Earth Scientist
Earth Scientist

Biography

Sha Feng joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in 2020. She is an atmospheric scientist with research interests spanning the Earth-energy system. Her expertise includes multiscale analyses of land atmosphere interactions and predictive modeling across diverse environments and scales.

Since joining PNNL, she has led efforts to advance high-resolution forecasting and support decision-making in energy and environmental applications. Her work examines how extreme events—such as tropical cyclones and wildfires—affect power generation, grid resilience, and energy infrastructure. Feng’s research is supported by the United States Department of Energy and NASA.

Research Interest

  • Earth-energy interaction
  • Carbon cycle science
  • Risk assessment
  • Carbon-climate feedback
  • Uncertainty quantification
  • Data assimilation

Education

  • PhD in geophysics, University of Science and Technology of China
  • BS in atmospheric sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University/Zhongshan University

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Affiliate Assistant Research Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, 2020–2023
  • Graduate Faculty Member, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University, 2015–2023
  • Assistant Research Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, 2015–2020
  • Mentor, Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program in Climate Science, The Pennsylvania State University, 2015–2020
  • Visiting Independent Advisor, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2015–2016
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2012–2015

Awards and Recognitions

  • BESTies Core Values–Collaboration, Earth and Biological Sciences Division, PNNL, 2024
  • Outstanding Performance Award, PNNL, 2024

Publications

Google Scholar Page

2025

  • Feng, S., Harrop, B. E., Ricciuto, D. M., Burrows, S. M., Zhu, Q., Lin, W., et al. 2025. Implementation and evaluation of emission‐driven land‐atmosphere coupled simulation in E3SMv2.1. J Adv Model Earth Syst., 17, e2025MS005099. https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2025MS005099
  • Feng, S., Baby John, E., Balaguru, K., and Berg, L. K. (2025). Uncertainty in Synthetic Tropical Cyclone Hazard and Risk Estimates: Insights from RAFT, CHAZ, MIT, STORM, and CLIMADA. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). https://doi.org/10.2172/3001942
  • Liu Y., S. Feng, L. K. Berg, S. Wharton, R. Arthur, D. D. Turner, and J. D. Fast. 2025. "Benchmarking near surface winds in the HRRR analyses using multi-source observations over complex terrain in the southeastern United States.” J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., PNNL-SA-196668. doi:10.1175/JAMC-D-24-0163.1
  • Bracken, C., Voisin, N., Son, Y., Feng, S., Anderson, O., Chen, X., Li, H. and Oikonomou, K. 2025. “Seasonal compound renewable energy droughts in the Unites States.” Environmental Research: Energy, 2(2), p.025005. 10.1088/2753-3751/adc8ad
  • Tai, S. L., Gaudet, B., Feng, S., Krishnamurthy, R., Berg, L. K., and Fast, J. D., 2025. ”Characterizing model uncertainties in simulated coast-to-offshore wind over the northeast US using multi-platform measurements from the TCAP field campaign.” Renewable Energy, 239, p.122022. 10.1016/j.renene.2024.122022
  • Gerken, T., Davis, K. J., Keller, K., and Feng, S., 2025. ”Application of PRIM for understanding patterns in carbon dioxide model-observation differences.” EGUsphere, 2025, pp.1-23. 10.5194/egusphere-2025-341
  • Baier, B. C., Miller, J. B., Sweeney, C., Lehman, S., Wolak, C., DiGangi, J. P., Choi, Y., Davis, K., Feng, S., and Lauvaux, T. 2025. Mid-Atlantic US observations of radiocarbon in CO 2: fossil and biogenic source partitioning and model evaluation. EGUsphere, 2025, pp.1-30.10.5194/egusphere-2025-821

2024

  • Lipari, S., Balaguru, K., Rice, J., Feng, S., Xu, W., K. Berg, L., and Judi, D. 2024. ”Amplified threat of tropical cyclones to US offshore wind energy in a changing climate.” Commun. Earth Environ., 5(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01887-6
  • Kennedy, R. E., Serbin, S. P., Dietze, M. C., and co-authors [including S. Feng] (2024). “Characterizing and communicating uncertainty: lessons from NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System.” Environ. Res. Lett. 19(12), 123003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad8be0
  • Wang J., E. Hendricks, C. Rozoff, M. Churchfield, L. Zhu, S. Feng, and W. Pringle, et al. 2024. "Modeling and Observations of North Atlantic Cyclones: Implications for U.S. Offshore Wind Energy J. Renew. Sustain. Energy 16, no. 5:052702. PNNL-SA-197059. doi:10.1063/5.0214806
  • Wang, J., Deskos, G., Pringle, W. J., Haupt, S. E., Feng, S., Berg, L. K., et al. 2024. “Impact of Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones on Future U.S. Offshore Wind Energy.” Bull. Amer. Meteor., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0080.1
  • Zheng, T., Feng, S., Steward, J., Tian, X., Baker, D., and Baxter, M. 2024. “Development of the tangent linear and adjoint models of the global online chemical transport model MPAS-CO2 v7.3.” Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1543–1562, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1543-2024.

2023

  • Wesloh, D.*, D., K., Lauvaux, T., Feng, S., Keller, K., 2023. “Temporal error correlations in a terrestrial carbon cycle model derived by comparison to carbon dioxide eddy covariance flux tower measurements.” J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci., 129, e2023JG007526. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007526
  • Liu, Y., Feng, S.*, Qian, Y., and Berg, K. L.: How do the weather regimes drive wind energy at the sub‐ seasonal to seasonal timescales over the CONUS? npj Clim. Atmos Sci 6,100 (2023). 6, 100 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-023-00403-5
  • Byrne, B., Baker, D. F., Basu, and co-authors [including S. Feng]. “National CO2 budgets (2015–2020) inferred from atmospheric CO2 observations in support of the Global Stocktake.” Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 963–1004, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-963-2023, 2023.

2022

  • Liu, Y., Y. Qian, S. Feng, L.K. Berg, T. Juliano, P. Jimenez, and Y. Liu. 2022. “Sensitivity of solar irradiance to model parameters in cloud and aerosol treatments of WRF-solar.” Sol. Energy., 241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.01.061
  • Kaufman, D.*, Feng, S., Calvin, K. Harrop, B. E., Burrows, S. M. 2022. “gdess: A framework for evaluating simulated atmospheric CO2 in Earth System Models.” J. Open Source Softw., 1 7(76), 4326. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.04326. 
  • Lei*, R, Feng, S., Xu, Y., Tran, S., Ramonet, M., Grutter, M., Agustin Garcia A., Campos-Pineda, M., Lauvaux, T. 2022. “Reconciliation of asynchronous satellite-based NO2 and XCO2 enhancements with mesoscale modeling over two urban landscapes.” Remote Sens. Environ., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113241 
  • Walley, S., Pal, S., Campbell, J. F., Dobler, J., Bell, E., Weir, B., Feng, S., et al. 2022. “Airborne lidar measurements of XCO2 in a synoptically active environment and associated comparisons with numerical simulations.” J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos, 127, e2021JD035664. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035664
  • Liu, Y., Y. Qian, S. Feng, L. K. Berg, T. Juliano, P. Jimenez, and Y. Liu. 2022. “Calibration of cloud and aerosol-related parameters for solar irradiance forecasts in WRF-Solar.” Sol. Energy., 241. PNNL-SA-169690. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.05.064