Contact Information
Room 4064-M
1301 W. Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801
Biography
I joined the Department of Atmospheric Science at UIUC, in the Fall of 2022. I am currently working under the supervision of Prof. Sonia Lasher-Trapp and involve in her cloud-physics research group with Holly and Toby. During my formal studies, my main major is meteorology, and I have been a meteorologist since 2010 under the Indonesia Agency of Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG). I obtained my master's degree from Wageningen University, The Netherlands, in the Fall of 2018 and completed my bachelor's from the School of Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (STMKG), Indonesia, back then in the Summer of 2014. I am interested in studying hail events, especially in Surabaya, because this event requires a special environment. At the same time, Surabaya is the second largest city after Jakarta and is well known as the second-hottest city in Indonesia. The recent frequent hail events deliver both damaging and societal impacts to the Surabaya society. Thus, I decided to pursue a doctoral degree as I am curious and want to study more about hail events which get the least attention in my home country, especially from a cloud microphysics POV.
I know people (even my current supervisor) say that studying hailstorm is difficult, but at least we can do something than nothing ~
Research Interests
- Thunderstorms and high-impact weather
- Cloud-(micro)physics
- Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP)
- Machine Learning/AI for weather prediction and post-processing
Research Description
My research mainly involves a high-resolution model to investigate hail events that recently occurred in Surabaya, Indonesia. During 2014 - 2022, six hail events were reported in Surabaya. These events are getting vigorous over time as the hail size recorded is getting bigger. I am using the WRF Model to examine thunderstorm dynamics influenced by the interaction between monsoon, urban flow, and sea breeze. I will also employ the CM1 model to see the hail growth in thunderstorms. The rapid urbanization of Surabaya and the increase in SST over the Madura straits contribute to thunderstorm development over Surabaya. Yet, more investigation needs to be done to see what variables are involved in producing vigorous thunderstorms over warm-humid coastal urban areas such as Surabaya in the last decade.
Education
- Ph.D Atmospheric Sciences, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (in progress)
- MSc. Meteorology and Air Quality, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (2018)
- App. B.Sc. Meteorology, School of Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics (STMKG), Tangsel, Indonesia (2014)
Grants
- Schlesinger Travel Grant that supports students in attending conferences related to the environment and/or environmental sustainability. The grant is $1500 per term (Spring 23/24 & Summer 23/24)
- Sakura Travel Grant as a Sakura Science Young Researcher to attend a science talk with JAMSTEC, LAPAN, and BMKG young scientists at JAMSTEC HQ, Yokosuka, Japan (October 2 - 11, 2019)
Awards and Honors
- Grantee as a doctoral student from Fulbright Scholarship (2022 - 2025).
- Awardee as a master student from Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) (2016 - 2018).
- Awardee as a bachelor student from Indonesia Agency for Meteorology (BMKG) Scholarship (2009 - 2014).
Courses Taught
Before attending graduate school in UIUC, I worked as a lecterur in my home institution to deliver these courses:
- Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP)
- Coupled Atmosphere-wave-ocean Modelling
- Numerical Technique
- Basic Differential Equation
- Theoritical Basic Weather Satellite
Additional Campus Affiliations
Paid-leaving lecturer, Dept. Meteorology, Indonesia State College Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (STMKG), Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia.
External Links
Highlighted Publications
Sari, F. P., & Lasher‐Trapp, S. (2025). Hailstorm events over a maritime tropical region: Storm environments and characteristics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(10), e2024JD042718. doi: 10.1029/2024JD042718
Recent Publications
Sari, F. P., Tsiringakis, A., & Manola, I., Steeneveld, G. J. (2023). Understanding the role of sea surface temperature and urbanization on severe thunderstorms dynamics: A case study in Surabaya, Indonesia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, e2023JD038817. doi: 10.1029/2023JD038817
Sari, F. P. & Mahubessy, P. R. (2023). Identifikasi Pengaruh Asimilasi Multi-Data Observasi (MDO) Dengan Metode Three-Dimensional Variational System (3D-Var) Berdasar Letak Efektif Jangkaun Radar Cuaca. Jurnal Matematika dan Statistika serta Aplikasinya, 11(1), 33-44. doi: 10.24252/msa.v11i1.28339
Safitri, D. J. & Sari, F. P. (2021, November). Four-dimensional variational (4DVAR) performance test with assimilation satellite and radar data (case study of a heavy rainfall Bengkulu March 4, 2019). In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science(Vol. 893, No. 1, p. 012031). IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/893/1/012031
Tirtanegara, I. M. K., & Sari, F. P. (2021, November). Spatial fraction verification of high resolution model. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 893, No. 1, p. 012036). IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/893/1/012036
Sadarang, F. R., & Sari, F. P. (2021, November). WRF-model sensitivity test and assimilation studies of Cempaka tropical cyclone. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 893, No. 1, p. 012029). IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/893/1/012029
Jaya, A. M. N., Sari, F. P., Saragih, I. J. A., & Dafitra, I. (2021, November). Sea-level prediction for early warning information of coastal inundation in Belawan coastal area using Delft3D model. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 893, No. 1, p. 012034). IOP Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/893/1/012034