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Romanic, Djordje

Position: Assistant Professor

Research: Boundary-Layer, Applied, and Dynamic Meteorology

Office: Burnside Hall 849


djordje.romanic [at] mcgill.ca (E-mail)

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Research interests:

Our research group is interested in:

  • Thunderstorm dynamics and thunderstorm winds
  • Downbursts: Formation and dynamics of the near-surface outflow
  • Tornadoes: Formation and evolution
  • Urban boundary-layer processes and their links to sustainability & resilience
  • Dynamics and climatology of local winds
  • Applications of atmospheric sciences in wind engineering and the wind energy sector

Globally, there are around 2000 thunderstorms in progress at any given moment. Thunderstorms are associated with high-impact weather, such as tornadoes, downbursts, hail, lightning, and heavy precipitation. Severe thunderstorm winds and tornadoes cause major damages to the built environment across North America and in many other regions around the world. Our research group is particularly interested in the formation, dynamics, and evolution of tornadoes and downbursts. We use field measurements, numerical models, and physical experiments in a wind chamber to analyze these non-synoptic wind phenomena. The applications of our research are in the fields of wind engineering and urban sustainability & resilience. Modifications to downburst outflows caused by urban environments and the influence of roughness changes on the outflow dynamics are some of the open questions that we are trying to answer. Moreover, we are also actively investigating the interaction between downburst outflows and ambient atmospheric boundary layer winds.

In addition to thunderstorm winds and tornadoes, our research is also focused on the dynamics and climatology of local winds. Local winds are sub-synoptic scale wind systems whose dynamics and climatology are driven by the local orography, proximity to the large bodies of water, local changes in surface roughness and land use, and other local-scale factors. By quantifying the local wind resources (in Canada) and their long-term trends, the research is directly contributing to the wind energy sector and the clean energy initiative. Furthermore, the interaction between local winds and urban environments is investigated in the context of urban sustainability.

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Selected publications:

Romanic D, Hangan H. 2020. Experimental investigation of the interaction between near-surface atmospheric boundary layer winds and downburst outflows. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 205, 104323. .

Romanic D, Chowdhury J, Chowdhury J, Hangan H. 2020. Investigation of the transient nature of thunderstorm winds from Europe, the United States, and Australia using a new method for detection of changepoints in wind speed records. Mon. Wea. Rev. 148, 3747–3771. .

Romanic D, Nicolini E, Hangan H, Burlando M, Solari G, 2020. A novel approach to scaling experimentally produced downburst-like impinging jet outflows. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 196, 104025. .

Romanic D. 2019. Local winds of Balkan Peninsula. Int. J. Climatol. 39, 1–17. .

Lompar M, Ćurić M, Romanic D. 2018. Implementation of a gust front head collapse scheme in the WRF numerical model. Atmos. Res. 203, 231–245. .

Burlando M, Romanic D, Solari G, Hangan H, Zhang S. 2017. Field data analysis and weather scenario of a downburst event in Livorno, Italy, on 1 October 2012. Mon. Wea. Rev. 145, 3507– 3527. .

Romanic D, Refan M, Wu C-H, Michel G., 2016. Oklahoma tornado risk and variability: A statistical model. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 16, 19–32. .

Romanic D, Ćurić M, Jovičić I, Lompar M. 2015. Long-term trends of the ‘Koshava’ wind during the period 1949–2010. Int. J. Climatol. 35, 288–302. .

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