About Me
I am currently a fellow of the ESA Climate Change Initiative at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). During my M.Sc. and Ph.D. studies, I have been investigating the distribution of the energy gained by the Earth system due to the energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Particularly, I have evaluated long-term global climate simulations against observations of heat storage within the different components of the climate system. Additionally, I have performed long-term reconstructions of ground surface temperature and ground heat flux histories from borehole temperature profiles, providing an update of the estimates of global continental heat storage based on observations.
My current research project consists in exploring the possibilities offered by remote sensing data to estimate ground surface fluxes. Remote sensing observations from satellite instruments provide near global coverage of the land surface at high spatial and temporal resolutions, potentially complementing the information provided by Eddy-covariance towers and estimates from subsurface temperature profiles. I am also using machine learning techniques to explore all possibilities offered by large remote sensing products. Machine learning algorithms are flexible enough to incorporate a range of processes that are not yet implemented in physical models. A particularly interesting research venue is hybrid modelling, consisting in combining machine learning and physical models, taking advantage of the best of both realms.
My main goal is to improve our understanding of energy exchanges at the land surface, thereby expanding our knowledge about important phenomena occurring near the land surface, such as extreme temperature events, soil respiration, or permafrost stability.
Research Interests
Climate change
Earth's heat inventory
Surface energy fluxes
CGCM simulations
Borehole climatology
Land-atmosphere interactions
Climate change impacts
Remote sensing
Machine learning
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This work by Francisco José Cuesta Valero is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.