Quanjia Zhong

Quanjia Zhong

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

I am currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Ocean Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, jointly advised by Prof. Johnny C. L. Chan and Prof. Jianping Gan. Prior to joining HKUST, I conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Ruiqiang Ding and Prof. Wansuo Duan. I completed my Ph.D. at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Ruiqiang Ding. During my PhD studies, I was awarded a China Scholarship Council fellowship to visit the University of Oklahoma, where I conducted research on ensemble prediction under the supervision of Prof. Xuguang Wang. I received my master’s degree from the PLA University of Science and Technology, advised by Prof. Lifeng Zhang, and my bachelor’s degree from Guangdong Ocean University.

🛠️ My research interests include:

  1. Atmospheric predictability: quantifying the predictability limits of tropical cyclones.
  2. Ensemble forecasting: developing an ensemble prediction system based on the WRF model.
  3. Tropical cyclone dynamics: offering new physical insights into TC behavior.
  4. AI for tropical cyclone prediction: applying artificial intelligence to tropical cyclone prediction.

🔥 News

  • 2026.08: 🎉 One paper was accepted by Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres.
  • 2026.06: 🎉 Congratulations to Quanjia Zhong on his promotion to Research Assistant Professor.
  • 2025.05: 🎉 Welcome Kai Deng to join the group!
  • 2026.04: 🎉 Congratulations to Quanjia Zhong on the invitation to the Environmental Research Series Advisory Panel (IOP Publishing).
  • 2026.03: 🎉 Congratulations to Quanjia Zhong on joining the Editorial Board of Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans.
  • 2026.01: 🎉 One paper was accepted by Geophysical Research Letters
  • 2026.01: 🎉 One paper received the Outstanding Young Paper Award at the 6th Congress of China Geodesy and Geophysics (CCGG).
  • 2025.12: 🎉 Recipient of the Outstanding Application Award of the GuangZhou Supercomputer (2025).
  • 2025.11: 🎉 One paper was accepted by Nature Communications.
  • 2025.11: 🎉 One paper was accepted by Geophysical Research Letters
  • 2025.09: 🎉 One paper was accepted by Nature Geoscience.
  • 2025.09: 🎉 Welcome Xiangdong Xu to join the group!
  • 2024.08: 🎉 One paper received the “Wiley China Excellent Author Program” recognition.
  • 2024.06: 🎉 Congratulations to Songjiang Feng on his PhD admission at Beijing Normal University!
  • 2023.11: 🎉 Join ODMP@HKUST as Postdoctoral Fellow.

💻 Professional Experience

  • 2026.06 - Present, Research Assistant Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
  • 2023.11 - 2026.05, Postdoctoral Fellow, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
    Advisor: Prof. Jianping Gan and Prof. Johnny C. L. Chan (AMS Fellows)
  • 2020.05 - 2023.10, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
    Advisor: Prof. Wansuo Duan and Prof. Ruiqiang Ding
  • 2020.10 - 2021.05, Research Assistant, City University of Hong Kong.
    Advisor: Prof. Prof. Johnny C. L. Chan (AMS Fellows)

🎓 Education

  • 2016.09 - 2020.06, Ph.D., Meteorology, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China.
    Dissertation: Predictability and Ensemble Prediction of Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific
    Advisor: Prof. Ruiqiang Ding
  • 2018.10 - 2019.10, Visiting Student, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, USA.
    Advisor: Prof. Xuguang Wang (AMS Fellows)
  • 2013.09 - 2016.06, M.S., Atmospheric Sciences, College of Meteorology and Oceanography, PLA University of Science and Technology, China.
    Dissertation: Application of the Nonlinear Local Lyapunov Exponent in Studies of the Predictability of Tropical Cyclone Track
    Advisor: Prof. Lifeng Zhang
  • 2009.09 - 2013.06, B.S., Atmospheric Sciences, College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, China.

🏆 Award And Honors

  • 2026.01: Outstanding Young Paper Award at the 6th Congress of China Geodesy and Geophysics (CCGG).
  • 2025.12: Outstanding Application Award of the GuangZhou Supercomputer (2025).
  • 2024.11: Center for Ocean Research in Hong Kong and Macau (CORE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme (PDFS) Award.

  • 2024.07: Wiley China Excellent Author Program recognition.

  • 🏧 Funded Grants

  • Sole PI “Predictability of Tropical Cyclone Intensity and Its Influence Mechanism”, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), 01/01/2022-12/31/2024.
  • Sole PI “Application of the Nonlinear Local Lyapunov Vectors in the Tropical Cyclone Ensemble prediction”, Shanghai Typhoon Research Fund, 11/01/2021-12/31/2023.

🌟 Research Highlights

📝 Publications

Selected Publications

  1. Quanjia Zhong, Johnny C. L. Chan, Wansuo Duan, Shifei Tu, Jianping Li, Jianping Gan and Ruiqiang Ding, 2026：Landfalling tropical cyclones accelerate due to land–sea thermal and roughness contrasts. Nature Geoscience, 1-6. Outstanding Young Paper Award at the 6th Congress of China Geodesy and Geophysics (CCGG) [Paper] [Science and Technology Daily]
  2. Quanjia Zhong, Jianping Gan, Shifei Tu, Raft Toumi, Johnny C. L. Chan, 2026：Global Increase in Rain Rate of Tropical Cyclones Prior to Landfall. Nature Communications, 17(114): 1-9. Outstanding Application Award of the GuangZhou Supercomputer [Paper]
  3. Quanjia Zhong, Jianping Gan, Donglei Shi, Shifei Tu, Johnny C. L. Chan, 2026：Do Tropical Cyclones Have a Steady Translation Under a Uniform Steering Flow? Geophysical Research Letters, 53, e2025GL119479. [Paper]
  4. Quanjia Zhong, Xuguang Wang, Ruiqiang Ding, Xu Lu, Wansuo Duan, and Yongjie Huang, 2023：Impact of the low wavenumber structure in the initial vortex wind analyses on the prediction of the intensification of Hurricane Patricia (2015). Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 128, e2022JD037082. [Paper]
  5. Quanjia Zhong, Jianping Li, Lifeng Zhang, Ruiqiang Ding, and Baosheng Li, 2018：Predictability of tropical cyclone intensity over the western North Pacific using the IBTrACS dataset. Monthly Weather Review, 146, 2741–2755. [Paper]

Publications

Notes: Corresponding authors denoted with “#”

  1. Quanjia Zhong, Johnny C. L. Chan, Wansuo Duan, Shifei Tu, Yongjie Huang and Ruiqiang Ding, 2026: Landward acceleration of tropical cyclones making landfall along the South China coast. Geophysical Research Letters, 53, e2025GL119733. [Paper] (JCR: Q1)
  2. Johnny C. L. Chan#, Quanjia Zhong#, 2026: Changes in Track Characteristics of Tropical Cyclones Near Landfall: A Review. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 1-9. (JCR: Q1)
  3. Ming Zhang, Quanjia Zhong#, Ruiqiang Ding#, and Tao Wen, 2025: Unraveling the Anisotropic Pattern of Track Uncertainty in Tropical Cyclones. Environmental Research Letters, 20(12): 124080. (JCR: Q1)
  4. Tao Wen, Jianping Li, Shifei Tu, Ruiqiang Ding#, Quanjia Zhong#, and Xumin Li, 2025. Modulation of western North Pacific tropical cyclone decadal variability by the Victoria mode. Environmental Research Letters, 20(3), 034003. (JCR: Q1)
  5. Tao Wen, Jianping Li, Shifei Tu, Quanjia Zhong#, Ruiqiang Ding#, and Ming Zhang, 2025: Asymmetric Influence of the North Pacific Victoria Mode on Intense Tropical Cyclone Formation in the Western North Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 130, e2025JC022505. (JCR: Q1)
  6. Shifei Tu, Ziyan Deng, Quanjia Zhong#, Mei Liang#, and Jianjun Xu, 2025: Northwestward Shifts in the Location of Genesis Reduces the Lifetime of Landfalling Tropical Cyclones in China. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 28764. (JCR: Q1)
  7. Quanjia Zhong, Xu Lu, Xuguang Wang, Ruiqiang Ding, Wansuo Duan, and Zhaolu Hou (2023). Role of the thermodynamic structure of the inner core in predicting the intensification of Hurricane Patricia (2015). Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 128(15), e2023JD038645. (JCR: Q1)
  8. Deyu Lu, Ruiqiang Ding, Quanjia Zhong#, Jiangyu Mao, and Jianping Li (2023). A rapid intensification warning index for tropical cyclones based on the analog method. Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2022GL101951. (JCR: Q1)
  9. Quanjia Zhong, Lifeng Zhang, Jianping Li, Ruiqiang Ding, and Jie Feng (2018). Estimating the predictability limit of tropical cyclone tracks over the western North Pacific using observational data. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 35(12), 1491–1504. (JCR: Q1)
  10. Ming Zhang, Ruiqiang Ding#, Quanjia Zhong#, Jianping Li, and Deyu Lu (2024). Application of the conditional nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent to second-kind predictability. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 41(9), 1769–1786. (JCR: Q1)
  11. Songjiang Feng, Yan Tan, Junfeng Kang, Quanjia Zhong#, Yanjie Li, and Ruiqiang Ding# (2023). Bias correction of tropical cyclone intensity forecasts using the XGBoost method. Weather and Forecasting, 39(2), 323–332. (JCR: Q2)
  12. Deyu Lu, Ruiqiang Ding, Jiangyu Mao, and Quanjia Zhong# (2023). Comparison of different global ensemble prediction systems for tropical cyclone intensity forecasting. Atmospheric Science Letters, 25(4), e1207. (JCR: Q3) Wiley China Excellent Author Program recognition
  13. Junfeng Kang, Songjiang Feng, Qian Zou, Ruiqiang Ding, and Quanjia Zhong# (2022). Machine learning-based method of correcting nonlinear local Lyapunov vectors ensemble forecasting (in Chinese). Acta Physica Sinica, 71(8), 080503. (JCR: Q3)
  14. Quanjia Zhong, Jianping Li, Shuwen Li, Yuan Wang, Ruiqiang Ding, and Lifeng Zhang (2021). Influence of sea surface temperature on the predictability of idealized tropical cyclone intensity. Journal of Tropical Meteorology, 27, 355–367. (JCR: Q4)
  15. Quanjia Zhong, Lifeng Zhang, Ruiqiang Ding, and Jianhuang Qin (2016). The variation of summer precipitation in South China and its relationship with SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific (in Chinese). Advances in Climate Change Research, 12(1), 28–36.
  16. Mengjiao Du, Ruixin Liu, Quanjia Zhong#, Xiang Li, and Kan Yi (2023). Study and application on the method of estimating disaster warning time for offshore wind farms based on tropical cyclone radius (in Chinese). Marine Forecasts, 40(3), 66–74.
  17. Yujie Liu, Yang Li, Ruiqiang Ding, Quanjia Zhong#, and Shifei Tu (2023). Differences in precipitation characteristics before and after rapid intensification of tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific Ocean (in Chinese). Journal of Guangdong Ocean University, 43(3), 1–9.

Preprints

  1. Quanjia Zhong, Jianping Gan, Jun Zhang, Yan Tan, Donglei Shi, Shifei Tu, and Johnny C. L. Chan, 2026: Boundary Layer Processes Modulate Track Shifts in a Landfalling Tropical Cyclone Through Storm Asymmetries. Submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Accepted.
  2. Rui Wang, Karthik Balaguru, Jianping Li, Shifei Tu, Quanjia Zhong#, and Ruiqiang Ding#, 2026: Climate-Driven Straightening of Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Trajectories. Submitted to Earth’s Future, Major revision.
  3. Songjiang Feng, Jianping Li, Wansuo Duan, Jie Feng, Fei Xie, Xiaowei Huai, Ruiqiang Ding#, and Quanjia Zhong#, 2026: AI-driven operational forecasting systems redefine the bounds of weather predictability. Submitted to npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, Under review.

Authorized invention patent

  1. Quanjia Zhong, Ruiqiang Ding, 2024. Method for Generating Ensemble Initial Perturbations of Regional Numerical Models and Forecasting System. Chinese Patent 202310381547X
  2. Mengjiao Du, Quanjia Zhong, Ruixue Liu, et al. (2024). A method, apparatus, and electronic device for predicting tropical cyclone arrival time. Chinese Patent ZL202210579120.6.

📝 Conferences Workshops

  • Quanjia Zhong Global Increase in Rain Rate of Tropical Cyclones Prior to Landfall Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 23th Annual Meeting. 2 August to 8 August 2026 Fukuoka, Japan. (Invited Talk)
  • Quanjia Zhong Has tropical cyclone track prediction reached the predictability limit? Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 22th Annual Meeting. 26 July to 2 August 2025 Singapore, Singapore. (Invited Talk)
  • Quanjia Zhong Land-sea contrast leading to a speedup of landfalling tropical cyclones. Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 21th Annual Meeting. 22 to 28 June 2024 Pyeongchang, South Korea. (Invited Talk)
  • Quanjia Zhong Impact of the low wavenumber structure in the initial vortex wind analyses on the prediction of the intensification of Hurricane Patricia (2015). The 28th International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) General Assembly. 11 to 20 July 2023 Berlin, Germany. (Poster)
  • Quanjia Zhong Predictability of Tropical Cyclone Intensity over the Western North Pacific using the IBTrACS dataset. European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly. 8 to 14 April 2018 Vienna, Austria. (Poster)
  • Quanjia Zhong Application of the Nonlinear Local Lyapunov Exponent in Studies of the Predictability of Tropical Cyclone Track. Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 12th Annual Meeting. 2 to 7 August 2015 Singapore. (Oral)

🛎️ Professional Activities

Invited Journal Reviewer

  • Nature, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Dynamics, Environmental Research Communications, Environmental Research Letters (IOP Publishing Trusted Reviewer), Earth and Space Science, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Journal of Climate, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Journal of Meteorological Research, International Journal of Climatology, Meteorological Applications, npj Natural Hazards, Remote Sensing, Scientific Reports, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Weather and Forecasting
  • 大气科学(Chinese Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences), 大气科学学报(Transactions of Atmospheric Sciences), 海洋气象学报（Journal of Marine Meteorology）

Editorial Board

  • Environmental Research Series (IOP Publishing), Advisory Panel Member(2026-present)
  • Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, Editorial Board Members(2026-present)
  • The Innovation Geoscience, Youth Editor(2025-2028)
  • 海洋气象学报(Journal of Marine Meteorology), 青年编委(Early Career Editorial Board Member, 2025-2027）

🧑‍🎓 Group Members

Students:

  1. 👨‍🎓Songjiang Feng3, PhD student, Beijing Normal University (2024–present)
    Topics: AI for Predictability and Ensemble Forecasting
  2. 👨‍🎓Xiangdong Xu2, M.S. student, Central China Normal University (2025–present)
    Topics: Tropical cyclone precipitation
  3. 👨‍🎓Kai Deng4, M.S. student, Guangdong Ocean University (2026–present)
    Topics: Tropical cyclone motion dynamic

Graduates:

  1. 👨‍🎓Songjiang Feng1, M.S., Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (2020–2023)
    Dissertation: Ensemble Forecast Bias Correction Based on Machine Learning methods

Notes:

  1. Co-supervision with Prof. Junfeng Kang
  2. Co-supervision with Prof. Tian Xia
  3. Co-supervision with Prof. Ruiqiang Ding
  4. Co-supervision with Prof. Shifei Tu