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Evaluating the Impacts of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones on North America Utilizing Remotely-Sensed and Reanalysis Data

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Evaluating the Impacts of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones on North America Utilizing Remotely-Sensed and Reanalysis Data Evaluating the Impacts of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones on North America Utilizing Remotely Sensed and Reanalysis Data Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Wood, Kimberly Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 21:50:24 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/238676 EVALUATING THE IMPACTS OF EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONES ON NORTH AMERICA UTILIZING REMOTELY-SENSED AND REANALYSIS DATA by Kimberly M. Wood _____________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2012 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Kimberly M. Wood entitled Evaluating the Impacts of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones on North America Utilizing Remotely Sensed and Reanalysis Data and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/16/12 Elizabeth Ritchie _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/16/12 Katherine Hirschboeck _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/16/12 J. Scott Tyo _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/16/12 Yolande Serra Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 7/16/12 Dissertation Director: Elizabeth Ritchie 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Kimberly M. Wood 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank her advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Ritchie, for her steadfast support and guidance throughout the course of her studies and research. The author is also grateful for the collaborative efforts and manuscript feedback provided by Drs. Katherine Hirschboeck, J. Scott Tyo, and Yolande Serra. The support of the graduate students and staff in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona is also greatly appreciated. The author acknowledges the support of the National Science Foundation (grant AGS- 1132131), the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (grant N00014-10-1-0146), and the Technology Research Initiative Fund-Water Sustainability Program for this research. Finally, the author is grateful for the patience, encouragement, and understanding of her husband, family, and friends during the dissertation process. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................11 ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................14 1.1 Background of the eastern North Pacific................................................................................14 1.2 Motivation for research...........................................................................................................24 CHAPTER 2: DATA AND METHODOLOGY.............................................................................26 2.1 Reanalysis data........................................................................................................................26 2.2 Other data................................................................................................................................31 2.3 Analytical and statistical methods...........................................................................................34 2.3.1 Deviation angle variance technique.........................................................................34 2.3.2 Stitching of infrared imagery...................................................................................36 2.3.3 Empirical orthogonal function analysis...................................................................37 2.3.4 Cyclone phase space................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 3: IMPACT OF EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONES ON WARM-SEASON RAINFALL IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES........................43 3.1 Background and methodology................................................................................................43 3.2 Objectively analyzed patterns.................................................................................................48 3.2.1 Geopotential height patterns....................................................................................48 3.2.2 Rainfall patterns.......................................................................................................52 3.2.3 No U.S. rain.............................................................................................................57 3.3 Examples.................................................................................................................................59 3.3.1 Tropical Storm Lowell (2008)..................................................................................59 3.3.2 Tropical Storm Calvin (2005)..................................................................................60 3.4 Variability................................................................................................................................62 3.5 Summary.................................................................................................................................65 CHAPTER 4: EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION IN THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC........67 4.1 Background and methodology................................................................................................67 4.1.1 Application of cyclone phase space.........................................................................67 4.1.2 Differences between reanalyses in phase space.......................................................69 4.2 Climatology of tropical cyclone types....................................................................................73 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued 4.3 Evolution of extratropically transitioning tropical cyclones...................................................81 4.3.1 Evolution through phase space................................................................................81 4.3.2 Evolution of mean sea level pressure and sea surface temperature.........................84 4.3.3 Large-scale patterns during extratropical transition.................................................87 4.4 Examples.................................................................................................................................92 4.4.1 Hurricane Guillermo (1997).....................................................................................92 4.4.2 Tropical Storm Rachel (1990)..................................................................................95 4.5 Summary.................................................................................................................................97 CHAPTER 5: OBJECTIVE ESTIMATION OF TROPICAL CYCLONE INTENSITY IN THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.......................................................................................................99 5.1 Background and methodology................................................................................................99 5.2 Results...................................................................................................................................104 5.3 Summary...............................................................................................................................108 CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS....................................................................110 6.1 Review of research questions in the eastern North Pacific...................................................110
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