Biography

I am a hydrologist with a background in AI and remote sensing, specializing in hydrological monitoring and forecasting. In September 2024, I began working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Reading and a Visiting Scientist at ECMWF under the AFESP Programme. Prior to this, I spent nearly three years collaborating with Prof. Luca Brocca at the National Research Council of Italy (IRPI-CNR) as a postdoctoral researcher, where I contributed to numerous projects funded by ESA and the European Commission. These projects included Digital Twin Earth (DTE) Hydrology Evolution, 4D MED-Hydrology, extrAIm, and Open-Earth-Monitor Cyberinfrastructure (OEMC). I also completed a five-month research visit at Science Hub (July-December 2023).

Research

My research focuses on leveraging AI and satellite Earth Observation (EO) data to enhance our understanding of Earth system hydrological predictability. My goal is to improve Earth system forecasting by developing a hydrology-informed foundation model for land surface hydrology. During my time at Science Hub, I developed a deep learning method for purely satellite-derived precipitation estimation at 1km spatial resolution, crucial for kilometer-scale hydrological modelling.