DOCSLIB.ORG

Influence of Tropical Cyclones on Humidity Patterns Over Southern Baja California, Mexico

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Influence of Tropical Cyclones on Humidity Patterns Over Southern Baja California, Mexico 1208 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW VOLUME 135 Influence of Tropical Cyclones on Humidity Patterns over Southern Baja California, Mexico LUIS M. FARFÁN Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada B.C. (CICESE), La Paz, Baja California Sur, México IRA FOGEL Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR), La Paz, Baja California Sur, México (Manuscript received 6 February 2006, in final form 10 July 2006) ABSTRACT The influence of tropical cyclone circulations in the distribution of humidity and convection over north- western Mexico is investigated by analyzing circulations that developed in the eastern Pacific Ocean from 1 July to 21 September 2004. Documented cases having some impact over the Baja California Peninsula include Tropical Storm Blas (13–15 July), Hurricane Frank (23–25 August), Hurricane Howard (2–6 Sep- tember), and Hurricane Javier (15–20 September). Datasets are derived from geostationary satellite imag- ery, upper-air and surface station observations, as well as an analysis from an operational model. Emphasis is given to circulations that moved within 800 km of the southern part of the peninsula. The distribution of precipitable water is used to identify distinct peaks during the approach of these circulations and deep convection that occurred for periods of several days over the southern peninsula and Gulf of California. Hurricane Howard is associated with a significant amount of precipitation, while Hurricane Javier made landfall across the central peninsula with a limited impact on the population in the area. An examination of the large-scale environment suggests that advection of humid air from the equatorial Pacific is an important element in sustaining tropical cyclones and convection off the coast of western Mexico. 1. Introduction cyclone activity serves as a source of humid air masses that provide conditions that support deep convection There were 12 named tropical cyclones in the eastern over northwestern Mexico, including the Baja Califor- Pacific Ocean from late May through October 2004 nia Peninsula. These conditions tend to occur through- (Avila et al. 2006), with 9 events occurring between July out the summer, with the most favorable locations over and September. Most of these systems remained at sea. the southern peninsula. This pattern is associated with Late in the summer Tropical Cyclone Javier made land- increased cloud cover followed by organized convective fall as a depression, moved across the Baja California systems that may result in heavy precipitation (Farfán Peninsula on 19 September, and reached mainland 2005). Mexico the next day. In contrast 15 systems developed Figure 1 shows the frequency of named storms from in the North Atlantic, but none made landfall along the 1990 to 2004, information derived from the best-track Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean Sea coasts of Mexico dataset available at the U.S. National Hurricane Center (Franklin et al. 2006). (NHC). The 219 storms during this 15-yr period yield a This study analyzes humidity and convection during mean of 14.6 storms per season. This is slightly lower the approach of tropical cyclones to Baja California in than the mean of 15.5 during the study period of 1971– the eastern Pacific basin. This basin encompasses the 2003 (Levinson 2005). Minimum activity occurred in area north of the equator from the west coasts of Cen- 1996 and 1999, with 9 tropical cyclones per season, con- tral and North America westward to 140°W. Tropical trasted with 24 cases in 1992. Figure 1 also indicates landfall events in western Mexico. The darker bars in- Corresponding author address: Dr. Luis M. Farfán, CICESE, dicate that from zero to four cases made landfall each Unidad La Paz, Miraflores 334, La Paz, BCS 23050, México. year, of which one or sometimes two cases, moved E-mail: [email protected] across the Baja California Peninsula. DOI: 10.1175/MWR3356.1 © 2007 American Meteorological Society Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/29/21 05:35 PM UTC MWR3356 APRIL 2007 F A R F Á N AND FOGEL 1209 FIG. 1. Named tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific basin (light bars) with the dotted line representing the seasonal mean (14.6). Tropical cyclones that made landfall along the west coast of Mexico from 1990 to 2004 are given by dark bars. Numbers in parentheses indicate cases making landfall in the Baja California Peninsula. Tracks of two tropical cyclones that developed dur- This study focused on tropical cyclones that had a ing the 15-yr period are shown in Fig. 2. The circles are significant impact on the Baja California Peninsula dur- used as a reference of distance of the storm circulation ing the 2004 storm season and documents the regional with respect to the southern peninsula (centered at and large-scale conditions present during the develop- 25.4°N, 111.6°W). Hurricane Juliette (2001), associated ment of these storms. This is an important season to with heavy precipitation and strong winds, is represen- examine, in part, because several systems moved close tative of landfall events with a strong impact on the to the southern part of the peninsula (22.9°–28.0°N) southern part of the peninsula. Juliette had a relatively and one of them, with a track similar to that from Juli- long track that started beyond the 1200-km radius, off ette (2001), made landfall there. The specific objectives the southeastern coast of Mexico, and made landfall on are as follows: the western side of the peninsula (Farfán 2004). As shown in Fig. 2, the system moved across the peninsula • based on the distance from the southern peninsula and northward over the Gulf of California, weakening and best-track positions, classify the development of over the following few days. tropical cyclones that occurred between July and In contrast to the impact from systems making direct September 2004, landfall, the passage of tropical cyclones with northwest • evaluate the vertical and horizontal structures of hu- tracks also provides rainfall. Accumulation of rainfall midity to provide documentation on the development seems to be directly proportional to the distance of the of convection and rainfall associated with the closest storm center (Englehart and Douglas 2001) from the approach of these tropical cyclones, and impacted area, making these tropical cyclones a • describe the impact caused by the landfall of Hurri- complementary and essential source of rainfall. For ex- cane Javier from observations recorded by the re- ample, while located 400–500 km southwest of Cabo gional network of surface stations. San Lucas, Tropical Cyclone Linda (2003; see Fig. 2) brought convective outbreaks on two consecutive days This paper is divided into six sections. Section 2 de- (Farfán 2005). Satellite and in situ data indicate that a scribes the data sources. Best-track information and the large-scale mass of moist air from the storm’s eastern evolution of humidity are described in section 3. Char- flank was advected into the southern peninsula and acteristics of the regional and large-scale environments gulf. for selected storms are discussed in sections 4 and 5, Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/29/21 05:35 PM UTC 1210 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW VOLUME 135 FIG. 2. Best-track positions of Tropical Cyclones Juliette (2001) and Linda (2003). Positions are at 6-h intervals. Direct- and indirect-influence tracks are derived from Higgins and Shi (2005) and are explained in the text. Reference circles are drawn at 400-, 800-, and 1200-km radii. The MX label represents the position of maximum storm intensity, and specific geographic locations used through- out the paper are indicated. respectively. Section 6 provides the summary and con- dictions of warm season precipitation over North cluding remarks. America (Higgins et al. 2006). During the 2004 field season, soundings were taken twice daily (1200 and 2. Data sources 0000 UTC) for stations in northwestern Mexico and the The best-track dataset of tropical cyclones in the southwestern United States. During intensive observ- eastern Pacific, compiled by the NHC, provides a rec- ing periods (IOPs), soundings were taken at intervals of ord of the position of the center of circulation every 6 h 4–6 h over several consecutive days. (Avila et al. 2006). The dataset includes categories of in- Digital imagery from the Geostationary Operational tensity: tropical depressions (sustained wind Ͻ 17 m sϪ1), Environmental Satellite-10 (GOES-10) provides pat- tropical storms (sustained wind Ͼ 17 m sϪ1), and hur- terns of the mid- to upper-level humidity and the struc- ricanes (sustained wind Ͼ 33 m sϪ1). Our analysis cov- ture of the cloud cover. This includes images of the ers the storm events from 1 July to 21 September 2004. water vapor and infrared channels at resolutions of 8 Upper-air soundings were examined to identify and 4 km, respectively. Additional information on the large-scale characteristics of the atmospheric environ- three-dimensional structure of large-scale flow is sup- ment over northwestern Mexico, the southwestern plied by the gridded analyses of the Global Forecast United States, and the adjacent oceanic areas. These System (GFS) model. This model is operated by the data include regular (1200 UTC) releases and special U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction soundings taken for the North American Monsoon Ex- (NCEP), and analyses are available at a grid resolution periment (NAME), which is intended to improve pre- of 100 km ϫ 100 km. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/29/21 05:35 PM UTC APRIL 2007 F A R F Á N AND FOGEL 1211 FIG. 3. Tracks of tropical cyclones developing from 12 Jul to 26 Aug 2004 in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Initial positions are identified with name initial and two-digit day, subsequent positions are at 6-h intervals. Circles are drawn at 400-, 800-, and 1200-km radii.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fall 2006 OKLAHOMA CLIMATE
    OKLAHOMA CLIMATE Fall 2006 Anything But Pacific Loss Mitigation Conference 2006 EarthStorm Teachers on the Road Cloud Seeding MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR Table of Contents Hurricanes are the most destructive weather phenomenon on the Earth, with Anything But Pacific..........................................3 apologies to our own little terrors of Mother Nature, tornadoes. The awful Oklahoma Climate & Loss Mitigation Conf. .......6 destruction wrought upon the Gulf Coast by Katrina silenced any arguments on that subject. But in one of the great ironies for a state that has suffered greatly Answers to the Classroom Activity.................7 due to hazardous weather, Oklahoma has actually benefited in the past from the arrival of those monster cyclones. They are no longer Hurricanes by the time they Photos From the Field.....................................8 pass over Oklahoma soil, of course, merely remnants of their former powerful selves. When they do arrive, however, they bring with them a sizable amount of EarthStorm Teachers On the Road...............10 tropical moisture. Imagine a gigantic sponge floating over the state, waiting to be squeezed. And if there is ever a time that the state could use a good wallop Summer 2006 Climate Summary.................14 of moisture, it’s during the type of drought we’ve experienced the last couple of Agriculture Weather Watch............................19 years. Urban Farmer..................................................20 We decided to concentrate this issue of “Oklahoma Climate” on hurricanes and their effects on the state. Our historical perspective delves right into the issue Classroom Activity...........................................21 with a look back at Oklahoma’s previous brushes with tropical cyclones and how they’ve helped to end droughts.
    [Show full text]
  • Climatology, Variability, and Return Periods of Tropical Cyclone Strikes in the Northeastern and Central Pacific Ab Sins Nicholas S
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School March 2019 Climatology, Variability, and Return Periods of Tropical Cyclone Strikes in the Northeastern and Central Pacific aB sins Nicholas S. Grondin Louisiana State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Climate Commons, Meteorology Commons, and the Physical and Environmental Geography Commons Recommended Citation Grondin, Nicholas S., "Climatology, Variability, and Return Periods of Tropical Cyclone Strikes in the Northeastern and Central Pacific asinB s" (2019). LSU Master's Theses. 4864. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4864 This Thesis 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 Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLIMATOLOGY, VARIABILITY, AND RETURN PERIODS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE STRIKES IN THE NORTHEASTERN AND CENTRAL PACIFIC BASINS A Thesis 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 Master of Science in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Nicholas S. Grondin B.S. Meteorology, University of South Alabama, 2016 May 2019 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family, especially mom, Mim and Pop, for their love and encouragement every step of the way. This thesis is dedicated to my friends and fraternity brothers, especially Dillon, Sarah, Clay, and Courtney, for their friendship and support. This thesis is dedicated to all of my teachers and college professors, especially Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • An Observational and Modeling Analysis of the Landfall of Hurricane Marty (2003) in Baja California, Mexico
    JULY 2005 F ARFÁN AND CORTEZ 2069 An Observational and Modeling Analysis of the Landfall of Hurricane Marty (2003) in Baja California, Mexico LUIS M. FARFÁN Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada B.C., Unidad La Paz, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico MIGUEL CORTEZ Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, Comisión Nacional del Agua, México, Distrito Federal, Mexico (Manuscript received 20 July 2004, in final form 26 January 2005) ABSTRACT This paper documents the life cycle of Tropical Cyclone Marty, which developed in late September 2003 over the eastern Pacific Ocean and made landfall on the Baja California peninsula. Observations and best-track data indicate that the center of circulation moved across the southern peninsula and proceeded northward in the Gulf of California. A network of surface meteorological stations in the vicinity of the storm track detected strong winds. Satellite and radar imagery are used to analyze the structure of convective patterns, and rain gauges recorded total precipitation. A comparison of Marty’s features at landfall, with respect to Juliette (2001), indicates similar wind intensity but differences in forward motion and accumu- lated precipitation. Official, real-time forecasts issued by the U.S. National Hurricane Center prior to landfall are compared with the best track. This resulted in a westward bias of positions with decreasing errors during subsequent forecast cycles. Numerical simulations from the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model were used to examine the evolution of the cyclonic circulation over the southern peninsula. The model was applied to a nested grid configuration with hori- zontal resolution as detailed as 3.3 km, with two (72- and 48-h) simulations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Contribution of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones to The
    AUGUST 2009 C O R B O S I E R O E T A L . 2415 The Contribution of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones to the Rainfall Climatology of the Southwest United States KRISTEN L. CORBOSIERO Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California MICHAEL J. DICKINSON Weather Predict Consulting, Inc., Narragansett, Rhode Island LANCE F. BOSART Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York (Manuscript received 26 August 2008, in final form 6 March 2009) ABSTRACT Forty-six years of summer rainfall and tropical cyclone data are used to explore the role that eastern North Pacific tropical cyclones (TCs) play in the rainfall climatology of the summer monsoon over the southwestern United States. Thirty-five TCs and their remnants were found to bring significant rainfall to the region, representing less than 10% of the total number of TCs that formed within the basin. The month of September was the most common time for TC rainfall to occur in the monsoon region as midlatitude troughs become more likely to penetrate far enough south to interact with the TCs and steer them toward the north and east. On average, the contribution of TCs to the warm-season precipitation increased from east to west, accounting for less than 5% of the rainfall in New Mexico and increasing to more than 20% in southern California and northern Baja California, with individual storms accounting for as much as 95% of the summer rainfall. The distribution of rainfall for TC events over the southwest United States reveals three main categories: 1) a direct northward track from the eastern Pacific into southern California and Nevada, 2) a distinct swath northeastward from southwestern Arizona through northwestern New Mexico and into southwestern Col- orado, and 3) a broad area of precipitation over the southwest United States with embedded maxima tied to terrain features.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Modeling with NASA Supercomputing Technology: When Sandy Meets Lorenz Bo-Wen Shen, Ph
    Global Modeling with NASA Supercomputing Technology: When Sandy Meets Lorenz Bo-Wen Shen, Ph. D. [email protected] Department of Mathematics and Statistics Center for Climate and Sustainability Studies Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University GMCS 214 SDiSttUiitSan Diego State University 21 November 2014 When Sandy Meets Lorenz 1 San Diego State Univ. Nov 21, 2014 Outline 1. ItIntrod uc tion 2. Navier-Stokes Equations, High-resolution Global Model, and Multiscale Modeling Framework (MMF) 3. Supercomputing and Visualization Technology 4. Simulations of Hurricanes Sandy and Others 5. Nonlinear Processes in Modified Lorenz Models 6. SdFtTkSummary and Future Tasks When Sandy Meets Lorenz 3 San Diego State Univ. Nov 21, 2014 Sandy: Tropical Cyclones with Multiscale Interactions Hurricane France Hurricane Howard Tropical Storm Phoebe Super typhoon Sonda When Sandy Meets Lorenz 4 San Diego State Univ. Nov 21, 2014 Lorenz: Chaos Theory with Butterfly Effect • The butterfly effect of first kind: sensitive dependence on initial conditions. • The butterfly effect of second kind: a metaphor for indicating that small perturbations can alter large-scale structure. • Lorenz’s studies suggested finite predictability and nonlinearity as the source of chaos. The studies by Lorenz (1963, 1972) laid the foundation for chaos theory, which was viewed as the third scientific revolution of the 20th century after relativity and quantum mechanics (e.g. Gleick, 1987; Anthes 2011). When Sandy Meets Lorenz 5 San Diego State Univ. Nov 21, 2014 When Sandy Meets Lorenz Sandy Lorenz Hurricane Dynamics Chaos Dynamics Earth Science Mathematics Complex Model Theoretical Model Real-world Model Idealized Model PDE ODE Complexities in Modeling Complexities in Mathematics Multiscale Processes Butterfly Effect Sandy (2012) Lorenz (1963) Can Sandy's ego be retained? (San Diego) When Sandy Meets Lorenz 6 San Diego State Univ.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Version of Global Guide to Tropical Cyclone Forecasting
    WMO-No. 1194 © World Meteorological Organization, 2017 The right of publication in print, electronic and any other form and in any language is reserved by WMO. Short extracts from WMO publications may be reproduced without authorization, provided that the complete source is clearly indicated. Editorial correspondence and requests to publish, reproduce or translate this publication in part or in whole should be addressed to: Chairperson, Publications Board World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 7 bis, avenue de la Paix P.O. Box 2300 CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland ISBN 978-92-63-11194-4 NOTE The designations employed in WMO publications and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WMO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WMO in preference to others of a similar nature which are not mentioned or advertised. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in WMO publications with named authors are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of WMO or its Members. This publication has not been subjected to WMO standard editorial procedures. The views expressed herein do not necessarily have the endorsement of the Organization. Preface Tropical cyclones are amongst the most damaging weather phenomena that directly affect hundreds of millions of people and cause huge economic loss every year. Mitigation and reduction of disasters induced by tropical cyclones and consequential phenomena such as storm surges, floods and high winds have been long-standing objectives and mandates of WMO Members prone to tropical cyclones and their National Meteorological and Hydrometeorological Services.
    [Show full text]
  • Thesis an Observational Analysis of Two Gulf Surge
    THESIS AN OBSERVATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TWO GULF SURGE EVENTS DURING THE 2004 NORTH AMERICAN MONSOON EXPERIMENT Submitted by Peter James Rogers Department of Atmospheric Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2005 COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY 3 November 2005 WE HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER OUR SUPERVISON BY PETER JAMES ROGERS ENTITLED AN OBSERVATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TWO GULF SURGE EVENTS DURING THE 2004 NORTH AMERICAN MONSOON EXPERIMENT BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING IN PART REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE. Committee on Graduate Work ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Advisor ______________________________________________________________ Department Head ii ABSTRACT OF THESIS AN OBSERVATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TWO GULF SURGE EVENTS DURING THE 2004 NORTH AMERICAN MONSOON EXPERIMENT Gulf surges are northward propagating disturbances along the Gulf of California (GOC) that are responsible for advecting large quantities of cool, moisture-laden air from the GOC or eastern tropical Pacific Ocean into the low deserts of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico during the North American Monsoon. Although numerous observational and modeling studies have examined the gross synoptic patterns, initiation mechanisms, general structure, and precipitation tendencies associated with gulf surges, little attention has been given to the dynamical mechanism(s) by which these disturbances propagate northward along the GOC. In this study, high temporal and spatial observational measurements collected during the 2004 North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) field campaign (1 July – 15 August) are used to describe the detailed vertical/ horizontal structure and probable dynamical mechanism(s) of two gulf surge events on a case-by-case basis.
    [Show full text]
  • Section 7: Floods
    Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Section 7 – Floods City of Newport Beach, California SECTION 7: FLOODS Table of Contents Why Are Floods a Threat to the City of Newport Beach? ............................ 7-1 History of Flooding in the City of Newport Beach ............................................................... 7-3 Historic Flooding in Orange County .......................................................................................... 7-8 Historic Flooding in Southern California ................................................................................. 7-11 What Factors Create Flood Risk? ................................................................... 7-14 Climate ........................................................................................................................................... 7-14 Tides ................................................................................................................................................ 7-19 Geography and Geology .............................................................................................................. 7-20 Built Environment ......................................................................................................................... 7-21 How Are Flood-Prone Areas Identified? ....................................................... 7-21 Flood Mapping Methods and Techniques ................................................................................ 7-22 Flood Terminology ......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • L.* /J Analysis of Northeast Pacific Hurricane Tico and Its Associated Heavy Rain Event Over the South Plains of Texas and Oklah
    L.* /J ANALYSIS OF NORTHEAST PACIFIC HURRICANE TICO AND ITS ASSOCIATED HEAVY RAIN EVENT OVER THE SOUTH PLAINS OF TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA by JOEL LEE TUMBIOLO, B.S. A THESIS IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved Accepted May, 1989 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Richard E. Peterson for his encouragements, assistance, and understanding during the preparation of this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Colleen A. Leary and Dr. Chia Bo Chang for their assistance and advice during the course of this work. A special thanks goes to Dr. Gerald M. Jurica for his advice during my years at Texas Tech. Special thanks also go out to Debbie Kerr for her assistance in preparing this thesis, Mark Oberfield for his assistance in generating the computer programs, and to Teresa Bals for her moral support. Finally, a special thanks goes to my wife, Becke for her understanding and support during the long hours I spent closed-in, writing text and drawing figures. Sincere thanks also go out to my parents, John and JoAnn Tumbiolo for their financial and moral support throughout my college years. Without this support, I could never have reached this educational goal. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii LIST OF FIGURES v I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Data Sources 8 II. THE SYNOPTIC SETTING 12 2.1 17 October 1983 12 2.2 18 October 1983 23 2.3 19 October 1983 33 2.4 20 October 1983 43 2.5 21 October 1983 53 111.
    [Show full text]
  • NCAR Annual Scientific Report Fiscal Year 1986 - Link Page Next PART0002
    National Center for Atmospheric Research Annual Scientific Report Fiscal Year 1986 Submitted to National Science Foundation by University Corporation for Atmospheric Research March 1987 /in Contents INTRODUCTION V ATMOSPHERIC ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION DIVISION ·. 1 Significant Accomplishments ............. I a a 0 1 Division Office . · · r0 3 Mesoscale Research Section ............. 0 0 0 0 0 5 Climate Section ................ ... p 0 0 0 13 Large-Scale Dynamics Section ............. 22 Oceanography Section ................ 30 ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY DIVISION ........ 39 Significant Accomplishments .. .... .a.. 40 Precipitation Chemistry, Reactive Gases, and Aerosols Section ........... ......... 41 Atmospheric Gas Measurements Section . .. 48 Global Observations, Modeling, and Optical Techniques Section ...... .. 54 Director's Office .. ........ ... 60 Support and Visitor Section ....... I. a. .. 62 HIGH ALTITUDE OBSERVATORY . 67 Significant Accomplishments .. ................ 67 Coronal/Interplanetary Physics Section a . a... .. 68 Solar Activity and Magnetic Fields Section . .. 77 Solar Interior Section ... ...... ...1 83 Terrestrial Interactions Section . .... a a............ a90 ADVANCED STUDY PROGRAM ..... 101 Significant Accomplishment .................. 101 Visitor Program .... .................... 102 Environmental and Societal Impacts Group ............. 119 Natural Systems Group ............... ... 125 CLOUDS SYSTEMS DIVISION .................. 133 Significant Accomplishments ......... ......... 133 Mesoscale Convective Systems
    [Show full text]
  • Using the Superensemble Method to Improve Eastern Pacific Tropical Cyclone Forecasting Mark Rickman Jordan II
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Using the Superensemble Method to Improve Eastern Pacific Tropical Cyclone Forecasting Mark Rickman Jordan II Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES USING THE SUPERENSEMBLE METHOD TO IMPROVE EASTERN PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONE FORECASTING By MARK RICKMAN JORDAN II A Thesis submitted to the Department of Meteorology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005 The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of Mark Jordan defended on 1 September 2005. _________________________________ T.N. Krishnamurti Professor Directing Thesis _________________________________ Carol Anne Clayson Committee Member _________________________________ Peter S. Ray Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my major professor, Dr. T.N. Krishnamurti, for all of his help through this process and for his unending encouragement and patience. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr. Carol Anne Clayson and Dr. Peter Ray for their advice and assistance throughout this process. Thank you Brian Mackey and Dr. Vijay Tallapragada for all of your help and wonderful suggestions during this project. Others who deserve commendation for their assistance during the past year include Mrinal Biswas, Arindam Chakraborty, Akhilesh Mishra, Lydia Stefanova, Donald van Dyke, and Lawrence Pologne. Thank you Bill Walsh for all of your support, advice, and encouragement over the years, and thank you Mike and Beth Rice for your love and support during my entire educational career.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded 09/30/21 10:18 AM UTC 88 JOURNAL of HYDROMETEOROLOGY VOLUME 19 Differences Is Evaporation
    JANUARY 2018 M A R T I N A I T I S E T A L . 87 A Real-Time Evaporation Correction Scheme for Radar-Derived Mosaicked Precipitation Estimations STEVEN M. MARTINAITIS Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, University of Oklahoma, and NOAA/OAR/National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma HEATHER M. GRAMS NOAA/NWS/Radar Operations Center, Norman, Oklahoma CARRIE LANGSTON Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, University of Oklahoma, and NOAA/OAR/National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma JIAN ZHANG AND KENNETH HOWARD NOAA/OAR/National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma (Manuscript received 23 May 2017, in final form 7 September 2017) ABSTRACT Precipitation values estimated by radar are assumed to be the amount of precipitation that occurred at the surface, yet this notion is inaccurate. Numerous atmospheric and microphysical processes can alter the pre- cipitation rate between the radar beam elevation and the surface. One such process is evaporation. This study determines the applicability of integrating an evaporation correction scheme for real-time radar-derived mosaicked precipitation rates to reduce quantitative precipitation estimate (QPE) overestimation and to reduce the coverage of false surface precipitation. An evaporation technique previously developed for large- scale numerical modeling is applied to Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) precipitation rates through the use of 2D and 3D numerical weather prediction (NWP) atmospheric parameters as well as basic radar properties. Hourly accumulated QPE with evaporation adjustment compared against gauge observations saw an average reduction of the overestimation bias by 57%–76% for rain events and 42%–49% for primarily snow events. The removal of false surface precipitation also reduced the number of hourly gauge observations that were considered as ‘‘false zero’’ observations by 52.1% for rain and 38.2% for snow.
    [Show full text]