CS MSc thesis project: Heatwave propagation across Europe using Complex Network Analysis

[Frank]

Dear students,

Please find a potential project with KNMI on network analysis and heatwave propagation below.

This might be interesting for you if you took my MSc level course on network analysis, liked the topic, and are now looking for a thesis topic. Some more info can be found below.

Frank 

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Mapping Heatwave propagation across Europe using Complex Network Analysis

The European continent is seeing more frequent, longer, and more extensive heat waves in the past two decades. The propagation of heat waves across the continent has not been a study of intense research. Similarly, areas in Europe where heatwaves tend to have a much more local character, seemingly unrelated to climatological drivers elsewhere on the continent, have not been clearly mapped yet.

In this student research, a first exploration of the propagation of heat waves across the European continent is made. The methodology used for this work will be Complex Network Analysis and the analysis will follow largely the example set by Mondal and Mishra (2021) who made a similar analysis for the north American continent. Central in this study will be which areas in in Europe are connected in terms of propagation of heatwaves and we focus on the question if regions can be identified which typically act as ‘source’ regions for heatwaves and which areas in Europe then act more like ‘sink’ regions. If possible, a connection with atmospheric circulation or variations in precipitation can be made to provide a climatological interpretation of the results, as high-pressure areas or droughts are often associated with the occurrence of heatwaves.

This project is part of a broader aim to apply AI/ML methods in the Climate Sciences. 

About the prospective student:

Good programming skills are of course required.You are interested in helping us unveiling complex patterns on heatwave propagation across the European continent, thus also willing to get acquainted with the basics of geospatial data handling to build up an analysis with complex networks. In addition to your motivation and technical skills, you are eager to take ownership of the goals, progress, and results of your graduation project. For more information about this MSc project, please reach out.

Refered work:

Mondal, S., & Mishra, A. K. (2021). Complex networks reveal heatwave patterns and propagations

over the USA. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2020GL090411

https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090411