Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2017 Brazilian Surface and Upper-level Wind Characteristics Based on Ground and Model Observations from 1980–2014 Joshua M. Gilliland Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Gilliland, Joshua M., "Brazilian Surface and Upper-level Wind Characteristics Based on Ground and Model Observations from 1980–2014" (2017). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 4410. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/4410 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 Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. BRAZILIAN SURFACE AND UPPER-LEVEL WIND CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON GROUND AND MODEL OBSERVATIONS FROM 1980–2014 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 in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Joshua M. Gilliland B.S., The Ohio State University, 2009 M.S., Western Kentucky University, 2011 August 2017 I dedicated this dissertation in memory of my grandparents, Ed and Rose Martof, aunt, Vicki Wilt, uncle, Joe Giampapa, and golden retriever, Cody. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge my parents, Hank and Rita. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to continue my education at Louisiana State University. Without your continued support and sacrifices, I would have never of gotten to this point in my life. The values and lessons that you instilled in me from a young age have encouraged me to continue to reach for the stars and never settle for anything less. Thank you and I love you very much! To my brothers, Nick and Adam, I would like to thank you for your continual support through this part of my journey here in Louisiana. I could not ask for any better brothers whom to share my problems and concerns. I would like to also acknowledge my entire extended family for their support and guidance throughout the years. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Barry D. Keim, for sharing his expertise and mentoring me through my research and guiding me through my final part of my graduate education process. In addition, I would to acknowledge my committee members, Drs. Aly-Mousaad Aly, Joshua D. Durkee, Robert V. Rohli, and Jill C. Trepanier, for their advice and guidance through the dissertation process. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................. 1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Literature Review ........................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 Global .................................................................................................. 3 1.2.2 North America .................................................................................... 4 1.2.3 Europe ................................................................................................. 9 1.2.4 Middle East ....................................................................................... 13 1.2.5 Asia ................................................................................................... 14 1.2.6 India .................................................................................................. 19 1.2.7 Australia ............................................................................................ 19 1.2.8 South America .................................................................................. 20 1.3 Research Questions ...................................................................................... 23 1.4 Summary ...................................................................................................... 27 1.5 References .................................................................................................... 27 2 SURFACE WIND SPEED: TREND AND CLIMATOLOGY OF BRAZIL FROM 1980–2014 ............................................................................................... 35 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 35 2.2 Data and Methods ........................................................................................ 39 2.2.1 In-situ Winds ...................................................................................... 39 2.2.2 Reanalysis Winds ............................................................................... 43 2.2.3 Statistical Analysis ............................................................................. 44 2.3 Results .......................................................................................................... 46 2.3.1 Wind Climatology .............................................................................. 46 2.3.2 Linear Trend Analysis ........................................................................ 50 2.3.3 Quantile Regression Analysis ............................................................ 55 2.4 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 59 2.5 References .................................................................................................... 62 3 POSITION OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC ANTICYCLONE AND ITS IMPACT ON SURFACE CONDITIONS ACROSS BRAZIL ........................................... 70 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 70 3.2 Data and Methods ........................................................................................ 71 3.2.1 Reanalysis Datasets ........................................................................... 71 3.2.2 Identify SAA Center in the SAB ...................................................... 72 iv 3.2.3 Surface Wind Speed and SAA Characteristics of the SAB .............. 74 3.3 Results .......................................................................................................... 76 3.3.1 Linear Trends of Surface Wind Speed and SAA for the SAB .......... 76 3.3.2 Brazilian Surface Correlations Based on the SAA ........................... 81 3.3.3 SAA Characteristics Based on Surface Anomalies .......................... 86 3.4 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 91 3.5 References .................................................................................................... 94 4 SPATIOTEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF UPPER-LEVEL WIND SPEED TRENDS OF BRAZIL DURING 1980–2014 ................................................................... 100 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 100 4.2 Data and Methods ...................................................................................... 103 4.3 Results ........................................................................................................ 105 4.3.1 Overall and Spatial Wind Trends .................................................... 105 4.3.2 Regional Wind Trends .................................................................... 115 4.4 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 118 4.5 References .................................................................................................. 120 5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................ 126 5.1 Overview .................................................................................................... 126 5.2 Statistical Overview ................................................................................... 127 5.3 Summary .................................................................................................... 129 5.3.1 Surface Wind Analysis ................................................................... 129 5.3.2 South Atlantic Anticyclone Analysis .............................................. 131 5.3.3 Upper-Level Wind Analysis ........................................................... 132 5.4 Conclusions and Future Research .............................................................. 133 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 136 VITA .............................................................................................................................. 151 v LIST OF TABLES Table