astronomy

Shian-Jiann Lin

Shian-Jiann Lin is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shian-Jiann Lin rather than just read about it. In short: Shian-Jiann Lin (born 1958) is a Taiwanese-American atmospheric scientist and meteorologist. He is currently the head of the Weather and Climate Dynamics Division at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the lead developer of the GFDL Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core (FV3) and a lead developer or key contributor to several weather and climate models developed using FV3.

Key takeaways

Shian-Jiann Lin belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shian-Jiann Lin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shian-Jiann Lin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shian-Jiann Lin (born 1958) is a Taiwanese-American atmospheric scientist and meteorologist. He is currently the head of the Weather and Climate Dynamics Division at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the lead developer of the GFDL Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core (FV3) and a lead developer or key contributor to several weather and climate models developed using FV3.

Education and career Lin earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from National Taiwan University. He also holds a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in geophysical fluid dynamics from Princeton University. After a postdoctoral position at the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma he became a scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where he developed the Lin and Rood advection scheme, which forms the basis for the community GOCART and GEOS-Chem transport models, and the Finite-Volume (FV) Dynamical Core, which was used in earlier versions of the Goddard Earth Observing System and of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Coupled Model, both since upgraded to FV3, and is still used in the second release of the Community Earth System Model. Lin joined GFDL in 2003. He has since led development of FV3, the extension of FV onto a cubed-sphere grid, and a relaxation of the hydrostatic assumption to allow explicit simulation of vertical accelerations. A collaboration with Goddard led to the first global cloud-resolving simulations performed in the US. Lin's continued model development has led to the prediction models HiRAM and fvGFS. The latter is a prototype for the Next-Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS), for which FV3 was selected after a two-year evaluation period. It was found that FV3 produced more accurate forecasts with better numerical stability compared to competing dynamical cores without sacrificing realism, efficiency, or effective resolution. The first operational NGGPS model, an FV3-based Global Forecast System, became operational on 12 June 2019. In 2018 Lin was named a fellow of the American Meteorological Society.

References

External links Publications at GFDL

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shian-Jiann Lin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shian-Jiann Lin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shian-Jiann Lin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shian-Jiann Lin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shian-Jiann Lin

In research: Shian-Jiann Lin appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shian-Jiann Lin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shian-Jiann Lin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1958 births, American meteorologists, Fellows of the American Meteorological Society, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shian-Jiann Lin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shian-Jiann Lin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shian-Jiann Lin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shian-Jiann Lin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shian-Jiann Lin in simple terms?

Why does Shian-Jiann Lin matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shian-Jiann Lin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shian-Jiann Lin.