Researcher Spotlight - Meet Hao Liang Advancing Climate-Relevant Modeling

Hao has a background in mathematics, which he enjoys using to understand “real word” problems. Within TRR 181 he investigates the question of how to recover energy spectra from sparse observations.

What motivates you to work in this field? 

“I enjoy using mathematics to understand real-world problems. The atmosphere and ocean are complex systems with many interacting processes, and there are still many questions about how they behave across different scales. I find it very motivating that mathematical and numerical methods can help us better understand these systems and connect theoretical ideas with real-world observations.”

How has your background and career path shaped your approach to climate science?

“During my Master’s degree, I worked on numerical methods for fluid equations, where I focused mainly on mathematical properties and numerical stability. At the same time, these problems were always closely connected to the underlying physical equations. This experience made me increasingly interested in how mathematical and numerical methods can be used to understand real physical systems. Since moving into ocean research, I have also learned to look beyond the numerical method itself and think more about the physical meaning behind the results.

What are your primary research interests? 

“Currently, I am working on how to recover energy spectra from sparse observations. I am especially interested in what we can learn about the distribution of energy across different spatial scales when only limited observational information is available.”

What do you believe are the most pressing challenges in climate science today, and how does your work contribute to addressing them?

“One important challenge is that ocean models cannot resolve all relevant spatial scales, while observations are also often incomplete and noisy. My research looks at how we can still extract reliable information about these unresolved or poorly observed scales using mathematical and statistical methods.”

How does collaboration across different institutions and disciplines enhance the impact of your research?

“My background is mainly in mathematics, so collaboration with researchers in atmospheric and ocean sciences is especially important to me. It helps me understand which physical questions are most relevant and how mathematical methods can be applied in a meaningful way. 

Within TRR 181, researchers from different institutions and backgrounds bring different perspectives to the same problem, and I think this exchange makes the research both stronger and more connected to real applications.”

What advice would you give to students or young researchers interested in pursuing a career in climate sciences?

“Stay curious and be open to learning from other fields. Also, do not be discouraged when a method does not work, understanding why it fails is often an important part of research.”

What is the best way to connect with you for potential research collaboration? 

“The easiest way to reach me is via email at Hao.Liang[at]ku.de.”