Dr Ruth Comer
Ruth works on the GloSea Global Seasonal Forecasting System.
Areas of expertise
- Seasonal Prediction
- General Circulation Model evaluation
- Land-atmosphere interaction
- Diurnal cycle in outgoing long-wave radiation
Current activities
Ruth works in the Monthly to Decadal Operational Systems team. Her main focus is development and evaluation of the GloSea Global Seasonal Forecasting System, with particular attention on predictability of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation. She also contributes to the team’s operational system for visualising forecasts and forecast skill.
Career background
Ruth joined the Monthly to Decadal Prediction area in 2012, initially working to translate seasonal forecasts into products relevant to specific user groups. She moved into the Operational Systems team in 2015.
From 2008 to 2012, Ruth worked in the Understanding Climate Change area, where she worked to understand underlying processes in the Met Office Hadley Centre models. She focused on aspects of the land surface scheme such as soil moisture and vegetation and their effects on the wider hydrological cycle.
Before joining the Met Office, Ruth gained a PhD at the Environmental Systems Science Centre at the University of Reading. This involved an analysis of the diurnal cycle in clouds and water vapour, primarily using observations from the Meteosat-8 satellite. As an undergraduate, Ruth studied mathematics at the University of Bristol.