I am a senior scientist in Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) working for Earth Prediction Advancement Division (EPAD) in Global Systems Lab (GSL). I grew up in the suburbs of Moscow, Soviet Union, and graduated from the Moscow State University with a degree in Meteorological and Hydrological sciences. I started my career in the Moscow Hydro-Meteorological Center (HMC) in the group of prominent russian scientists. In October of 1994, after my husband brought me and kids to Boulder, I continued with my research at GSL. I am really passionate about my job, and outside of work enjoy the outdoor activities in the beautiful Colorado: gardening, tennis, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing.

Research Interests

• Author of the RUC Land Surface Model - the land surface component in the operational at NCEP Rapid Refresh (RAP) and High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR)
• Soil/vegetation/snow/sea-ice/lake modeling
• Land-atmosphere interactions
• Subgrid-scale variability of surface characteristics on different scales
• Hydrometeorology
• Numerical weather predictions

Education

• Post-graduate studies, Numerical Weather Prediction, HMC, Moscow, 1989 - 1992
• M.S., Meteorology and Hydrology, Moscow State University, May 1978

Experience

• Senior scientist, CIRES, University of Colorado in Boulder & NOAA ESRL GSL, (2012 - present)
• Scientist, CIRES, University of Colorado in Boulder & NOAA ESRL GSL, (1994 - 2012)
• Scientist, Local Weather Forecasting and Mesometeorology Lab, HMC, Moscow, (1978 - 1992)

Professional Activities

• Member, American Geophysical Union, (2017-present)
• Member, American Meteorological Society, (1995-present)
• Member, Land-Surface Physics Working Group, Weather Research Forecasting (WRF), (2006-2018)

Honors and Awards

• Employee Service Award, 25 years in CIRES, May 2020
• NOAA Technology Transfer Award, July 2017
• Gold Medal for outstanding performance in science, May 2016, CIRES
• Governor’s of Colorado Award for the work on High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), November 2015
• Employee of the year, 2012, NOAA
• Bronze Medal for participating in developing the first NCEP operational radar reflectivity assimilation technique and improving convective storm forecasting for aviation and severe storm forecasting, April 2010, CIRES
• Outstanding Scientific Paper Award, June 2006, NOAA
• Employee Service Award, 10 years in CIRES, April 2005
• Employee Service Award, 5 years in CIRES, April 2000

Publications

1. Smirnova T. G., J. M. Brown, S. G. Benjamin, J. S. Kenyon, 2016: Modifications to the Rapid Update Cycle Land Surface Model (RUC LSM) available in the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. Monthly Weather Review, 144(5), 1851-1865, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-15-0198.1.
2. Smirnova, T. G., J. M. Brown, S. G. Benjamin1, D. Kim, 2000: Parameterization of cold-season processes in the MAPS land-surface scheme, Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 105(D3), https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD901047.
3. Smirnova, T. G., J. M. Brown, S. G. Benjamin, 1997: Performance of different soil model configurations in simulating ground surface temperature and surface fluxes. Monthly Weather Review, 125(8), https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1997)125%3C1870:PODSMC%3E2.0.CO;2.
4. Smirnova, T. G., 1990, Parameterization of a laminar layer in the model of local forecast, Transactions of Hydrometeorological Center, Moscow, 285, 28-33.
5. Smirnova, T. G., 1987, Use of heat and moisture balance equations in local weather prediction, Meteorology and Hydrology, 6, 15-22.
6. Smirnova, T. G., 1982, Interaction of ground surface and atmosphere in the problem of local forecast, Transactions of Hydrometeorological Center, Moscow, 248, 31-37.
7. Smirnova, T. G., and S. A. Bortnikov, 1980: A forecast of wind using the primitive system of hydrodynamic equations, Transactions of Hydrometeorological Center, Moscow, 108, 12-19.

1. Cecile B. Menard, Richard Essery, Gerhard Krinner, Gabriele Arduini, Paul Bartlett, Aaron Boone, Claire Brutal-Vuilmet, Eleanor Burke, Matthias Cuntz, Yongjiu Dai, Bertrand Decharme, Emanuel Dutra, Xing Fang, Charles Fierz, Evgeny Gusev, Stefan Hagemann, Vanessa Haverd, Hyungjun Kim, Matthieu Lafaysse, Thomas Marke, Olga Nasonova, Tomoko Nitta, Masashi Niwano , John Pomeroy, Gerd Schädler, Vladimir Semenov, Tatiana Smirnova, Ulrich Strasser, Sean Swenson, Dmitry Turkov, Nander Wever, Hua Yuan, 2020: Scientific and human errors in a snow model intercomparison,  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. DOI 10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0329.1. https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/doi/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0329.1/354531/Scientific-and-human-errors-in-a-snow-model
2. Beck, J., J. Brown, J. Dudhia, D. Gill, T. Hertneky, J. Klemp, M. Hu, E. James, J. Kenyon, T. Smirnova, et al., 2020: An Evaluation of a Hybrid, Terrain-Following Vertical Coordinate in the WRF-based RAP and HRRR Models. Weather and Forecasting, 35(3), 1081–1096, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-19-0146.1.
3. Fujisaki-manome, A., G. E. Mann, E. J. Anderson, P. Y. Chu, L. E. Fitzpatrick, S. G. Benjamin, E. P. James, T. G. Smirnova, C. R. Alexander, D. M. Wright, 2020: Improvements to lake-effect snow forecasts using a one-way air-lake model coupling approach. Journal of Hydrometeorology, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-20-0079.1.
4. He, S., T. G. Smirnova, S. G. Benjamin1, 2019: A scale‐aware parameterization for estimating subgrid variability of downward solar radiation using high‐resolution Digital Elevation Model data. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 124(24), 13680-13692, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031563.  
5. Jankov, I., J. Beck, J. Wolff, M. Harrold, J. B. Olson, T. Smirnova, C. Alexander, J. Berner, 2019: Stochastically Perturbed Parameterizations in a HRRR-Based Ensemble. Monthly Weather Review, 147(1), 153–173, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0092.1. 
6. Jankov, I., J. Beck, J. Wolff, M. Harrold, J. B. Olson, T. Smirnova, C. Alexander, J. Berner, 2019: Stochastically Perturbed Parameterizations in a HRRR-Based Ensemble. Monthly Weather Review, 147(1), 153–173, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0092.1. 
7. Jankov, I., J. Berner, J. Beck, H. Jiang, J. B. Olson, G. A. Grell, T. G. Smirnova, S. G. Benjamin, J. M. Brown, 2017: A Performance Comparison between Multiphysics and Stochastic Approaches within a North American RAP Ensemble. Monthly Weather Review, 145(4), 1161-1179, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-16-0160.1.
8. Jankov, I., J. Berner, J. Beck, H. Jiang, J. B. Olson, G. A. Grell, T. G. Smirnova, S. G. Benjamin, J. M. Brown, 2017: A Performance Comparison between Multiphysics and Stochastic Approaches within a North American RAP Ensemble. Monthly Weather Review, 145(4), 1161-1179, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-16-0160.1.
9. Prabha, T. B., G. Hoogenboom, T. G. Smirnova, 2011: Role of land surface parameterizations on modeling cold-pooling events and low-level jets. Atmospheric Research, 99(1), 147–161, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2010.09.017
10. Rutter, N., T. G. Smirnova, et al., 2009: Evaluation of forest snow processes models (SnowMIP2). Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, (1984–2012), 114(D06111), 1-18, doi: https://doi.org/10.0.1029/2008JD011063.
11. Benjamin, S. G., D. Dévényi, S. Weygandt, K. Brundage, J. M. Brown, G. A. Grell, D. Kim, B. E. Schwartz, T. G. Smirnova, T. L. Smith, 2004: An hourly assimilation-forecast cycle: The RUC. Monthly Weather Review, 132(2), doi: https://doi.org/10.0.1175/1520-0493%282004%29132%3C0495:AHACTR%3E2.0.CO;2.   
12. Benjamin, S. G., G. A. Grell, J. M. Brown, T. G. Smirnova, Rainer. Bleck, 2004: Mesoscale weather prediction with the RUC hybrid isentropic-terrain-following coordinate model. Monthly Weather 
13. Benjamin, S. G., G. A. Grell, J. M. Brown, T. G. Smirnova, Rainer Bleck, 2004: Mesoscale weather prediction with the RUC hybrid isentropic-terrain-following coordinate model. Monthly Weather Review, 132(2), doi: https://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1175%2F1520-0493%282004%29132%3
14. Berbery, E. H., K. E. Mitchell, S. G. Benjamin, T. G. Smirnova, R. Hogue, E. Radeva, 1999: Assessment of land-surface energy budgets from regional and global models. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 104(D16).   
15. Schlosser, Ca., Ag. Slater, A. Robock, Aj. Pitman, Ky. Vinnikov, A. Henderson-sellers, Na. Speranskaya, K. Mitchell, Pilps. 2. Contributors, T. G. Smirnova, 1999: Simulations of a boreal grassland hydrology at Valdai, Russia: PILPS phase 2(D), Monthly Weather Review, 128(2)
16. Pan, Z.-T., S.G. Benjamin, J.M. Brown, and T.G. Smirnova, 1994, Comparative experiments with MAPS on different parameterization schemes for surface moisture flux and boundary-layer processes, Monthly Weather Review, 122, 449-470.