UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers received a three-year, $499,796 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office (DOE) of Science to study processes in destructive thunderstorms over the continental United States. The project was one of 20 selected for 2024 Atmospheric System Research (ASR) funding awards. 

Romit Maulik, assistant professor in the College of IST, will collaborate with Matt Kumjian, professor of meteorology in Penn State’s Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, who is leading the project, titled, “Using Machine Learning to Uncover Deep Convective Cloud Processes with TRACER Observations.” 

The researchers aim to advance scientific understanding and develop innovative computational techniques — pattern analysis using machine learning algorithms — to study deep convective cloud processes using observational data. 

The 20 university-based projects were selected from among 88 proposals. Each project will focus on observational, data analysis and modeling research that uses observations supported by the DOE’s Biological and Environmental Research program. 

“The quality of these research proposals was excellent,” ASR program manager Jeff Stehr said in a press release. “It was a very competitive review process, and we’re excited about the atmospheric science to come.”