DRI / DIRECTORY / MATT FEARON
Matt Fearon Profile Photo
Matt Fearon
Hourly Assistant Research Scientist
Phone 
775-673-7661
E-Mail 
Matthew.Fearon@dri.edu
Campus 
Reno Campus
Full Resume / CV 
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Division 
Atmospheric Sciences

Professional Interests

Dr. Fearon’s research interests center on the interaction of mid-latitude and tropical weather systems. However, most recently, Matthew has examined the evolution of the atmospheric dynamics (at the synoptic and meso scales) that establish the precursor environment of the tropical storm, in particular, the avenue of low-level vorticity generation between coastal terrain rises and offshore vortex intensification. Use of numerical simulations, as from the Weather Research and Forecasting model, against atmospheric remote sensing data (e.g., Lidar backscatter, Scatterometer-winds, TRMM-Rainfall, Cloud-brightness temperature) and other observational measurements, have been the primary tools for the former investigation. Alongside research, Matthew has a sincere interest in teaching and mentoring students on many aspects of climate and meteorology. Other topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Examination of historical aspects and progress in atmospheric science; Development of science application tools and decision support systems integrating meteorological theory; Programming, analysis, and visualization on environmental datasets.

Research Areas

  • Synoptic Meteorology
  • Dynamic Meteorology
  • Mesoscale Meteorology
  • Tropical Meteorology
  • Numerical Modeling
  • History of Meteorology

Education

Degree Year Institution Area
Ph.D.   2015  University of Nevada, Reno Atmospheric Science
M.S.  2000 University of Nevada, Reno Atmospheric Science
B.S.  1998 University of Massachusetts, Lowell Meteorology

Professional Experience

Dates Experience
2011 – present Assistant Research Scientist, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, DRI
2010 – 2011 Hourly Research Scientist, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, DRI
2007 – 2010 Research Scientist, Applied GeoSolutions LLC, Durham, NH
2002 – 2007 Research Scientist, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2000 – 2002 Research Associate, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1998 – 2000 Graduate Research Assistant, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, DRI
1997 – 1998 Undergraduate Intern, Weather Services Corporation, Lexington, MA

Professional Memberships

  • American Meteorological Society
  • National Weather Association
  • Mount Washington Observatory

Keywords

mid-latitude meteorology, tropical meteorology, numerical weather modeling, weather and climate data analysis and visualization, history of meteorology

 

Publications
2023
Brown, T. J., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2023). Weather Data Analysis, 8 pp., USFS Annual Performance Report, March 2023.

2022
Mills, G., Salkin, O., Fearon, M. G., Harris, S., Brown, T. J., Reinbold, H. J. (2022). , Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science, 72 (2), 139-163, https://doi.org/10.1071/ES22011
https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/ES22011

2020
Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G. (2020). Inversion Forecast Procedure. Final Performance Report, 6 pp., August 2020.

Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G. (2020). Superfog. Annual Performance Report, 4 pp., April 2020.

Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G. (2020). Inversion Forecast Procedure. Annual Performance Report, 2 pp., April 2020.

2019
Kochanski, A. K., Mallia, D. V., Fearon, M. G., Mandel, J., Souri, A. H., Brown, T. J. (2019). Modeling wildfire smoke feedback mechanisms using a coupled fire‐atmosphere model with a radiatively active aerosol scheme, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (16), 9099-9116, 10.1029/2019JD030558

2018
Lewis, J. M., Phillips, J., Menzel, W. P., Vonder Haar, T. H., Moosmüller, H., House, F. B., Fearon, M. G. (2018). Verner Suomi: The Life and Work of the Founder of Satellite Meteorology, 168 pp.: American Meteorological Society

Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G. (2018). Inversion Forecast Procedure. Annual Performance Report, 2 pp., April 2018.

Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G. (2018). Superfog. Annual Performance Report, 2 pp., April 2018.

2017
Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G. (2017). Inversion Forecast Procedure. Annual Performance Report, Submitted, 2 pp., April 2017.

2016
Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2016). A bias corrected WRF mesoscale fire weather dataset for Victoria, Australia 1972-2012, Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science, 66 (3), 281-313
://WOS:000389054200004

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2016). Fire Weather Climatology Dataset for Victoria – Supplemental Report for Dataset Version 2, 25 pp., Supplemental Report to the Victoria Department of Environment, Water, Land and Planning, June 2016.

Simeral, D. B., McCurdy, G. D., Redmond, K. T., Fearon, M. G., Sisson, E. L. (2016). Final Report & Recommendations for the Pacific Island Climate Monitoring Network, National Park Service, 1-78. Western Regional Climate Center

2015
Fearon, M. G., Brown, T. J., Curcio, G. M. (2015). Establishing a national standard for operational mixing height determination, J. Operational Meteor., 3 (15), 172-189

Kaplan, M. L., Fearon, M. G. (2015). Superstorm Sandy: An Example of Future Hybrid Tropical/Extratropical Storm Systems, 28 pp.. Institute Project Assignment Final Report

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2015). Fire Weather Climatolology Dataset for Victoria. Final Project Report to the Victoria Department of Environment, Land and Water Planning: August 2015, 134 pp.

2012
Lewis, J. M., Fearon, M. G., Klieforth, H. E. (2012). Herbert Riehl: Intrepid and Enigmatic Scholar, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93 (7), 963-985

2011
Torbick, N., Salas, W., Xiao, X., Ingraham, P., Fearon, M. G., Biradar, C., Zhao, D., Liu, Y., Li, P., Zhao, Y. (2011). Integrating SAR and optical imagery for regional mapping of paddy rice attributes in the Poyang Lake Watershed, China, Can. J. Remote Sensing, 37, 17-26

2008
Ito, A., Penner, J. E., Prather, M. J., Campos, C., Houghton, R. A., Kato, T., Jain, A. K., Yang, X., Hurtt, G. C., Frolking, F., Fearon, M. G., Chini, L. P., Wang, A., Price, D. T. (2008). Can we reconcile differences in estimates of carbon fluxes from land-use change and forestry for the 1990s?, Atmos. Chem. Physics, 8, 1-19

2006
Hurtt, G. C., Frolking, S., Fearon, M. G., Moore, III, B., Shevliakova, E., Malyshev, S., Pacala, S., Houghton, R. A. (2006). The underpinnings of land-use history: three centuries of global gridded land-use transitions, wood harvest activity, and resulting secondary lands, Global Change Biology, 1-22, 12

2004
Hurtt, G. C., Dubayah, R., Drake, J. B., Moorcroft, P., Pacala, S. W., Blair, J. B., Fearon, M. G. (2004). Beyond potential vegetation: combining lidar data and a height structured ecosystem model for carbon studies, Ecolog. Appls., 873-883, 14 (3)

2003
Smith, R. B., Jiang, Q., Fearon, M. G., Tabary, P., Dorninger, M., Doyle, J. D., Benoit, R. (2003). Orographic precipitation and airmass transformation: An alpine example, Qtrly. J Royal Meteor. Soc., 129 (588), 433-454, Part B

Conference Proceedings
2023
Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J., Podnar, D. (2023). Creating a 43-Year High Spatial and Temporal Resolution WRF Reanalysis for California and Nevada. American Meteorological Society 14th Symposium on Forest and Fire Meteorology: Minneapolis, MN, May 2, 2023-May 4, 2023

2020
Brown, T. J., Larkin, N. K., Fearon, M. G., Podnar, D., McCurdy, G. D., Dubowy, J., Solomon, R. C., Lahm, P. (2020). Current operational products for smoke management (Parts 1 & 2). IAWF 3rd International Smoke Symposium: [virtual], April 23, 2020

2018
Kochanski, A., Mallia, D. V., Fearon, M. G., Brown, T. J., Mandel, J., Vaughan, J. K. (2018). Do we need weather prediction models to account for local weather modifications by wildland fires? Viegas, D. X. (Ed.) , Advances in Forest Fire Research, 9 pp.. VIII International Conference on Forest Fire Research, University of Coimbra Press: Coimbra, Portugal, November 9, 2018-November 16, 2018

Kochanski, A., Mallia, D. V., Mandel, J., Schranz, S., Fearon, M. G., Brown, T. J. (2018). Simulating Plume Rise, Dispersion and Radiative Smoke Impacts in a Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Framework. IAWF Fire Continuum Conference: Missoula, MT, May 21, 2018-May 25, 2018

Mallia, D. V., Kochanski, A. K., Fearon, M. G., Brown, T. J., Mandel, J. (2018). Does wildfire smoke impact local inversions?. American Meteorological Society 12th Fire and Forest Meteorology Symposium: Boise, ID, May 15, 2018-May 17, 2018

2016
Brown, T. J., Fearon, M. G., McCurdy, G. D. (2016). Assessing the Quality of Wind Observations Using a Regional Scale Model. American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting. American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting: New Orleans, LA, January 12, 2016

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2016). Utilizing hi-resolution gridded fire climate and danger data for risk assessment. Wildland Fire Canada 2016: Building Resilience: Kelowna, BC, Canada, October 24, 2016-October 28, 2016

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2016). Hi-resolution fire weather and climatology from dynamical downscaling. Invited seminar.. Invited Seminar, San Jose State University: San Jose, CA, September 27, 2016

2015
Fearon, M. G., Brown, T. J. (2015). Establishing a national standard for operational mixing height determination. AMS 11th Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology: Minneapolis, MN, May 5, 2015

Harris, S., Mills, G., Brown, T. J., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2015). Victoria fire weather climatology dataset. Proceedings of the Research Forum at the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC conference: Adelaide, Australia, September 1, 2015

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2015). Hi-resolution fire weather and climatology from dynamical downscaling. ICBFR: Alhero, Italy, May 28, 2015

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2015). Hi-resolution fire weather and climatology from dynamical downscaling. American Meteorological Society 11th Fire and Forest Meteorology Symposium: Minneapolis, MN, May 6, 2015

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2015). Hi-resolution fire weather and climatology from dynamical downscaling. Seminar presentation School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment, Faculty of Science, Monash University: Clayton, Victoria, March 27, 2015

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2015). Finally, A 40-year mesoscale gridded fire climatology for Victoria. Project briefing for the Victoria Department of Environment and Primary Industries, April 7, 2015

Tilley, J. S., Huggins, A. W., Layman, L. R., Fearon, M. G., David, R. O., McDonough, F. (2015). Trace Chemical Analysis of Water and Soil during the WWMPP: Results and Implies Environmental Impacts. 20th Conference on Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification: Phoenix, AZ, January 4, 2015

2014
Fearon, M. G., Kaplan, M. L. (2014). Diagnosing the tropical-extratropical pre-superstorm environment over the Northern Hemisphere. 94th AMS Annual Meeting: Atlanta, GA, February 2, 2014

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, H., Podnar, D., Reinbold, H. J., Fearon, M. G. (2014). A hi-resolution 40-year gridded fire weather/danger climatology for Victoria, Australia. VII International Conference on Forest Fire Research: Coimbra, Portugal, November 17, 2014

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2014). Fire weather climatology of Victoria. Invited talk. Project briefing for the Victoria Department of Environment and Primary Industries: Melbourne, VIC, March 24, 2014

Brown, T. J., Mills, G., Harris, S., Podnar, D., Fearon, M. G., Reinbold, H. J. (2014). Fire weather climatology of Victoria. Invited talk. Project briefing for the Victoria Country Fire Authority: Melbourne, VIC, March 25, 2014

2013
Fearon, M. G., Brown, T. J., Curcio, G. (2013). Establishing a National Standard Methodology for Operational Mixing Height Determination. IAWF International Smoke Symposium: College Park, MD, October 22, 2013

2012
Fearon, M. G., Lewis, J. M., Klieforth, H. E. (2012). The Partnership of Herbert Riehl and Joanne Simpson. 92nd AMS Annual Meeting: New Orleans, LA, January 22, 2012

Other
2017
Fearon, M. G., Kaplan, M. L., Mejia, J. F. (2017). Hurricane Sandy (2012). Part II: The dynamics within the local environment preceding rapid development, in revision mode for resubmission

Fearon, M. G., Kaplan, M. L., Mejia, J. F. (2017). Hurricane Sandy (2012). Part I: The tropical-extratropical environment preceding incipient development, in revision mode for resubmission