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Elias C. Massoud

Photo of Elias Massoud

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818-354-2579

Member of:

Biography

Research involves the fusion of data from observations and model simulations to assess and predict the state of Earth’s climate system. Joined the Regional Climate Modeling Evaluation System (RCMES) and the Climate Modeling Alliance (CliMA) groups at JPL, and collaborates with many scientists from different backgrounds. Specific research questions involve the Uncertainty Quantification and prediction of various Earth System processes, including groundwater, forests, and extreme storms such as atmospheric rivers.

Education

  • UCLA BS '11, MS '12 in Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • UC Irvine, PhD '17 in Civil & Environmental Engineering

Professional Experience

  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 2018-present
  • University of California, Irvine
    • Research and Teaching Assistant, 2013-2017
    • Instructor, 2014-2017
  • University of California, Los Angeles
    • Teaching Assistant, 2012

Research Interests

  • Climate Change
  • Uncertainty Quantification
  • Modeling
  • Data Analysis
  • Predictions

Selected Awards

  • Research grant by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program (SCGSR) 2015
  • Graduate Student of the Year Award - UC Irvine Civil and Environmental Engineering Department 2017

Selected Publications

Book Chapters:

  1. Vrugt, J. A., and E. C. Massoud. "Uncertainty quantification of complex system models: bayesian analysis." Handbook of Hydrometeorological Ensemble Forecasting (2019): 563-636.

Peer Reviewed Publications:

  1. Massoud, E.C., H. Lee, P. Gibson, P. Loikith, D. Waliser. "Bayesian Model Averaging of Climate Model Projections Constrained by Precipitation Observations over the Contiguous United States." Journal of Hydrometeorology (2020). 1-47.
  2. Massoud, E.C., M. Turmon, J.T. Reager, J. Hobbs, Z. Liu, and C.H. David. "Cascading Dynamics of the Hydrologic Cycle in California Explored through Observations and Model Simulations." Geosciences 10, no. 2 (2020): 71.
  3. Massoud, E.C., Massoud, T.C., Guan, B., Sengupta, A., Espinoza, V., De Luna, M., Raymond, C., Waliser, D. "Atmospheric rivers and precipitation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)." Water. XX, no. X (2020). In Review.
  4. Massoud, E.C., V. Espinoza, B. Guan, and D. E. Waliser. "Global Climate Model Ensemble Approaches for Future Projections of Atmospheric Rivers." Earth's Future 7, no. 10 (2019): 1136-1151.
  5. Liu, Z., P.W. Liu, Massoud, E.C., T.G. Farr, P. Lundgren, and J.S. Famiglietti. "Monitoring Groundwater Change in California's Central Valley Using Sentinel-1 and GRACE Observations." Geosciences 9, no. 10 (2019): 436.
  6. Massoud, E. C., C. Xu, R. Fisher, R. Knox, A. Walker, S. Serbin, et al. "Identification of key parameters controlling demographically structured vegetation dynamics in a Land Surface Model [CLM4. 5 (FATES)]." Geoscientific Model Development 12(9):4133-4164. (2019)
  7. Massoud, E. C. "Emulation of environmental models using polynomial chaos expansion." Environmental modelling & software 111 (2019): 421-431.
  8. Massoud, E. C., A.J. Purdy, B.O. Christoffersen, L.S. Santiago, and C. Xu. "Bayesian inference of hydraulic properties in and around a white fir using a process-based ecohydrologic model." Environmental modelling & software 115 (2019): 76-85.
  9. Koven, Charles, R. Knox, R. Fisher, J. Chambers, Massoud, E.C., N. McDowell, C. Xu, et al. "Benchmarking and Parameter Sensitivity of Predictions of Physiological and Vegetation Dynamics using the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES) at Barro Colorado Island, Panama". Biogeosciences Discussions (2019): 1-46.
  10. Gibson, P.B., D.E. Waliser, H. Lee, B. Tian, and Massoud, E. C. "Climate model evaluation in the presence of observational uncertainty: precipitation indices over the Contiguous United States." Journal of Hydrometeorology 20, no. 7 (2019): 1339-1357.
  11. Massoud, E. C., J. Huisman, E. Benincà, M.C. Dietze, W. Bouten, and J.A. Vrugt. "Probing the limits of predictability: data assimilation of chaotic dynamics in complex food webs." Ecology letters 21, no. 1 (2018): 93-103.
  12. Massoud, E. C., A.J. Purdy, M.E. Miro, and J.S. Famiglietti. "Projecting groundwater storage changes in California's Central Valley." Scientific reports 8, no. 1 (2018): 12917.
  13. Johnson, D.J., J. Needham, C. Xu, Massoud, E. C., S.J. Davies, K.J. Anderson-Teixeira, S. Bunyavejchewin et al. "Climate sensitive size-dependent survival in tropical trees." Nature ecology & evolution 2, no. 9 (2018): 1436.
  14. Lee, H., Goodman, A., McGibbney, L., Waliser, D. E., Kim, J., Loikith, P. C., Gibson, P. B., and Massoud, E. C.: Regional Climate Model Evaluation System powered by Apache Open Climate Workbench v1.3.0: an enabling tool for facilitating regional climate studies, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4435-4449. (2018)
  15. Ali, A. A., C. Xu, A. Rogers, R. A. Fisher, S. D. Wullschleger, Massoud, E. C., J. A. Vrugt et al. "A global scale mechanistic model of photosynthetic capacity (LUNA V1. 0)." Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 587-606." (2016).

Projects

CliMA