Dr. Takamichi Iguchi is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland (UMD), and an on-site contract researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric Mesoscale Processes (code 612) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). His research expertise encompasses cloud microphysics, regional weather and climate modeling/simulation, atmospheric aerosols, and remote sensing measurements. Dr. Iguchi has extensive experience in cloud and precipitation microphysics, particularly through numerical modeling and simulation-based approaches.
His notable achievements include the development of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) coupled with the spectral-bin microphysics of the Hebrew University Cloud Model (HUCM) and the coupling of the JMA Non-Hydrostatic Model (JMA-NHM) with the same spectral-bin microphysics. He also developed the Aerosol Loading Interface for Cloud Microphysics in Simulation (ALICIS), which dynamically downscales aerosol loading from aerosol transport simulations to regional simulations, improving the representation of cloud microphysics. In addition, he has more than 15 years of experience using and developing the NASA-Unified WRF model (NU-WRF) on the high performance computing (HPC) systems at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS). Dr. Iguchi has conducted numerous case study simulations of various cloud and precipitation scenarios for projects such as the Asian Atmospheric Particle Environment Variability Study (APEX), the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Program (GPM) Ground Verification (GV), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) field campaigns. As a recent effort, he led the NU-WRF daily operational forecast simulations during the four-month Intensive Operational Period (IOP) of the TRACER (TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment) field campaign around Houston in the summer of 2022 to support the daily weather briefing.
Dr. Iguchi's work on cloud-resolving models, supported by comparisons with diverse measurement data, has advanced the understanding of cloud and precipitation processes. His research directly contributes to the development of the next generation of high-resolution weather and climate models relevant to atmospheric science, disaster mitigation, and urban planning.
Dr. Iguchi joined ESSIC UMD in May 2009. As a key member of the Mesoscale Dynamics and Modeling group at the Laboratory for Atmospheric Mesoscale Processes, he has played an integral role in several major NASA projects, including the Precipitation Measurement Mission (PMM), the Modeling and Analysis (MAP) mission, and the Interdisciplinary Studies in Earth Sciences (IDS) as well as DOE Atmospheric System Research (ASR) programs. Since joining ESSIC, Dr. Iguchi has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles and contributed a book chapter. He is proficient in Fortran and Python and uses these programming languages extensively in his research and model development.
Publications
1) Peer-Reviewed Articles
Tao, W.-K., S. Lang, T. Iguchi, and Y. Song, 2022: Goddard Latent Heating Retrieval Algorithm for TRMM and GPM., J. Meteorol. Soc., 100-2, 293-320 https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2022-015.
Tao, W.-K., T. Iguchi, S. Lang, X. Li, K. Mohr, T. Matsui, S. van den Heever, and S. Braun, 2022: Relating Vertical Velocity and Cloud/Precipitation Properties: A Numerical Modeling Study, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14, e2021MS002677. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002677
Iguchi, T., S. A. Rutledge, W.-K. Tao, T. Matsui, B. Dolan, S. Lang, and J. Barnum, 2020: Impacts of aerosol and environmental conditions on maritime and continental deep convective systems using a bin microphysical model, J. Geophys. Res., DOI:10.1029/2019JD030952.
Matsui, T., B. Dolan, T. Iguchi, S.A. Rutledge, W. Tao, and S. Lang, 2020: Polarimetric Radar Characteristics of Simulated and Observed Intense Convective Cores for a Midlatitude Continental and Tropical Maritime Environment. J. Hydrometeor., 21, 501–517, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-19-0185.1.
Matsui, T., B. Dolan, S. A. Rutledge, W.-K. Tao, T. Iguchi, J. Barnum, and S. Lang, 2019: POLARRIS: A POLArimetric Radar Retrieval and Instrument Simulator, J. Geophys. Res., 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028317.
Tao, W.-K., T. Iguchi, S. Lang, 2019: Expanding the Goddard CSH Algorithm for GPM: New Extratropical Retrievals, J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 58, 921-946, doi: 10.1175/JAMC-D-18-0215.1.
Han, M., S. A. Braun, T. Matsui, and T. Iguchi, 2018: Comparisons of bin and bulk microphysics schemes in simulations of topographic winter precipitation with radar and radiometer measurements, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 144, 1926-1946, doi: 10.1002/qj.3393.
Iguchi, T., T. Matsui, Z. Tao, D. Kim, C. M. Ichoku, L. Ellison, and J. Wang, 2018: NU-WRF aerosol transport simulation over West Africa: Effects of biomass burning on smoke aerosol distribution, J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 57, 1551–1573. doi: 10.1175/JAMC-D-17-0278.1.
Kim, J., B. Guan, D. E. Waliser, R. D. Ferraro, J. Case, T. Iguchi, E. Kemp, W. Putman, W. Wang, D. Wu, and B. Tian, 2018: Winter precipitation characteristics in western US related to atmospheric river landfalls: observations and model evaluations, Climate Dynamics, 50, 231-248. DOI: 10.1007/s00382-017-3601-5.
Tian, B., H. Lee, D. Waliser, R. Ferraro, J. Kim, J. Case, T. Iguchi, E. Kemp, D. Wu, W. Putman, and W. Wang, 2017: Development of a model performance metric and its application to assess summer precipitation over the US Great Plains in downscaled climate simulations, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 18, 2781–2799. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-17-0045.1.
Lee, H., D. E. Waliser, R. Ferraro, T. Iguchi, C. D. Peters-Lidard, B. Tian, P. C. Loikith, and D. B. Wright, 2017: Evaluating hourly rainfall characteristics over the US Great Plains in dynamically downscaled climate model simulations using NASA-Unified WRF (NU-WRF), Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, 122. DOI: 10.1002/2017JD026564.
Iguchi, T., W.-K. Tao, D. Wu, C. Peters-Lidard, J. Santanello, E. Kemp, Y. Tian, J. Case, W. Wang, R. Ferraro, D. Waliser, J. Kim, H. Lee, B. Guan, B. Tian, P. Loikith, 2017: Sensitivity of CONUS summer rainfall to the selection of cumulus parameterization schemes in NU-WRF seasonal simulations, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 18, 1689–1706, doi: 10.1175/JHM-D-16-0120.1.
Iguchi, T., I.-J. Choi, Y. Sato., K. Suzuki, and T. Nakajima, 2015: A development overview of the Aerosol Loading Interface for Cloud microphysics In Simulation (ALICIS). Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, 2:45 doi: 10.1186/s40645-015-0075-0.
Iguchi, T., T. Matsui, W.-K. Tao, A. Khain, V. Phillips, C. Kidd, T. L'Ecuyer, S. Braun, and A. Hou, 2014: WRF-SBM simulations of melting layer structure in mixed-phase precipitation events observed during LPVEx. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 53, 2710-2731, doi:10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0334.1.
Choi, I.-J., T. Iguchi, S.-W. Kim, T. Nakajima, and S.-C. Yoon, 2014: The effect of aerosol representation on cloud microphysical properties in northeast Asia. Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 123, 181-194, doi:10.1007/s00703-013-0288-y.
Matsui, T., T. Iguchi, X. Li, M. Han, W.-K. Tao, W. Petersen, T. L’Ecuyer, R. Meneghini, W. Olson, C. Kummerow, A. Hou, M. Schwaller, E. Stocker, and J. Kwiatkowski, 2013: GPM satellite simulator upon Ground Validation sites, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 94, 1653-1660. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00160.1.
Iguchi, T., T. Matsui, A. Tokay, P. Kollias, and W.-K. Tao, 2012: Two distinct modes in one-day rainfall event during MC3E field campaign: Analyses of disdrometer observations and WRF-SBM simulation. Geophys. Res. Let., 39, L24805, doi:10.1029/2012GL053329.
Iguchi, T., T. Matsui, J. J. Shi, W.-K. Tao, A. P. Khain, A. Hou, R. Cifelli, A. Heymsfield, and A. Tokay, 2012: Numerical analysis using WRF-SBM for the cloud microphysical structures in the C3VP field campaign: Impacts of supercooled droplets and resultant riming on snow microphysics. J. Geophys. Res., 117, D23206, doi:10.1029/2012JD018101.
Iguchi, T., T. Nakajima, A. Khain, K. Saito, T. Takemura, H. Okamoto, T. Nishizawa and W.-K. Tao, 2012: Evaluation of cloud microphysics in JMA-NHM simulations using bin or bulk microphysical schemes through comparison with cloud radar observations., J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 2566-2586, DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-11-0213.1.
Sato, Y., K. Suzuki, T. Iguchi, I.-J. Choi, H. Kadowaki, T. Nakajima, 2012: Characteristics of correlation statistics between droplet radius and optical thickness of warm clouds simulated by a three-dimensional regional-scale spectral bin microphysics cloud model. J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 484–503, doi:10.1175/JAS-D-11-076.1
Sato, Y., T. Nakajima, K. Suzuki, and T. Iguchi, 2009: Application of a Monte Carlo integration method to collision and coagulation growth processes of hydrometeors in a bin‐type model, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D9, doi:10.1029/2008JD011247.
Iguchi, T., T. Nakajima, A. P. Khain, K. Saito, T. Takemura, and K. Suzuki, 2008: Modeling the influence of aerosols on cloud microphysical properties in the east Asia region using a mesoscale model coupled with a bin-based cloud microphysics scheme, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D14215, doi:10.1029/2007JD009774.
2) Book Chapters
Tao, W.-K., J. Chern, T. Iguchi, S. Lang, M.-J. Lee, X. Li, A. Loftus, T. Matsui, K. Mohr, S. Nicholls, C. Peters-Lidar, D. Posselt, and G. Skofronick-Jackson, 2019: Microphysics in Goddard Multi-scale Modeling Systems. “Current trend in the Representation of Physical Processes in Weather and Climate Models” by Springer Nature, 253-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3396-5_14.
Iguchi, T. and T. Matsui, 2018: Advances in clouds and precipitation modeling supported by remote sensing measurements. Remote Sensing of Clouds and Precipitation. C. Andronache (eds) Springer Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry. Springer, Cham, 257-277. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-72583-3_10.
3) Others
Iguchi, T., and T. Matsui, 2022: Archive of NASA-Unified WRF model daily forecasting simulations for DOE TRACER IOP. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7191117.
Iguchi, T., 2007: A numerical study of the cloud microphysical properties in the East China Sea region by a bin-type cloud resolving model, Ph.D. dissertation, CCSR Report No. 39, The University of Tokyo, 2007.