Fredrik Wetterhall

Senior Scientist
Forecast, Evaluation, Evaluation Applications

Summary:

I am passionate about preserving the natural environment and have used my knowledge and experience to enhance our understanding of how climate change will manifest itself in several natural hazards, how we can mitigate and adapt to a new climate. My unique strength come from having worked both in academic and operational institutions. This gives me the tools to make good ideas goes from research to operations. In my current position at ECMWF I am coordinating our contribution to European projects, focussing on topics ranging from machine learning for flood and fire modelling, health forecasts to development of impact modelling of natural hazards.

Professional interests:
  • Operational probabilistic flood forecasting
  • Uncertainty in hydrological modelling
  • Sub-seasonal forecasting of droughts and water resources
  • Impact modelling
  • Machine learning of natural hazards
Career background:

Education

PhD Hydrology, Dept. of Geosciences, Uppsala University, Sweden. Awarded September 2005. Thesis: Statistical Downscaling of Precipitation from Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation. Comparison of Methods and Climate Regions. Supervisor: Prof Sven Halldin
MSc Aquatic and Environmental Engineering, Uppsala University, Sweden. Awarded October 2000. Dissertation: Evaluation of biomanipulation as a lake restoration technique -a case study of Lake Finjasjön. Supervisor: Dr Emil Ryden

Professional Experience

2011 - Senior Scientist in the Forecasting Department, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, UK
2007-2010 Post doc researcher at the Dept of Geography King’s College, London, UK
2006-2011 Researcher in Hydrology at Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping, Sweden
2005-2006 Post-doctoral research assistant in Hydrology, Department of Earth Sciences, Stockholm University
2000-2005 Doctoral student at Uppsala University, Sweden
1999-2000 Application developer, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
External recognitions

Editorial Memberships and international committees

  • Co-editor of Theoretical and Applied Climatology (since 2013-2018)
  • Guest-editor of Hydrology and Earth System Sciences for a special issue on "Sub-seasonal to seasonal hydrological forecasting", (2016-2017)
  • Co-chair of the HEPEX, Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment (since 2014)

 Supervision and teaching

  • 2008-2013 Co-Supervision of Ph. D. thesis (Claudia Teutschbein, Stockholm University; Hydrological Modeling for Climate Change Impact Assessment.)
  • 2007- Co-Supervision of Ph. D. thesis (Jesper Ahlberg, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm)
  • 2010 Brandon Parkes, King’s College London; Removal of systematic error in precipitation downscaling
  • 2009 Co-Supervision of M.Sc. thesis (Thomas White, King’s College London; Climate Impacts on Flood Hazard: modelling with HBV and UKCP09 for the River Severn.)
  • 2008 Co-Supervision of M.Sc. thesis (Clare Jeffers , King’s College London; Equifinality, uncertainty estimation and climate impacts: Projections of river flow for the Medway catchment, UK)
  • 2002 Co-Supervision of M.Sc. thesis (Sara-Sofia Hellström, Uppsala University;  En dagvattenmodell för beräkning av avrinning och transport av kväve och fosfor i Flatendiket i södra Stockholm)
  • 2000-2005 Frequent course assistant in hydrology and hydrological modelling for M.Sc. students Uppsala University

Memberships

HEPEX, European Geosciences Union

Recently organized workshops/conferences

https://hepex.org.au/hepex-workshop-2023-forecasting-across-spatial-scales-and-time-horizons/, Workshop, Norrköping, Sweden, 13-15 September 2023

https://www.ecmwf.int/en/learning/workshops/satellite-inspired-hydrology-for-an-uncertain-future, Reading, UK, 25-28 November 2019