ECMWF STAGE

Christel Prudhomme

Team Leader Hydrological Monitoring and Forecasting
Forecast, Evaluation, Evaluation Applications

Summary:

Christel Prudhomme is a Principal Sectoral Expert leading the Environmental Forecasts team in the Evaluation Section. Her activities focus on the development and operational maintenance and delivery of the Copernicus Emergency Service - Early Warning Systems on floods, the European Flood Awareness System and the Global Flood Awareness Systems. Those systems deliver medium-range flood forecasts across Europe for member states, and its extension globally and to monthly and seasonal time scales. Her activities also include all aspects of project management, liaison with funders (JRC) and partners.

Professional interests:
  • Operational hydrological forecasting at medium to seasonal range
  • Forecast evaluation, skill assessment and uncertainty quantification
  • Multi-model ensemble forecasts
  • Improvement of communication and delivery of hydrological forecast products to end-users
  • Team leadership
  • Project management
Career background:

Prior to joining ECMWF in April 2017, Christel worked for over 20 years at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, a research institute of the UK National Environmental Research Council. She was in charge of research to study, understand and model the development in time and space of hydrological extremes (floods and droughts) across spatial scales (from local to global). One of the focus of her research was to assess their associated uncertainty and to quantifying the impact of climate variability and change on the hydrological processes.

She was the Principal Investigator of one of the water Sectoral Information System 'proof-of-concept'  project (EDgE), delivering a prototype multi-model system for hydrological seasonal prediction and climate change impact assessment for the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Christel also lead the development and operational delivery of the Ensemble Streamflow Prediction system, contributing to the UK Hydrological Outlook and the Environmental Agency for England and Wales 'Water situation Report'.

External recognitions
  • Visiting professor at Loughbourough University 
  • Member of GEWEX Hydroclimate Panel (Sep 2015-2017)
  • Core member of the European Drought Centre (2007-date)
  • Member British Hydrological Society (1996-date)
  • Member UNESCO-IHP FRIEND (1992-date)
  • Member IAHS