**Xiaolei Zou**

Dr. Xiaolei Zou is currently a Professor at the School of Atmosphere Sciences of Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, China. She received her Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China, in 1988. She developed the National Meteorological Center (now the National Center for Environmental Prediction) medium-range global forecast model 4D-Var system with full physics during 1989–1993, and the fifth-generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) 4D-Var system during 1993–1997. She has worked on GPS radio occultation data assimilation since 1993. From 1997 to 2014, she was a Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, USA. During 2014 to 2018, she worked mainly on satellite data assimilation for quantitative precipitation forecasts and hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts at the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland, USA. She has published over 220 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Zou was the recipient of the 2008 American Meteorological Society Fellow Award for her outstanding contributions to the applications of satellite data in numerical weather prediction models and education in data assimilation.

#### **Guoxiong Wu**

Dr. Guoxiong Wu is a Professor at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China. He received his Ph.D. in meteorology from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University, UK, in 1983. He served as Director of Key Laboratory of Numerical Experiment for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), IAP, from 1993 to 2000. He has a solid background in both mathematics and physics and rich practical experiences. His scientific contributions have been multidimensional, ranging from advances in theory, numerical experimentation, and physical understanding of the large-scale dynamical processes. He served PIs on many major climate-related projects in China. He was elected the Academician of CAS and Life Tenure Professor in 1997, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (UK) in 2012, Honorary Fellow of Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (COAA) and Tan Kah Kee Science Award in 2014, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Fellow and American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow in 2015, and International Science Council Fellow (ISC) Fellow in 2022.

#### **Zhemin Tan**

Dr. Zhemin Tan is a Professor at the School of Atmospheric Sciences of Nanjing University, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from Nanjing University, Nanjing, China in 2000. Since 1999, he has been a Professor in the Department of Meteorology, Nanjing University. Dr. Tan was elected as Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2021. He was previously the Vice President of the Chinese Meteorological Society and member of International Committee for Dynamic Meteorology (ICDM). Dr. Tan is currently the chair of the China National Committee for the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), Vice President of the China National Committee of the International Association of Meteorological and Atmospheric Science (IAMAS), and a member of the National Expert Committee on Climate Change. Dr. Tan conducts research in atmospheric dynamics, tropical cyclone dynamics and atmospheric predictability. By bridging theoretical analysis with applied research, Dr. Tan sought new methods for model parameterization and data assimilation that are objective yet dynamics based.
