An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Helen Johnson

Helen works on representing snow and lakes within the JULES land surface model.

Areas of expertise

  • Land surface modelling
  • Snow
  • Lakes

Publications by Helen Johnson

Current activities

Helen is a scientist within the land surface processes group which develops the JULES land surface model in order to simulate land surface processes that affect the weather and climate.

Helen is currently working on introducing a representation of black carbon in the snow into JULES as this contaminent can affect the amount of radation reflected/absorbed by the snow pack which has impacts on the timing of snow melt. This work forms part of a PhD research project that Helen is undertaking with the University of Reading Department of Meteorology.

Helen is also involved in work on using the FLake model in conjuction with JULES to improve weather forecasts in areas where there are lakes. Lakes have very different properties to the surrounding land surface so their presence can affect near surface temperature and wind.

Career background

Helen joined the Met Office in 2012 after completing an MPhys in Physics at Cardiff University.