CURRICULUM VITAE Matthias Roth

CURRICULUM VITAE
Matthias Roth
Personal Details
Affiliation address
Department of Geography Tel: +65 6516 6103
National University of Singapore Fax: +65 6777 3091
1 Arts Link, Kent Ridge E-mail: geomr@nus.edu.sg
Singapore 117570 Web: http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/geomr/
Education
PhD 1991: Atmospheric Science Program, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada (Advisor TR Oke, Turbulent transfer characteristics over a suburban
surface)
MSc 1988: Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
(Advisors TR Oke and DG Steyn, Spectral analysis of turbulence in an unstable suburban
atmosphere)
Dipl Natw 1985: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich (Advisors A Ohmura and K Steffen,
Albedo measurement over the Swiss Plateau region, in German)
Employment
2006- Tenure (NUS, Singapore)
2001- Associate Professor (NUS, Singapore)
1999-00 Assistant Professor (NUS, Singapore)
1996-99 Research Associate/Adjunct Professor (UBC, Vancouver) (SNF senior research fellowship)
1993-96 JSPS postdoctoral fellow (Res Inst Appl Mechanics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan)
1991-93 STA postdoctoral fellow (Natl Inst Env Studies, Tsukuba, Japan)
Research Interests/Qualifications
• Climatology in the context of physical geography and applied meteorology with a special interest in boundarylayer
phenomena and turbulence at the micro and local scales, particularly in the urban environment
• Effects of land use changes on the local climate with particular focus on the climate of cities and the role they
play in climate change; integration of urban climate research with climate sensitive urban design
• Theoretical and applied knowledge of micrometeorological methods and techniques for the evaluation of energy
and mass (water and carbon dioxide) exchanges over heterogeneous terrain (urban, crops and forests)
Academic Awards
2011 Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Faculty Research Fellowship (NUS)
2003,07 JSPS Visiting Scientist, Japan
1992 Graduate Student Prize, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS)
Visiting Appointments
2007 Visiting Scholar, School of Geographical Sciences, ASU, Tempe, USA (3 months)
2007 Faculty Research Associate, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, ASU,
Tempe, USA (2 months)
2006/07 Invited Visiting Professor, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zürich,
Switzerland (6 months)
Research Grants/Awards
2010-12 SMART (Singapore-MIT Alliance) (co-PI) S$160,000
2004,06,07,10 NUS-FASS Research Support Scheme (PI) S$18,685
2009-10 NUS University Research Grant (Pi) S$68,128
2008-09 SMART (Singapore-MIT Alliance) (co-PI) S$112,000
2004-07 NUS University Research Grant (PI) S$259,545
2006 NUS-FASS Research Grant (co-PI) S$12,480
2001-04 NUS University Research Grant (PI) S$210,105
2001 Singapore National Science and Technology Board (PI) S$10,000
2001 NUS Faculty Research Grant (PI) S$8,250
2000-2010 NUS Faculty conference awards (10x) S$37,567
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Membership in Professional Organizations
1988- American Geophysical Union (member), American Meteorological Society (member)
1997- Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (member)
1999- UK Royal Meteorological Society (fellow); European Geophysical Society (member)
2000- International Association for Urban Climate (member)
Invited Presentations (International with full or partial funding)
2011 Urban Climatology for Tropical and Sub�Tropical Regions (Chinese University of Hong Kong),
Hong Kong, Dec 2011
Workshop on Carbon Dioxide in the Urban Atmosphere, Auckland, New Zealand, Dec 2011
(keynote speaker)
2010 First International Conference on Sustainable Urbanization, Hong Kong, Dec 2010
International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technology Services & Climate
Change, Chennai, India, Oct 2010 (keynote speaker)
WMO Inter-Regional CLIPS Training Workshop on Urban Climatology, Pune, India, Sep 2010
(panel member)
2009 ASEAN 100 Leadership Forum 2009, Bangkok, Thailand, 21-22 Oct 2009 (role player)
World Climate Conference 3, Geneva, Switzerland, 31 Aug – 4 Sep 2009 (chair)
ICUC-7, Yokohama, Japan, 29 June - 3 July 2009 (keynote speaker)
2008 Forestry Research Institute Malaysia Workshop, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 2008 (trainer)
2006 NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Atmospheric Boundary Layers, Dubrovnic, Croatia,
18-22 April 2006
ICUC-6, Göteborg, Sweden, 12-16 June 2006 (plenary talk)
2002 IGES/APN Mega-City Project, Kitakyushu, Japan, 23-25 January 2002
Service to Profession
Organizations
2007/08 Member, Advisory Committee, Climate Change Exhibition, Singapore Science Centre
2007-10 President, International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC)
2007- Treasurer, International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC)
2003-06 Secretary, International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC)
2003- Scientific Advisor, International Carbon Bank & Exchange, Gainesville, Florida
2000- Board member, International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC)
1999 Accreditation, Consultant, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS)
Conferences/Workshops
2009-10
2008-09
Trainer, Singapore Env Institute MFA-IAI, Climate Change Workshops in ASEAN cities (4x)
Chair, Intl Sci Committee, 7 th International Conference on Urban Climate (2009 Yokohama)
2008 FRIM Workshop on Surface Flux Measurements using EC, Putrajaya, Malaysia, May 2008
2008 Chair, Intl Workshop on Meteorology, Air Quality and Health Impacts in Tropical Urban
Environments, NUS Environmental Research Institute, 5-6 May 2008, Singapore
2008 Co-organizer, special urban climate session, IGU (Aug 2008, Tunis)
2003, 06, 09, 12 Member, Intl Sci Committee, 5 th (2003 Lodz), 6 th (2006 Göteborg), 7 th (2009 Yokohama), 8 th
(2012 Dublin) International Conference on Urban Climate
Journals
2009-11 Editor, special volume for Intl. J. Climatology (5-yr JIF=3.913)
2009 Guest Editor Innovation Magazine (Regional journal)
2007- Member, Editorial Board Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography (published by Blackwell) (5yr
JIF=1.037)
2006-07 Co-editor, special volume for Intl. J. Climatology (JIF=3.913)
Review activity Manuscripts: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics,
Atmospheric Environment, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society, Climatic Change, Climate Research, Energy and Buildings,
Environment and Planning B, ISPRS J Photogramm, Intl Journal of Climatology, Journal of
Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Journal of Forest Research,
Intl Journal of Biometeorology, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, Remote Sensing of
Environment
Special Reports: IARU Copenhagen Climate Congress Synthesis Report (06/2009)
Grants: German Research Foundation (Germany), Natural Environment Research Council
(UK), Research Grants Council (Hong Kong), Research Council for Natural Sci and Eng of the
Academy of Finland (Finland)
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External reviewer for promotion: Ben Gurion University (Israel), Tokyo Institute of Technology
(Japan), Technical University Munich (Germany), University of Hawai'i at Manoa (USA),
University of Western Ontario (Canada)
External thesis examiner: Universiti Malaya, Malaysia; Monash University, Australia
Service to University
Department
2012- Acting Head
2010-11 Deputy Head
2010-11 Standing Search Committee (chair)
2010-11 Department Evaluation Committee/Conversion Committee (chair)
2008- Department Executive Committee/Annual Review Committee (member)
2008- SJTG Conference Award Evaluation Committee (chair)
2010 PDF/IMMF/Visiting Scholar Scheme Committee (chair)
2008-10 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (co-chair)
2007-10 Teaching Strategy Sub-Committee (co-chair)
2001-06 Department Seminar Series (chair, co-chair)
1999-2011 Member: Curriculum Review Committee (1999-02); Strategic Executive Committee (2003-04);
Dept Evaluation Committee (2008-09); Dept Seminar Series (1999-00); Dept Webpage Advisor
(2004-06); Fire Warden (2008-11); Geography Research Committee (1999-00); Geolab
Committee (1999-04, 06); Graduate Curriculum Committee (2003); Graduate Student
Committee (1999-07); Journal Classification Committee (2003, 2006-07); Laboratory/Dept
Equipment Committee (2007-10); Level Advisor (2000-11); Tropical Environmental Change
Group (2007-); PDF/IMMF/Visiting Scholar Scheme Committee (2000-04, 2007-08, 2009-10);
Research/Teaching Strategies Umbrella Committee (2004-05, 2007-08); Phys Geog Search
Committee (2001, 03, 07), Teaching Peer Review (2007-)
Faculty
2008-10 Faculty Curriculum Review Committee (member)
University
2010-11 Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) Program Committee (deputy director)
2010-11 Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) Management Committee (member)
2010-11 Task Force, Environmental Studies Porgram (member)
Public Service
Presentations/Training in Schools/Government agencies/Others
2007-11 Singapore Environment Institute (climate change science / governance / risk / management /
mitigation topics) (>20x)
2009 Chair, Judging Panel JC Division, National Weather Study Project Final Competition
2005-08 NUS-CSC, NUS-SDE, NUS-USP, Meridian Junior College, NEA training workshop (Senkang
Community Hub), Institute for Technical Education, Singapore Environment Institute, The
Institute of Policy Studies, Meridian Junior College, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Asia Excise Taxation
Conference, AOGS-Suntec City, WMO keynote lecture at Geylang East Community Library
Newspaper
2000-11 >50 interviews for The Straits Times, The Business Times, Lianhe Zaobao, The New Paper,
Today, myPaper, the Shin Min Daily News, The Starts Times Interactive, The Sunday Times,
The Star (Malaysia)
TV
2000-11 18 appearances on CNA, Channel 5, Channel 8, Mediacorp TV12, Channel U
Radio
2000-11 6 interviews on Newsradio 93.8, Capital Radio 95.8
Teaching
Undergraduate courses (fraction, enrollment)
1999-2011 GE1101E/GEM1001K: Place, Environment and Society, 8x (1/2, 200-500); GE2219: Climate,
Water and Environment, 9x (1/2, 50-150); GE2228: Atmospheric Environments, 2x (1, 130-150);
GE3221: Ecological Systems, 1x (1/2, 40); GE3227: Urban Climates, 9x (1, 22-27); GE4212:
Environmental Modeling 5x (1, 4-17)
Graduate courses
1999-2008 GE5220: Selected Topics in Geography I, 4x; GE6215: Current Issues in Environmental
Sciences, 4x
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Curriculum development
2009- University-level task force and Program Deputy Director for new university-wide Environmental
Studies Program
Teaching equipment grants
2002-08 Faculty teaching equipment grants totaling ~S$130,000
Graduate Committees / Post-doc Supervision
Graduate students (Degree, role; title)
2012- Sok Huang Tan (MSocSci, supervisor; TBA)
2011- Vanessa Lim (MSocSci, supervisor; Outdoor thermal comfort variability in Singapore)
Suraj Harshan (PhD, supervisor; Urban climate modeling)
2010-11 Anita Rawat (MTech, co-supervisor; Spectral analysis of surface-layer turbulence in a suburban
area of a tropical city 'Singapore')
Khoo Yuanling (MEnvMngmt, supervisor; Historical surface air temperature trends and the
effects of the urban heat island in Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia)
2009- Reuben Li Mingguang (MSocSci, supervisor; Statistical modeling and mapping of UHI)
2007-10 Winston TL Chow (PhD ASU, external committee member; Urban climate - modeling and
measurement)
2008-10 Anne Quah (MSocSci, supervisor; Estimation of anthropogenic heat release in Singapore)
2005-08 Muhammad Rahiz (MSocSci, supervisor; Temporal and spatial patterns of near-surface CO2
concentrations in Singapore)
2002-08 Katarina Manik Tumiar (PhD, committee member; Hydrological consequences of converting
forestland to coffee plantations and other agricultural crops on Sumber Jaya watershed, West
Lampung, Indonesia)
2005-07 Lim Jaehyun (PhD, examination panel; Characteristics of diesel emissions)
2003-04 Adelene Anthony Sinniah (MEnvMngmt, supervisor; A case study on climate change and
greenhouse gas emissions in Malaysia)
2002-06 Junjiro Negishi (PhD, committee member; Understanding intra-catchment processes related to
management of tropical headwater catchments)
2002-04 Winston TL Chow (MSocSci, supervisor; The temporal dynamics of the urban heat island of
Singapore)
2002 Peter Todd (PhD, oral defense committee; Phenotypic plasticity in scleractinian corals)
Postocs
2008-11 Bernadett Balazs (University of Szeged Hungary) (co-supervision)
2008-10 Erik Velasco (SMART-Singapore)
2006-07 Christer Jansson (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute)
2002-06 ANV Satyanarayana (IIT Kharagpur, India)
Consultancies
2009 Reservoir evaporation study (Noranth Ventures Pte Ltd, Singapore)
2006 Expert report and court witness (Gurbani & Co, Singapore)
2004/05 Geography textbook review for Ministry of Education (Singapore)
2004 Expert report (LegalWorks Law Corporation, Singapore)
1999 Assessment of storm damage to distribution lines (BC Hydro, Vancouver, Canada)
Publications
a) Refereed journals
Roth M and Chow W, 2011: A historical review and assessment of urban heat island and thermal comfort
research in Singapore. Singapore J Trop Geo (under revision)
Velasco EVS, Roth M, Britter R and Norford L, 2011: review of Singapore’s air quality and greenhouse gas
emissions: Current situation and opportunities. J Air Waste Managm Assoc (under revision)
Salmond J, Roth M, Oke, TR, Christen, A, Voogt JA, 2012: Can surface cover tiles be summed to give
neighborhood fluxes in cities? J Appl Meteor Climatol, 51, 133-149.
Koh, TY, Bhatt BC, Cheung KKW, Teo CK, Lee YH and Roth M, 2012: Using the spectral scaling exponent for
validation of quantitative precipitation forecasts. Meteor Atm Phys, 115, 35-45
Quah, KLA and Roth M, 2012: Diurnal and weekly variation of anthropogenic heat emissions in a tropical city,
Singapore. Atmos Environ, 46, 92-103
Roth, M, Emmanuel, T, Ichinose, T and Salmond, J, 2011: Editorial: ICUC-7 Urban climate special issue, Intl J
Climatol, 31, 159-161
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Velasco EVS and Roth M, 2010: Cites as net sources of CO2: Review of atmospheric CO2 exchange in urban
environments measured by eddy covariance technique. Geography Compass 4/9, 1238–1259
Grimmond CSB, Roth M et al. 2010: Climate and more sustainable cities: Climate information for improved
planning and management of cities. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 1, 247-274
Shi C, Roth M, Zhang H and Li Z, 2008: Impacts of urbanization on long-term fog variation in Anhui Province,
China, Atmos Environ, 42, 8484-8492
Roth M, 2007: Review of urban climate research in (sub)tropical regions, Intl J Climatol, 27, 1859-1873
Grimmond CSB, Kuttler W, Linqvist S and Roth M, 2007: Editorial: Urban Climatology ICUC6, Intl J Climatol, 27,
1847-1848
Newton T, Oke TR, Grimmond CSB and Roth M, 2007: The suburban energy balance in Miami, Florida, Geogr
Ann A, 89A (4), 331-347
Roth M, Salmond J and Satyanarayana ANV, 2006: Methodological considerations regarding the measurement of
turbulent fluxes in the urban roughness sub-layer: The role of scintillometery, Bound-Lay Meteorol, 121, 351-
375
Chow W and Roth M, 2006: Temporal dynamics of the urban heat island of Singapore, Intl J Climatol, 26, 2243-
2260
Vogt R, Christen A, Rotach MW, Roth M and Satyanarayana ANV, 2006: Temporal dynamics of CO2 fluxes and
profiles over a Central European city, Theor Appl Climatol, 84, 117-126
Rotach MW, Vogt R, Bernhofer C, Batchvarova E, Christen A, Clappier A, Feddersen B, Gryning S-E, Martucci G,
Mayer H, Mitev V, Oke TR, Parlow E, Richner H, Roth M, Roulet Y-A, Ruffieux D, Salmond JA, Schatzmann
M. and Voogt JA, 2005: BUBBLE – an urban boundary layer meteorology project, Theor Appl Climatol, 81,
231-261
Kanda M, Moriwaki R, Roth M and Oke TR, 2002: Area-averaged sensible heat flux and a new method to
determine zero-plane displacement length over an urban surface using scintillometry, Bound-Lay Meteorol,
105, 177-193.
Roth M, 2000: Review of atmospheric turbulence over cities, Q J Roy Meteorol Soc, 126, 941-990.
Grimmond CSB, King TS, Roth M and Oke TR, 1998: Aerodynamic roughness of urban areas derived from wind
observations, Bound-Lay Meteorol, 89, 1-24.
Roth M and Oke TR, 1995: Relative efficiencies of turbulent transfer of heat, mass and momentum over a patchy
urban surface, J Atmos Sci, 52, 1863-1874.
Roth M and Oke TR, 1994: Comparison of modelled and 'measured' heat storage in suburban terrain,
Contributions to Atmospheric Physics, 67, 149-156.
Roth M and Oke TR, 1993: Turbulent transfer relationships over an urban surface. I: Spectral characteristics, Q J
Roy Meteorol Soc, 119, 1071-1104.
Roth M, 1993: Turbulent transfer relationships over an urban surface. II: Integral statistics, Q J Roy Meteorol Soc,
119, 1105-1120.
Roth M, Oke TR and Steyn DG, 1989: Velocity and temperature spectra in an unstable suburban atmosphere,
Bound-Lay Meteorol, 47, 309-320. [Special issue in honor of Dr. Hans A. Panofsky (1917-1988)].
Roth M, Oke TR and Emery WJ, 1989: Satellite-derived urban heat islands from three coastal cities and the
utilization of such data in urban climatology, Intl J Remote Sensing, 10, 1699-1720.
Oke TR, Cleugh HA, Grimmond CSB, Schmid HP and Roth M, 1989: Evaluation of spatially-averaged fluxes of
heat, mass and momentum in the urban boundary layer, Weather and Climate, 9, 14-21.
b) Chapter in book
Roth, M, 2012: Urban Heat Islands in Handbook of Environmental Fluid Dynamics (HJS Fernando ed), Taylor &
Francis (forthcoming).
Pijawka, D., Brazel, A., Cook, E., Feller, J., Grossman-Clarke, S., Guhathakurta, S. and Roth, M, 2007: Land Use
and Environmental Quality, In Land Use: Challenges and Choices for the 21st Century (ed. Patricia Gober),
184-203, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, 20 pp.
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