K.C. (Kevin) Helfer

Profile

I have been a Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing since 2017. My work is about disentangling the interplay of clouds and wind using models of atmospheric convection. Before coming to Delft, I received my M.Sc. degree in Geophysics from the University of Münster, Germany where I worked on double diffusive (or thermohaline) convection.

Research

I am part of the CloudBrake project under the supervision of Louise Nuijens. CloudBrake is an ERC-funded project that aims to expose the coupling of clouds and the vertical structure of wind, thereby aiding development of parametrizations for improved numerical weather prediction, climate modelling, and wind energy design. Within that project, I focus on modelling of cumulus clouds and convective momentum transport in the tropics using Large-Eddy Simulations (LES). I am aiming to answer the question whether the wind profile influences the characteristics of shallow cumulus convection and vice versa (and if yes, how).

Key publications

Helfer, K.C., Nuijens, L., de Roode, S.R., Siebesma, A.P. (2020). How Wind Shear Affects Trade‐wind Cumulus Convection. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 12(12), https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002183

Helfer, K.C., Nuijens, L., Dixit, V.V. (2021). The role of shallow convection in the momentum budget of the trades from large-eddy-simulation hindcasts. Quartely Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4035

Other activities

I am an active member of Scientists4Future Delft.