Education:

• Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences and Remote Sensing – University of Arizona – 2021
• Master of Science in Atmospheric Sciences – Creighton University – 2016
• Master of Arts in Theology – Universitas Sanata Dharma – 2012
• Bachelor in Philosophy – Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara – 2007

Memberships:

• American Meteorological Society (since 2014)
• American Geophysical Union (since 2018)
• European Geophysical Union (since 2023)

Background:

Christoforus Bayu Risanto was born in January 1981 in Bogor, Indonesia. He grew up and went to school in that city until 1996 when he entered St. Peter Canisius minor seminary in Magelang, Indonesia. After graduating from the minor seminary, he joined the Society of Jesus in 2000 and began his studies in philosophy in 2003. His thesis in philosophy was the understanding of time in Newtonian and Einsteinian mathematical-physics and its impact to epistemology.

Bayu taught senior physics, sophomore geometry, and freshman general science for two years (2007 – 2009) at Xavier High School, Federated States of Micronesia before completing his master’s degree in theology in 2012.

Soon after his presbyteral ordination in 2012, he was missioned to pursue meteorology and climatology studies in the United States of America. He completed his Ph.D. with two different project funds (i.e., the Mexican data assimilation project supported by UNAM, and the Saudi Arabian subseasonal forecast project supported by KAUST). Upon his graduation, he continued to work at the University of Arizona as a postdoctoral research associate until July 2024 when he joined the Vatican Observatory.

Research Interests:

Bayu is interested in numerical weather prediction (NWP) in semi-arid to arid environment and complex terrain. He focuses on finding solutions to improve forecast of rainfall through data assimilation and ensemble modeling approaches. 

Awards:

Krider Endowment Scholarship in Atmospheric Sciences/Physics 2020 received in the academic year of 2020/2021 from the University of Arizona.

Travel Grant 2019, received in the Fall Semester of 2019 from the Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC), the University of Arizona.

Fellowship Award 2018, received in the Fall Semester of 2018 from the Hydrology and Atmospheric Department, the University of Arizona.

Galileo Circle Scholarship Award 2018 received in May 2018 from the University of Arizona.

Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications:

• Chang H.-I, Y. Chikamoto, S. S‐Y Wang, C. L. Castro, M. D. LaPlante, C. B. Risanto, X. Huang, P. Bunn (2024). Enhancing extreme precipitation predictions with dynamical downscaling: A convection‐permitting modeling study in Texas and Oklahoma. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmosphere, 129, e2023JD038765, 10.1029/2023JD038765.
• Dominguez, F., and Coauthors (2024). ·      Advancing South American Water and Climate Science through Multidecadal Convection-Permitting Modeling. Bulletin American Meteorology Society, 105, E32–E44,  https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0226.1
• Risanto, C. B., J. M. Moker, A. F. Arellano, C. L. Castro, Y. L. Serra, T. M. Luong, and D. K. Adams, (2023). On the Collective Importance of Model Physics and Data Assimilation on Mesoscale Convective System and Precipitation Forecasts over Complex Terrain. Monthly Weather Review, 151, 1993–2008, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-22-0221.1.
• Ehsani, M. R., S. Heflin, C. B. Risanto, Ali Behrangi, (2022). How well do satellite and reanalysis precipitation products capture North American monsoon season in Arizona and New Mexico? Weather and Climate Extremes, 38, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2022.100521.
• Risanto, C.B., Chang, H. I., Luong, T.M. et al. (2022). Retrospective sub-seasonal forecasts of extreme precipitation events in the Arabian Peninsula using convective-permitting modeling. Climate Dynamics.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06336-8
• Risanto, C. B., Castro, C. L., Arellano, A. F., Jr., Moker, J. M., Jr., and Adams, D. K. (2021). The Impact of Assimilating GPS Precipitable Water Vapor in Convective-Permitting WRF-ARW on North American Monsoon Precipitation Forecasts over Northwest Mexico. Monthly Weather Review, 149, 3013-3035, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0394.1
• Risanto, C.B., Castro, C.L., Moker, J.M., Jr., Arellano, A.F., Jr., Adams, D.K., Fierro, L.M., Minjarez Sosa, C.M., (2019). Evaluating Forecast Skills of Moisture from Convective-Permitting WRF-ARW Model during 2017 North American Monsoon Season. Atmosphere, 10, 694. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10110694
• Ehsani, M. R., J. Arevalo, C. B. Risanto, M. Javadian, C. J. Devine, A. Arabzadeh, H. L. Venegas-Quiñones, A. P. Dell’Oro, A. Behrangi, 2020. 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities. Water, 12, 3067. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113067.

Selectes Presentation:

• Risanto, C. B., A. F. Arellano, C. L. Castro, S. E. Koch, S. M. S. Shohan, T. M. Weckwerth, J. O. Pinto, J. Kay. Assessing the Impact of Data Assimilation and Microphysics Schemes on Monsoon Precipitation Forecasts over Arizona Complex Terrain. 21st Conference on Mountain Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, 21-26 June 2024, Boise, Idaho.
• Risanto, C. B., J. M. Moker, A. F. Arellano, C. Castro, Y. L. Serra, T. Luong, D. K. Adams (2023). On the Importance of Multi-Scale Constraints on Mesoscale Convective System and Precipitation Forecasts over Complex Terrain. 103rd American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, 9 January 2023, Denver, Colorado.
• Chang, H.-I, C. B. Risanto, T. Luong, H. Dasari, R. Attada, C. Castro, I. Hoteit (2023). Tracking Mesoscale Convective Systems during Active Convection Season in the Arabian Peninsula. 103rd American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, 9 January 2023, Denver, Colorado.
• Girone, D. J., C. B. Risanto, L. M. Fierro, H.-I Chang, C. L. Castro, S. Koch (2022). A Forecast Evaluation of the North American Summer Monsoon Precipitation over Arizona in Recent Years. Mountain Meteorology Conference, 8 January 2022, Boulder, Colorado.