Urban Effects on Precipitation in the Southern United States of America. Youngeun Choi Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1998 Urban Effects on Precipitation in the Southern United States of America. Youngeun Choi Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Choi, Youngeun, "Urban Effects on Precipitation in the Southern United States of America." (1998). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6621. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6621 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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URBAN EFFECTS ON PRECIPITATION IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy m The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Youngeun Choi B.S., Kon-Kuk University, 1988 M.S., Kon-Kuk University, 1990 May 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9824478 UMI Microform 9824478 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to many individuals for their assistance throughout my academic years. I thank my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Man-Soo Choi for their endless support and understanding during this seemingly never-ending project. My two sisters and brother are Ae-Kyoung, Ae-Sung and Jin-Hyung to whom I am very grateful. I wish to offer my sincere appreciation to my advisor. Dr. Keith Henderson, for helping me to finish this project. I could not have completed this dissertation without his patience, guidance and support. I really hope that one day I can be a great teacher just like him. I wish to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee members; Dr. Robert Muller for bringing me to Louisiana State University, Dr. S. -A. Hsu for his many helpful comments, Dr. Nina Lam for her guidance in selecting the proper statistical procedures. Dr. K. S. Ro for providing thoughtful suggestions, and Dr. William Davidson for coming along for the ride. Next, I would like to thank all of the members of the Southern Regional Climate Center and the Louisiana Office of State Climatology for their continued support of my academic endeavors. A warm appreciation is extended to Dr. Kevin Robbins, John Grymes EH, Jeffrey Hardy, and Sean Steiner. The discussions, advice and friendship of Dr. Gregory Faiers, Dr. Barry Keim, Dr. Robert Rohli, Dr. Anthony Vega, Maicom Moreau, Liyun Yi, Mi-Hye Bark and many other graduate students at Louisiana State University are also appreciated. I also would like to thank Dr. H. Y. Lee and the other geography faculty at Kon-Kuk University in Seoul, South Korea. In addition, a special thanks must be paid to those who have prayed for me. Knowing God and Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to me. Without the kindness, generosity, and support of these aforementioned people, this dissertation could not have been produced. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. x ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................... I 1.2 OBJECTIVES ............................................................................. 3 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 4 1.3.1 General Urban Climate . ................................................ 4 1.3.2 Urban Radiation Balance .................................................. 5 1.3.3 Urban Heat Islands ............................................................. 7 1.3.4 Urban Humidities ............................................................... 7 1.3.5 Urban Wind Fields ............................................................. 8 1.3.6 Urban Precipitation ............................................................. 9 1.3.6.1 General Review ............................................................... 9 1.3.6.2 METROMEX ................................................................... 11 1.3.6.3 Review for Cities in Southern United States ............... 13 1.3.6.4 Summary ....................................................................... 14 1.4 PROBLEMS AND RESTRICTIONS .................................... 15 CHAPTER 2:DATA AND METHODOLOGY ............................................ 17 2.1 DATA ........................................................................................ 17 2.2 STUDY AREA ......................................................................... 18 2.2.1 Geography ......................................................................... 18 2.2.2 General Climatology ......................................................... 21 2.3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 22 2.3.1 Definition of Potendal Effect Areas ................................ 24 2.3.2 Synoptic Study ............................................................... 25 2.3.3 Trend Surface Analysis (TSA) ........................................ 26 2.3.4 Evaluation Techniques .................................................... 30 2.3.5 Time Series Analysis ....................................................... 31 2.3.6 Extreme Rainfall Events .................................................. 31 CHAPTER 3: URBAN EFFECTS ON PRECIPITATION TOTALS .... 33 3.1 HOUSTON ................................................................................ 34 3.1.1 Seasonal Precipitation Totals .......................................... 34 3.1.2 Monthly Precipitation Totals ............................................ 40 3.2 DALLAS .................................................................................... 44 3.2.1 Seasonal Precipitation Totals .......................................... 44 3.2.2 Monthly Precipitation Totals ............................................ 47 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3.3 SAN ANTONIO ....................................................................... 50 3.3.1 Seasonal Precipitation Totals .......................................... 50 3.3.2 Monthly Precipitation Totals ............................................ 53 3.4 NEW ORLEANS ..................................................................... 54 3.4.1 Seasonal Precipitation Totals .......................................... 54 3.4.2 Monthly Precipitation Totals ............................................ 56 3.5 MEMPHIS ............................................................................... 57 3.5.1 Seasonal Precipitation Totals .......................................... 57 3.5.2 Monthly Precipitation