Lazarus, Steven
Steven Michael Lazarus
Professor | College of Engineering and Science: Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences
Contact Information
Expertise
Personal Overview
My research interests are varied and include electrical phenomena (gigantic jets), surface layer meteorology (winds), wave radar (currents) and climate resilience. I have authored or co-authored over 30 peer-review articles and have had more than 2 dozen proposals funded - totaling a little over $3.5 million. Over the past 5 years I have been a reviewer for various journals including Atmospheric Research, Journal of Atmospheric Science, International Journal of Wind and Structures, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. Since arriving at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³», I have graduated 14 MS thesis, and three Ph. D students. I am currently supervising/supporting 2 Ph.D students - one of which is working on a machine learning related project that involves hazardous cloud identification using camera imagery while the other PhD student is working on a DOE funded project to identify future changes in the large-scale circulation and the potential impact on sea-breeze generated convection. I am PI on a (NOAA) grant that supports the operation of a coastal radar system that measures off-shore currents here in east central Florida. We recently installed two opertional radars (Treasure Shores and Satellite Beach) and the data are flowing in near-real time (see ). I am a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) , American Geophysical Union (AGU) and presently serve as an academic member representative for the University Center for Atmospheric Research () a consortium that includes 120 North American universities with programs in meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, atmospheric chemistry, climate science, etc.
I love to bike, hike, kayak and adopting dogs from area rescues. I am a quasi-vegetarian/pescatarian (I will eat some sustainable fish!). For the past 20 summers, I have been a volunteer for the Sea Turtle Preservation Society - giving presentations and guided tours on our local beaches during the summer months and I also serve on the board of directors as the Vice President of the . I like to post about weather, climate change, and environmental issues - you can follow me on Bluesky social (@drlwx)!
Educational Background
Ph.D.: University of Oklahoma 1996
Masters of Science: University of Oklahoma 1990
Bachelors of Science: Florida State 1985
Professional Experience
Dr. Lazarus began his research career as an undergraduate assistant for at Florida State University, from 1984-1985. During that span, he spent the summer of 1984 as an under-graduate fellow working with the founder of the tornado F-scale, , at the University of Chicago. Before attending graduate school, Dr. Lazarus was employed at the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where he worked on a statistical ocean modeling project.
Dr. Lazarus completed his master's and Ph D. work at the University of Oklahoma (OU). His work in the areas of modeling severe convection and data assimilation was augmented by tornado chasing during his graduate student years in Oklahoma. Dr. Lazarus met with the founder of chaos theory (aka the 'butterfly' effect), MIT professor , where I had the unique opportunity to discuss my MS related work regarding the predictability of rotating thunderstorms. As a post-doc at the University of Utah, he was involved in several projects including real-time weather analysis work in support of the Winter Olympic games, GCM (cloud) evaluation with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM), and served as the local AMS chapter president--representing groups from the University of Utah, the National Weather Service and Western Region Headquarters. During the summer of 2004 Dr. Lazarus was a visiting scientist at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Washington, D.C. and served on a national committee that is overseeing an operational mesoscale analysis project referred to as the Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA). While he stepped down from 8 years of service on Unidata's and , he continues to serve as a academic member representative. Committees and received their highest honor, the award (see sidebar link).
Dr. Lazarus is a member of the and the . He is an active participant in the peer-review process having reviewed more than two dozen proposals and/or journal articles. Dr. Lazarus has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in peer-review journals and spent a sabbatical at the University of Utah during the academic year (2013-2014).
Additional Duties
FIT Committees:
President's Hurricane Advisory; Tenure Review (Co-Chair)
FIT Club Sponsorship
American Meteorological Society; Mishapacha
Current Graduate Student Advising
2 PhD
Current Courses
Weather Briefing (MET 1999)
Computation Techniques for Meteorology (MET 3601)
Global Climate Change (MET 5320)
Selected Publications
PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW (as of August 2025)
Besing, H., S. Lazarus; J.-P. Pinelli, C. Subramanian, and J. Zhang: Use of open-source 3-dimensional datasets to estimate morphometric roughness. Submitted to Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamics.
Zhang, J., C. Subramanian, J. P. Pinelli, S. Lazarus, H. Besing, D. R. Cortes: Hurricane Wind Pressures on Building Components from Wind Tunnel,Field Measurements, and CFD. Submitted to the Journal of Wind and Structures.
Cote, Marcus, M.E. Splitt, S. M. Lazarus, and R. White: Ground-Based Cloud Type Classification for Aviation Weather Hazard Detection Using Deep Learning. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Splitt, M.E. and S. Lazarus, 2025: Gust Factors in Aerodrome Weather and Climate Assessment. Meteorology 2025, 4,24.
Zhang, J., C.S. Subramanian, J.-P. Pinelli, S. Lazarus, H. Besing, D. Robles Cortes, 2024: Performance characterization of a wireless sensors network system (WSNS) for measurements of hurricane wind effects on structures. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 254, 1-15, .
Vaidya, H., R. D. Breininger, M. Madrid, S. Lazarus, and N. N. Kachouie, 2023: Generalized Addititve Models for Predicting Sea Level Rise in Coastal Florida. Geosciences, 13, 310; .
LAST 5 YEARS:
Lazarus, S., J. Chiappa, H. Besing, M. Splitt, and J Riousset, 2021:Distinguishing characteristics of the tropical cyclone gigantic jet environment. J. Atmos. Sci., 79, 2741-2761, .
Allen,T., Behr, J., Bukvic, A., Calder, R.S.D., Caruson, K., Connor, C., D’Elia, C., Dismukes, D., Ersing, R., Franklin, R. et al., 2021: Anticipating and Adapting to the Future Impacts of Climate Change on the Health, Security and Welfare of Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Communities in Southeastern USA. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1196. .
Colvin, J., S. Lazarus, and M. Splitt, 2020: Extracting nearshore wave properties from video: A new method for coastal estuaries, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 246, .
Boggs, L. D., N. Liu, M. Peterson, S. Lazarus, M. Splitt, F. Lucena, A. Nag, H. Rassoul, 2019: . Geophysical Research Lettters, 46, 3999-4006.
Boggs, L. D., N. Liu, J. A. Riousset, F. Shi, S. Lazarus, M. Splitt, H. Rassoul, 2018: . Nature, Scientific Reports, 8, Article number: 18085.
Holman, B., S. Lazarus, and M Splitt, 2018: . Mon. Wea. Rev, 146, 2859-2880. DOI: 10.1175/MWR-D-17-0338.1.
Colvin, J., S. Lazarus, M. Splitt, R. Weaver, and P. Taeb, 2018: . Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, .
PUBLISHED:
Holman, B., S. Lazarus, and M Splitt, 2017:, Wea. Forecasting, 32, 1637-1657. https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-17-0016.1.
Weaver, R.J., Taeb, P., Lazarus, S., Splitt, M., Holman, B., and Colvin, J., 2016: , Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2016.10.014.
Boggs, L. D., N. Liu, M. Splitt, S. Lazarus, C. Glenn, H. Rassoul, and S. A. Cummer (2016), , J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, doi:10.1002/2015JD024188.
Lazarus, S. M., M. E. Splitt, James Brownlee, Nicholas Spiva, and Ningyu Liu, 2015: , J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 120, doi:10.1002/2015JD023383.
Kelley, N.A., D. M. Smith, J. R. Dwyer, M. Splitt, S. Lazarus, F. Martinez-McKinney, B. Hazelton, B. Grefenstette, A. Lowell, and H. K. Rassoul, 2015: , Nature Communications, 6. Article number: 7845, doi:10.1038/ncomms8845.
Aronson, R. B., Smith, K. E., Vos S. C., McClintock J.B., Amsler, M.O., Moksnes, P.O.,. Ellis, D.S., Kaeli, J., Singh, H., Bailey, J.W., Schiferl, J.C., van Woesik, R., Martin, M.A., Steffel, B.V., Deal, M.E., Lazarus, S. M., Havenhand, J.N., Swalethorp, R., Kjellerup, S., Thatje, S., 2015: . Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1513962112.
Barnes, D.E., M.E. Splitt, J.R. Dwyer, S.M. Lazarus, D.M. Smith, and H.K. Rassoul (2015), . J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 120, 3453–3464. doi: 10.1002/2014JD021495.
Splitt, M. E., S. M. Lazarus, S. Collins, D. N. Botambekov, and W. P. Roeder, 2014: . Wea. Forecasting, 29, 1155-1168.
Lazarus, S. M., S. T. Wilson, M. E. Splitt, and G. A. Zarillo, 2013: . Wea. Forecasting, 28, 297-315.
Lazarus, S. M., S. T. Wilson, M. E. Splitt, and G. A. Zarillo, 2013: Evaluation of a wind-wave system for ensemble tropical cyclone wave forecasting. Part II: Waves. Wea. Forecasting, 28, 316-330.
Lazarus, S. M., and Coauthors, 2013: 2012 Unidata Users Workshop Navigating Earth System Science Data. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 94, ES136–ES143, .
Smith D. M.; Dwyer J. R.; Hazelton B. J.; Grefenstette B. W.; Martinez-McKinney G. F. M.; Zhang Z. Y.; Lowell A. W.; Kelley N. A.; Splitt M. E.; Lazarus S. M.; Ulrich W.; Schaal M.; Saleh Z. H.; Cramer E.; Rassoul H. K.; Cummer S. A.; Lu G.; Blakeslee R. J., , 2011: Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08807.
Smith, D. M., et al. (2011), , J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2011JD016252, in press.
Lazarus, S. M., M. E. Splitt, M. D. Lueken, R. Ramachandran, X. Li, S. Movva, S. J. Graves, and B. T. Zavodsky, 2010: . Wea. Forecasting, 25, 511-525.
Splitt, M. E., S. M. Lazarus, D. Barnes, J. R. Dwyer, H. K. Rassoul, D. M. Smith, B. Hazelton, and B. Grefenstette, 2010:. J. Geophys. Res., 115, A00E38, doi:10.1029/2009JA014622.
Splitt, M. E., J. A. Shafer, S. M. Lazarus, and W. P. Roeder, 2010: . Wea. Forecasting, 25, 837-851.
Xid, C., R. Lopez, and S. M. Lazarus, 2009:, J. Geosci. Ed., 57, 372-378.
LaCasse, K. M., M. E. Splitt, S. M. Lazarus, and W. M. Lapenta, 2008: . Mon. Wea. Rev., 136, 1349-1372.
Lazarus S. M., C. G. Calvert, M. E. Splitt, P. Santos, D. W. Sharp, P. F. Blottman, and S. M. Spratt, 2007: . Mon. Wea. Rev., 135, 3158–3173.
Lazarus, S. M. and J. Bewley, 2006: . J. Geophys. Res., 111 (D10), D1010410.1029/2005JD006396.
Lazarus, S. M. and J. Bewley, 2005: . J. Geophys. Res., 110 (D7), 7102, doi:10.1029/2004JD005614.
Myrick, D. T., J. D. Horel, and S. M. Lazarus, 2005: . Wea. Forecasting, 20, 149-160.
J. Hacker, J. Hansen, J. Berner, Y. Chen, G. Eshel, G. Hakim, S. Lazarus, S. Majumdar, R. Morss, A. Poje, V. Sheremet, Y. Tang, and C. Webb, 2005: . Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., 86, 1733-1777.
Lazarus, S. M., J. D. Horel, and C. M. Ciliberti, 2002: . Wea. Forecasting, 17, 971-1000.
Lazarus, S. M., A. Shapiro, and K. D. Droegemeier, 2001: . J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 998-1016.
Lazarus, S. M., S.K. Krueger, and G. G. Mace, 2000: . J. Climate, 13, 1762-1775.
Lazarus, S. M., A. Shapiro, and K. D. Droegemeier, 1999: . J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 16, 5-18.
Recognition & Awards
- winner for service and activity in the Geoscience Community (2018)
- NCEP visiting scientist (June-July 2004)UCAR Strategic Advisory Committee (2016-2018)
- UCAR Member Representative (2012-present)
- University of Utah visiting professor (Sabbatical), 2013-2014)
- NCEP visiting scientist (June-July 2004)
- Member of Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) Committee
- NCAR-ECSA Junior Faculty Forum on Predictability participant (June 2003)
- COMET workshop on Atmospheric Thermodynamics participant (August 2002)
- AMS Salt Lake City chapter president 2000-2001
- Member, American Geophysical Union
- Member, American Meteorological Society
- Unidata Strategic AdvisoryCommittee Representative (2015-2018)
- Unidata User Workshop participant 2009, 2012, 2015
- Unidata Users Committee Representative (2009-2015)
- Co-Chair, Unidata Triennial Workshop 2015
Research
Ongoing Grants
- General Dynamics. Radionuclide Station (RASA) Operator. $22,000/yr (PI, ongoing).
- Partnering to meet the needs of coastal communities for actionable information to protect lives and property. NOAA/SECOORA $455,00 (PI). 6/01/2021-6/30/26
Recently Funded
- DOE: Space Coast RESCUE (Resilience Solutions for Climate, Urbanization, and Environment) $900,000 (PI). 9/01/2024-8/31/2027
Research & Project Interests
Dr. Lazarus' research interests include mesoscale analysis, data assimilation and modeling. He recently completed a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) project in conjunction (with Drs Jean-Paul Pinelli and Mani Subramanian) on a wind loading project. Our research group has installed and is running two 13.5 MHz WERA coastal radars (NOAA grant) in east central Florida. The two radars measure radial flow which are combined to produce near real-time currents available through the .
Other areas of interest include climate change and hurricanes, coastal meteorology, wind/wave modeling, and thunderstorm electrification/transient luminous events including terrestrial gamma ray flashes and gigantic jets.
When the weather gets rough - our research group heads out into the field. Check out the of our wind lidar deployment duing Hurricane Isaias.
See my Oct. 24 2019 NPR regarding our lidar work on wind loading, assessment and mitigation from Orlando's WMFE bi-weekly Intersection news program.
Here's a link to an invited in association with the (2018) Russell L. DeSouza award honoring “individuals whose energy, expertise, and active involvement enable the Unidata Program to better serve the geosciences”. For more on the award, visit the University Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Unidata .