Professional summary

Research Interests

  • Atmospheric modelling / convection-permitting models
  • Remote sensing of clouds & surface characteristics
  • Land-atmosphere interactions
  • Atmospheric dynamics
  • Convective organisation, scale interactions and mesoscale storms

I am interested in how and at which scales atmospheric and surface conditions may impact deep convection at different degrees of organisation and in the factors that control occurrence, maintenance and intensity of convective storms and extreme weather. My research focusses on tropical regions, in particular Africa and tropical South America, where I use a combination of remote sensing data and atmospheric modelling to evaluate how convection and storm characteristics changed in the past decades and what we can expect for the future. 

Brief CV

Since Dec 2019: Research Scientist at UKCEH, Post-Doc at University of Innsbruck ( AgroClim-Huaraz)

Since March 2016: RA at CEH: drivers of high-impact weather (AMMA-2050, SWIFT, VERA, NFLICS)

2013 - 2016: PhD at Augsburg University / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Regional Climate and Land-Atmosphere Interactions

2006-2013: Diploma degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in Environmental Engineering at TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Publications:

Hänchen, L., Klein, C., Maussion, F., Gurgiser, W., Calanca, P., and Wohlfahrt, G. (2021): Vegetation indices as proxies for spatio-temporal variations in water availability in the Rio Santa valley (Peruvian Andes), Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2021-60, in review
Taylor, CM, Klein C, Parker DJ, Gerard F, Shamsudheen SV, Barton EJ, Harris BL (2022): "Late-stage" deforestation enhances storm trends in coastal West Africa, PNAS, 119(2), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109285119
Klein C, Jackson LD, Parker DJ, Marsham JH, Taylor CM, Rowell DP, Guichard F, Vischel T, Famien AM, Diedhiou A (2021):  Combining CMIP data with a regional convection-permitting model and observations to project extreme rainfall under climate change Environ. Res. Lett., https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac26f1  
Senior, C. A., Marsham, J. H., Berthou, S., Burgin, L. E., Folwell, S. S., Kendon, E. J., Klein, C. M., (...) (2021). Convection permitting regional climate change simulations for understanding future climate and informing decision making in Africa, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0020 ,1, 1-46  
Barton EJ, Taylor CM, Klein C, Harris PP, Meng X (2021): Observed Soil Moisture Impact on Strong Convection over Mountaineous Tibetan Plateau, Journal of Hydrometeorology, https://10.1175/JHM-D-20-0129.1
Klein, C., Nkrumah, F., Taylor, C. M., & Adefisan, E. A. (2021). Seasonality and Trends of Drivers of Mesoscale Convective Systems in Southern West Africa, Journal of Climate, 34(1), 71-87, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0194.1  
Quagraine KA, Nkrumah F, Klein C, Klutse NAB, Quagraine KT (2020). West African Precipitation Variability as Represented by Reanalysis Datasets, Climate, 8(10), 111
Klein, C. Taylor, CM. 2020. Dry soils can intensify mesoscale convective systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (35). 21132-21137, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2007998117  
Taylor, CM.; Fink, AH; Klein, C; Parker, DJ.; Guichard, F; Harris, PP.; Knapp, KR. (2018) Earlier seasonal onset of intense mesoscale convective systems in the Congo Basin since 1999. Geophy. Res. Lett., 45 (24), https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080516
Crook, Julia; Klein, C.; Folwell, Sonja; Taylor, Christopher M.; Parker, Douglas J.; Stratton, Rachel; Stein, Thorwald. (2019), Assessment of the representation of West African storm lifecycles in convection-permitting simulations. Earth and Space Science.  
Bliefernicht, J.; Berger, S.; Salack, S.; Guug, S.; Hingerl, L.; Heinzeller, D.; Mauder, M.; Steinbrecher, R.; Steup, G.; Bossa, A.Y.; Waongo, M.; Quansah, E.; Balogun, A.A.; Yira, Y.; Arnault, J.; Wagner, S.; Klein, C.; [...]. (2018) The WASCAL hydrometeorological observatory in the Sudan Savanna of Burkina Faso and Ghana. Vadose Zone Journal, 17 (1), 180065. 20, pp. https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.03.0065
Heinzeller D., Dieng D., Smiatek G., Olusegun C., Klein C., Hamann I., Salack S., Kunstmann H. (2018): The WASCAL high-resolution regional climate simulation ensemble for West Africa: concept, dissemination, assessment, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 815-835
Klein C., Belušić D., Taylor C.M. (2018): Wavelet scale analysis of mesoscale convective systems for detecting deep convection from infrared imagery, JGR-Atmos, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027432
Taylor C.M., Belušić D., Guichard F., Parker D. J., Vischel T., Bock O., Harris P.P., Janicot S., Klein C., Panthou G. (2017): Frequency of extreme Sahelian storms tripled since 1982 in satellite observations. Nature 544 , 475–478
Klein C., Bliefernicht J., Heinzeller D., Gessner U., Klein I., Kunstmann H. (2017): Feedback of observed interannual vegetation change: a regional climate model analysis for the West African monsoon, Climate Dynamics, doi: 10.1007/s00382-016-3237-x
Salack, S., Klein C., Giannini A., Sarr B., Worou N.O., Belko N., Bliefernicht J., Kunstmann H. (2016): Global warming induced hybrid rainy seasons in the Sahel, Env. Res. Letters, 11(10)

Klein C., D. Heinzeller, J. Bliefernicht, H. Kunstmann (2015): Variability of West African monsoon patterns generated by a WRF multi-physics ensemble, Clim.Dyn,45(9-10),2733–2755

Publications