountain wave simulations and implications for mesoscale predictability. Mon. Wea. Rev., 139, 2811-2831. Available at https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-10-05042.1. 

Bernardet, L., L. Nance, M. Demirtas, S. Koch. E. Szoke, T. Fowler, A. Loughe, J. L. Mahoney, H.-Y. Chuang, M. Pyle, and R. Gall, 2008. The Developmental Testbed Center and its Winter Forecasting Experiment. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, 611-627. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-89-5-611. 

Bernardet, L. R., 2003. Verification of high-resolution precipitation forecasts for the Atlanta Olympic Games. Natl. Wea. Assoc. Digest, 26:3-4, 19-36. 

Bernardet, L. R., L. D. Grasso, J. E. Nachamkin, C. A. Finley and W. R. Cotton, 2000. Simulating convective events using a high-resolution mesoscale model. J. Geophys. Res., 105 D11, 14,963-14,982. 

Bernardet, L. R. and W. R. Cotton, 1998. Multiscale evolution of a derecho-producing mesoscale convective system. Mon. Wea. Rev., 126, 2991-3015. https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/1520-0493%281998%29126%3C2991%3AMEOADP%3E2.0.CO%3B2. 

Pielke R. A., L. R. Bernardet, P. J. Fitzpatrick, R. F. Hertenstein, A. S. Jones, X. Lin, J. E. Nachamkin, U. S. Nair, G. S. Poulos, M. H. Savoie and P. L. Vidale, 1995. Standardized test to evaluate numerical weather prediction algorithms. Bull. Amer . Meteor . Soc., 76, 46-48. https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/1520-0477-76.1.46. 

Technical Documents
Firl, G., L. Carson, L. Bernardet, D. Heinzeller, and M. Harrold, 2021. Common Community Physics Package Single Column Model v5.0.0 User and Technical Guide. 39pp. Available at https://dtcenter.org/GMTB/v5.0.0/scm-ccpp-guide-v5.0.0.pdf.

Schramm, J., L. Bernardet, L. Carson, G. Firl, D. Heinzeller, L. Pan, and M. Zhang, 2021. Common Community Physics Package v5.0.0 Technical Documentation. Available at https://ccpp-techdoc.readthedocs.io/_/downloads/en/v5.0.0/pdf/.

Zhang, M., L. Bernardet, G. Firl, D. Heinzeller, and L. Carson, 2021. Scientific Documentation for the Common Community Physics Package version 5.0.0. Available at https://dtcenter.ucar.edu/GMTB/v5.0.0/sci_doc/.

Zhang, M., L. Bernardet, G. Firl, D. Heinzeller, and L. Carson, 2020. Scientific Documentation for the Common Community Physics Package version 4. Available at https://dtcenter.org/GMTB/v4.0/sci_doc/.

Biswas M., L. Bernardet, S. Abarca, I. Ginis, E. Grell, E. Kalina, Y. Kwon, B. Liu, Q. Liu, T. Marchok, A. Mehra, K. Newman, D. Sheinin, J. Sippel, S. Subramanian, V. Tallapragada, B. Thomas, M. Tong, S. Trahan, W. Wang, R. Yablonsky, X. Zhang, and Z. Zhang, 2017: Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model: 2017 scientific documentation. NCAR Technical Notes NCAR/TN-544+STR. Available at. https://opensky.ucar.edu/islandora/object/technotes:563, 111pp.
  
Gopalakrishnan, S., F. Toepfer, S. Forsythe-Newell, M. DeMaria F. Marks, E. N. Rappaport, V. Tallapragada, J. Franklin, S. Abarca, A. Aksoy, G. Alaka Jr., J. W. Bao, M. Bender, L. Bernardet, S. Chen, J. Cione, M. Biswas, M. Brennan, J. Cangialosi, M. Morin, J. Doyle10, J. L. Franklin, S. Goldenberg, George Halliwell, J. S. Hilderbrand, R. Hodur, C. Holt, S. Jason, H. Jin, Y. Jin, H. S. Kim, W. Komaromi, P. Kucera, N. Kurkowski, B. Kuo, N. Lett, P. McCaslin, A. Mehra, J. Moskaiti, L. Nance3, K. Newman, M. Onderlinde, A. Penny, A. Reinecke, A. Simon, J. Sippel, S. Trahan, H. Tolman, R. Torn, S. Upadhayay, S. Wang, X. Wan, J. Whitaker, D. A. Zelinsky, F. Zhang, X. Zhang, Z. Zhang and L. Zhu, 2018. 2017 HFIP R&D Activities Summary: Recent Results and Operational Implementation, 41pp. HFIP Technical Report: HFIP2017-1. Available at http://www.hfip.org/documents/HFIP_AnnualReport_FY2017.pdf.
  
Biswas, M., L. Carson, K. Newman, L. Bernardet, E. Kalina, E. Grell, J. Frimel, 2017. Community HWRF Users Guide V3.9a, NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR GSD-51, 153 pp, https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/16281.
  
Biswas, M. K., L. Carson, K. Newman, L. Bernardet, C. Holt, 2016: Community HWRF Users’ Guide V3.8a, NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR GSD-47, 149 pp.. Available at http://doi.org/10.7289/V5/TM-OAR-GSD-47.
  
Biswas, M. K., L. Carson, C. Holt, L. Bernardet, T. Brown, S. Bao, and R. Yablonsky, 2015. Community HWRF Users’ Guide V3.7a, NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR GSD-46, 144 pp., ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/OAR/GSD/NOAA_TM_GSD-46.pdf.

Bernardet, L., V. Tallapragada, M. Biswas, S. Gopalakrishnan, Y. Kwon, Q. Liu, T., Marchok, D. Sheinin, M. Tong. S. Trahan, R. Tuleya, R. Yablonsky and X. Zhang, 2014. Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model: 2014 scientific documentation, 105pp. Available at https://dtcenter.org/HurrWRF/users/docs/scientific_documents/HWRFv3.6a_ScientificDoc.pdf.
   
Holt, C., L. Bernardet, T. Brown, and R. Yablonsky, 2014. Community HWRF Users Guide V3.6a, NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR GSD-47, 128 pp, ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/OAR/GSD/NOAA_TM_GSD-45.pdf.
  
Bao, S., D. Stark, and L. Bernardet, 2013. Users’ Guide for the Community release of the GFDL Vortex Tracker version 3.5b. 24pp. Available at https://dtcenter.org/HurrWRF/users/docs/users_guide/stand_alone_tracker_UG_v3.5b.pdf.
 
Bernardet, L., S. Bao, R. Yablonsky, D. Stark, and T. Brown, 2013. Community HWRF Users Guide V3.5A. NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR-GSD-43, 43, 142pp. Available at https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/11149/noaa_11149_DS1.pdf.
 
Bao, S., R. Yablonsky, D. Stark, and L. Bernardet, 2012. Community HWRF Users Guide V3.4a. NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR-GSD-42, 42, 127 pp. Available at ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/OAR/GSD/NOAA_TM_GSD-42.pdf
 
Burton, A., L. Bernardet, J. L. Bevan II, G. Faure, D. Herndon, J. Knaff, Y. S. Li, J. Mayers, F. Radjab, B. Sampson, and A. Waqaicelua, 2010. Structure and intensity change: operational guidance. 7th Intl. Wkshp. on Trop. Cyclones (IWTC­VII) of the World Meteor. Org., 20 pp.