Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Models For Predicting Maximum Potential Intensity Of Tropical Cyclones, Iftekhar Chowdhury, Gemechis Djira

SDSU Data Science Symposium

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are considered as extreme weather events, which has a low-pressure center, namely an eye, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produces heavy rain, storm surges, and can cause severe destruction in coastal areas worldwide. Therefore, reliable forecasts of the maximum potential intensity (MPI) of TCs are critical to estimate the damages to properties, lives, and risk assessment. In this study, we explore and propose various regression models, to predict the potential intensity of TCs in the North Atlantic at 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72- hour forecasting lead time. In addition, a popular …

Remote Internal Wave Forcing Of Regional Ocean Simulations Near The U.S. West Coast, Oladeji Q. Siyanbola, Maarten C. Buijsman, Audrey Delpech, Lionel Renault, Roy Barkan, Jay F. Shriver, Brian K. Arbic, James C. Mcwilliams

Faculty Publications

Low mode internal waves are able to propagate across ocean basins and modulate ocean dynamics thousands of kilometers away from their generation sites. In this study, the impact of remotely generated internal waves on the internal wave energetics near the U.S. West Coast is investigated with realistically forced regional ocean simulations. At the open boundaries, we impose high-frequency oceanic state variables obtained from a global ocean simulation with realistic atmospheric and astronomical tidal forcing. We use the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) technique in separating ingoing and outgoing internal tide energy fluxes at the open boundaries in order to quantify internal …

Evaluating Knowledge Gaps In Sea-Level Rise Assessments From The United States, Andra J. Garner, Sarah E. Sosa, Fangyi Tan, Christabel Wan Jie Tan, Gregory G. Garner, Benjamin P. Horton

School of Earth & Environment Faculty Scholarship

There have been many scientific advances regarding future sea-level projections, however it is unclear if these have been transferred to assessment reports used by stakeholders. Here, we present a first-of-its-kind comprehensive analysis of regional sea-level rise (SLR) assessments for the United States (U.S.). We identify variations in time horizons over which regions plan for SLR, with 25 projections from the U.S. Northeast and West that extend to 2150 or beyond, but no projections from the U.S. South beyond 2100. The majority of 2100 projections from the U.S. Northeast (77%) and West (83%) include ranges of future SLR, while 88% of …

Assessment Of The Impact Of Climate Change On The Occurrences Of Malaria, Pneumonia, Meningitis, And Cholera In Lokoja City, Nigeria, Isaac Ayo Oluwatimilehin, Joseph Omojesu Akerele, Tolulope Adedoyin Oladeji, Mojisola Hannah Omogbehin, Godwin Atai

Regional Sustainability

This study examined the impact of climate change on the occurrence of malaria, pneumonia, meningitis, and cholera in Lokoja City, Nigeria, with the aim of investigating the spatial distribution and prevalence of the four kinds of diseases as well as the coping strategies of people in the area. We collected the rainfall and temperature data of Lokoja City during 2000–2020 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the medical records data of the four kinds of diseases from the Kogi State Ministry of Health. We also conducted a semi-structured questionnaire of 250 residents, who have experienced one of …

Gravity Wave Drag Parameterizations For Earth’S Atmosphere, Christopher J. Heale, Christopher G. Kruse, Jadwiga H. Richter, M. Joan Alexander, Julio T. Bacmeister, Junhong Wei

Publications

Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs), or buoyancy waves, transport momentum and energy through Earth’s atmosphere. GWs are important at nearly all levels of the atmosphere, though, the momentum they transport is particularly important in general circulation of the middle and upper atmosphere. Primary sources of atmospheric GWs are flow over mountains, moist convection, and imbalances in jet/frontal systems. Secondary GWs can also be generated as a result of dissipation of a primary GWs. Gravity waves typically have horizontal wavelengths of 10’s to 100’s of kilometers, though, they can have scales of 1’s to 1000’s of kilometers as well. Current effective resolutions …

The Future Of Pandemics: Land Use Controls As Means Of Preventing Zoonotic Disease, Bailey Andree

Pace International Law Review

Zoonotic diseases are increasing in frequency as climate change worsens around the world, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the inadequate mechanisms in place to counteract disease spread. This article reviews various zoonotic diseases and their patterns of spread, highlighting land use change as the key driver of disease to demonstrate the need for legal intervention. International land use law is a little-developed subsect of environmental law that holds the key to combating this disease spread, and this article proposes solutions through this legal lens. Land use techniques which may be used to combat disease spread include conservation laws, setback …

Identifying Factors To Develop And Validate A Heat Vulnerability Tool For Pakistan – A Review, Salman Muhammad Soomar, Sarmad Muhammad Soomar

Department of Emergency Medicine

Objective: This review will provide better insight into developing and validating a heat vulnerability assessment tool for Pakistan.
Methods: A literature search was done to identify studies onon heat vulnerability assessment published from January 2012 to January 2021 (10 years). Online databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of science were used for the literature search.
Results: Heat vulnerability can be evaluated by some specific determinants that have heat-related health events, including social, economic, environmental, housing, and geographical factors.
Conclusion: This tool will identify heat vulnerability risks and mitigate morbidity and mortality.

How Hurricanes Impact Florida's Tourism Industry, Arthur Huang

Rosen Research Review

Almost every year, hurricanes bear down upon the state of Florida. The storms appear to be growing in occurrence and severity. While the media cover the damage and death toll, the impacts on the state's critical tourism sector remain largely anecdotal. The full story lies buried in data. Dr. Arthur Huang from UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management has investigated different data sets to understand the impact of hurricanes on the tourism industry. What has been uncovered has significance not only for Florida but for tourism sectors elsewhere affected by these giant storms.

Just Transition Litigation In Latin America: An Initial Categorization Of Climate Litigation Cases Amid The Energy Transition, Maria Antonia Tigre, Lorena Zenteno, Marlies Hesselman, Natalia Urzola, Pedro Cisterna-Gaete, Riccardo Luporini

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Just transition litigation is a novel field representing a sub-set of climate change litigation cases that is under-researched and studied. The report provides a novel comparative analysis of legal developments found in 20 just transition litigation cases in four Latin American countries and questions whether initiatives for achieving energy transformation in the region may have erred in failing to consider key just transition principles or dimensions, leading applicants to bring legal cases to claim their rights or demand more just solutions. The cases found – limited to the energy sector – not only question decarbonization policies or projects (in typical …

Dataset: A Numerical Simulation Of The Ocean, Sea Ice And Ice Shelves In The Amundsen Sea (Antarctica) Over The Period 2006-2022 And Its Associated Code And Input Files, Pierre St-Laurent

Data

A three-dimensional numerical model of the Amundsen Sea (Antarctica) was used to simulate the period Jan.2006-Mar.2022 under consistent atmospheric/oceanic forcings, bathymetry/ice shelf topography, and model equations/parameters. The model is an implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS, https://www.myroms.org/) with extensions for sea ice (Budgell 2005) and ice shelves (Dinniman et al. 2011). It simulates the ocean hydrography and circulation, sea ice thermodynamics and dynamics, and the basal melt of the ice shelves, with a uniform horizontal mesh of 1.5km and 20 topography-following vertical levels. Forcings include the ERA5 reanalysis (3-hourly), 10 tidal constituents from CATS 2008, and ocean/sea ice …

Frequent Storm Surges Affect The Groundwater Of Coastal Ecosystems, Giovanna Nordio, Ryan Frederiks, Mary Hingst, Joel Carr, Matthew L. Kirwan, Et Al

VIMS Articles

Recent studies have focused on the effect of large tropical cyclones (hurricanes) on the shore, neglecting the role of less intense but more frequent events. Here we analyze the effect of the offshore tropical storm Melissa on groundwater data collected along the North America Atlantic coast. Our meta-analysis indicates that both groundwater level and specific conductivity significantly increased during Melissa, respectively reaching maximum values of 1.09 m and 25.2 mS/cm above pre-storm levels. Time to recover to pre-storm levels was 10 times greater for groundwater specific conductivity, with a median value of 20 days, while groundwater level had a median …

Blue Carbon Science, Management And Policy Across A Tropical Urban Landscape, Daniel A. Friess, Yasmine M. Gatt, Tze Kwan Fung, Jahson B. Alemu I, Natasha Bhatia, Rebecca Case, Siew Chin Chua, Danwei Huang, Valerie Kwan, Kiah Eng Lim, Yudhishthra Nathan, Yan Xiang Ow, Daniel Saavedra-Hortua, Taylor M. Sloey, Erik S. Yando, Hassan Ibrahim, Lian Pin Koh, Jun Yu Puah, Serena Lay-Ming Teo, Karenne Tun, Lynn Wei Wong, Siti Maryam Yaakub

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The ability of vegetated coastal ecosystems to sequester high rates of “blue” carbon over millennial time scales has attracted the interest of national and international policy makers as a tool for climate change mitigation. Whereas focus on blue carbon conservation has been mostly on threatened rural seascapes, there is scope to consider blue carbon dynamics along highly fragmented and developed urban coastlines. The tropical city state of Singapore is used as a case study of urban blue carbon knowledge generation, how blue carbon changes over time with urban development, and how such knowledge can be integrated into urban planning alongside …

Spatial And Temporal Characteristics Of Historical Surface Climate Over The Northwest Territories, Canada, Bhaleka D. Persaud

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change is putting many of the Northwest Territories (NWT) ecosystems, its people and animal populations at risk due to accelerated warming, permafrost thaw, and changing precipitation regimes. As the NWT continues to warm, at disproportionately higher rates when compared to the rest of Canada, threats to the stability of NWT’s ecosystems are expected to increase. Consequently, understanding how climate warming has changed historically and its implications on natural ecosystems requires point-to-region-specific, long-term climatic data to elucidate important drivers of observed changes relevant to decision makers at community, Indigenous, Territorial and Federal government levels. However, in situ climate data are …

Comstock Point, Lubec, Maine - A Natural And Photographic History, Willaim H. Schlesinger, Lisa M. Dellwo

Documents from Environmental Organizations

A natural and photographic history of our lands compiled by Lisa Dellwo and Bill Schlesinger, with the help of many friends and neighbors.

Historical Tsunami Observability For Izu–Bonin–Mariana Sources, Walter Szeliga, Rachelle Reisinger, Breanyn T. Macinnes

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

The Izu–Bonin–Mariana Subduction System (IBM) is one of the longest subduction zones in the world with no instrumental history of shallow focus, great earthquakes (Mw > 8). Over the last 50 years, researchers have speculated on the reason for the absence of large magnitude, shallow seismicity on this plate interface, exploring factors from plate age to convergence rate. We approach the question from a different point of view: what if the IBM has hosted great earthquakes and no documentable evidence was left? To address the question of observability, we model expected tsunami wave heights from nine great earthquake scenarios on the …

Ecological Protection Alone Is Not Enough To Conserve Ecosystem Carbon Storage: Evidence From Guangdong, China, Lihan Cui, Wenwen Tang, Sheng Zheng, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The increase in atmospheric CO₂ caused by land use and land cover change (LUCC) is one of the drivers of the global climate. As one of the most typical high-urbanization areas, the ecological conflicts occurring in Guangdong Province warrant urgent attention. A growing body of evidence suggests LUCC could guide the future ecosystem carbon storage, but most LUCC simulations are simply based on model results without full consistency with the actual situation. Fully combined with the territorial spatial planning project and based on the land use pattern in 2010 and 2020, we have used the Markov and Patch-generating Land …

Relative Importance Of Radar Variables For Nowcasting Heavy Rainfall: A Machine Learning Approach, Yi Victor Wang, Seung Hee Kim, Geunsu Lyu, Choeng-Lyong Lee, Gyuwon Lee, Ki-Hong Min, Menas C. Kafatos

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

Highly short-term forecasting, or nowcasting, of heavy rainfall due to rapidly evolving mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) is particularly challenging for traditional numerical weather prediction models. To overcome such a challenge, a growing number of studies have shown significant advantages of using machine learning (ML) modeling techniques with remote sensing data, especially weather radar data, for high-resolution rainfall nowcasting. To improve ML model performance, it is essential first and foremost to quantify the importance of radar variables and identify pertinent predictors of rainfall that can also be associated with domain knowledge. In this study, a set of MCS types consisting of …

Livelihood Vulnerability Of Smallholder Farmers To Climate Change: A Comparative Analysis Based On Irrigation Access In South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Arifah, Darmawan Salman, Amir Yassi, Eymal Bahsar Demmallino

Regional Sustainability

Bulukumba Regency is one of the major rice-producing areas in South Sulawesi, Indonesia and has experienced frequent climate disasters over the past decade. Several downstream villages within the Bettu River irrigation area have been affected by the drought, culminating in reduced lowland rice production and increasing the vulnerability of farmers’ livelihoods. This study aims to evaluate the vulnerability of the livelihood system among rice farmers in the Bettu River irrigation area by classifying the area into two zones based on the distance from the main irrigation canal, namely the upstream area and downstream area. The livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) framework …

Possible Overestimation Of Nitrogen Dioxide Outgassing During The Beirut 2020 Explosion, Ashraf Farahat, Nayla El-Kork, Ramesh P. Singh, Feng Jing

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

On 4 August 2020, a strong explosion occurred near the Beirut seaport, Lebanon and killed more than 200 people and damaged numerous buildings in the vicinity. As Amonium Nitrate (AN) caused the explosion, many studies claimed the release of large amounts of NO₂ in the atmosphere may have resulted in a health hazard in Beirut and the vicinity. In order to reasonably evaluate the significance of NO₂ amounts released in the atmosphere, it is important to investigate the spatio-temporal distribution of NO₂ during and after the blast and compare it to the average day-to-day background emissions from …

Anthropogenic Effects On Tidal Distortion In A Tidal River, Matthew D. Fischer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tidal rivers are landward portions of estuarine systems constituting the union between coastal, tidally controlled settings and rivers, where fluvial processes dominate. In these reaches, river discharge (mean flow) and tides are the two most important mechanisms in controlling geophysical flows. The processes governing water levels and current amplitudes in tidal rivers are highly nonlinear and modulated by external forcings- thus requiring sophisticated techniques for accurate prediction and forecasting. Physical oceanographers and estuarine physicists tend to limit their study area to the maximum extent of the horizontal tide (salinity intrusion), not the most landward point influenced by tidal water levels. …

Future Colorado River Basin Drought And Surplus, Rama Bedri, Thomas Piechota

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Historical and future drought and surplus periods in the Colorado River basin are evaluated based on eight climate scenarios. Unimpaired streamflow from 17 stations in the Colorado River are evaluated based on U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, and Coupled Modeled Intercomparison Projection 5 downscaled data from 1950–2099. Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios are considered for four climate models (HadGEM2-ES, CNRM-CM5, CanESM2, MI-ROC5). Drought (surplus) quantities, magnitudes, severities, and water year flows are compared for the historical and future periods. Results indicate that there is a significant difference between the historical record and future projections. The …

An Intercomparison Of Large-Eddy Simulations Of A Convection Cloud Chamber Using Haze-Capable Bin And Lagrangian Cloud Microphysics Schemes, Fan Yang, Fabian Hoffmann, Raymond Shaw, Mikhail Ovchinnikov, Andrew Vogelmann

Michigan Tech Research Data

Recent in-situ observations show that haze particles exist in a convection cloud chamber. The microphysics schemes previously used for large-eddy simulations of the cloud chamber could not fully resolve haze particles and the associated processes, including their activation and deactivation. Specifically, cloud droplet activation is modeled based on Twomey-type parameterizations, wherein cloud droplets are formed when a critical supersaturation for the available cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) is exceeded and haze particles are not explicitly resolved. Here, we develop and adapt haze-capable bin and Lagrangian microphysics schemes to properly resolve the activation and deactivation processes. Results are compared with the Twomey-type …

Microplastic Accumulation In The Digestive Tract Of Young-Of-Year Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks (Rhizoprionodon Terraenovae) In The Grand Strand, Sc, Andrew Curtis Sitlinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the presence and accumulation of microplastic fibers in the digestive tract and livers of young-of-year Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks (Rhizopriondon terraenovae) from two sampling locations along the Grand Strand of South Carolina. R. terraenovae is a small, mesopredatory elasmobranch found abundantly along northwestern Atlantic Ocean coastlines. Thirty specimens of R. terraenovae were collected from May through August of 2020. Microplastics were found in all specimens. A total of 672 plastic particles were identified over the course of the study, with an average of 22.4 ± 10.5 (SD) plastics per specimen. The majority of the plastics were classified …

Silting Dynamics And Metal Contaminants In The Georgetown Inner Harbor, Ezekiel Wil Meyers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Georgetown inner harbor is an abandoned oxbow-like river loop and a vital historic site with a wealth of traditional businesses and heavy local industry located within Winyah Bay. Since the modification of the Sampit River in 1949, chronic rapid silting has plagued the inner harbor. With these substantial amounts of fine-grained material accumulating inside the inner harbor, business operations along the waterfront, navigational and maritime operations, and contamination within the harbor are of major concern. The goals of this study were to (a) understand the silting dynamics inside the inner harbor, (b) identify heavy metals which might be of …

Improving Near Surface Refractivity Estimates In Marine Environments, Sarah Evelyn Wessinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study utilizes in-situ measurements and numerical weather prediction datasets collected during the Coupled Air-Sea Processes Electromagnetic Ducting Research East field campaign to assess how thermodynamic properties in the marine atmospheric surface layer influence evaporation duct shape and to develop a simple near-surface modified refractivity estimation method. This study utilizes a logarithmic linear parametric model, which describes evaporation ducts via three main parameters: evaporation duct height, evaporation duct curvature, and mixed layer slope. Notably, most studies utilizing this type of model assume the curvature, C0, to be a theoretical value derived assuming neutral atmospheric stability; a thermodynamic regime that is …

Arctic Sea Ice Loss In The Pacific Sector And Its Impacts On Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events, Jiarong Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic sea ice is a critical indicator of climate change. The extent of sea ice coverage over the Arctic Ocean has dramatically declined over the past few decades. The impact has been extensively studied through observations suggesting a linkage between the anomalously warm Arctic surface associated with the Arctic sea ice loss and the mid-latitude surface cooling in the subsequent boreal winter. This linkage could involve the wintertime stratospheric circulation by enhancing the upward planetary wave activity and weakening the polar vortex. With recent advances in climate model, more relevant studies relied on numerical simulations and some suggested that …

From The Sky To The Smartphone: Communicating Weather Information In A Digital Age, Cole M. Vaughn

Theses and Dissertations

As new technology has emerged in the digital era, the public can now choose from a variety of new media from which to get weather information. Weather applications (apps) and social media have emerged as some of the popular new media. This study sought to understand the extent to which these new media are used, how weather apps are perceived, how the news media used Twitter during Hurricane Irma, and how the public engaged with the news media’s tweets. A survey and dataset of tweets were used to evaluate the research questions and hypotheses of this research. The study found …

Performance Analysis: Using The Northern Sea Route As An Alternative To Traditional Routes, Liangkun Xu, Qing Yu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The grounding accident of M/V EVER GIVEN in the Suez Canal causes a catastrophic loss on shipping companies. Alternatively, previous studies have presented encouraging findings of the remarkable benefits of time and cost saving in the Northern sea route (NSR) due to extend the ice-free time and shorten the distance. Ships using the NSR could shorten as much as 40% of the sailing distance from China (Shanghai) to Europe (Rotterdam) compared with the traditional route via the Suez Canal. This paper investigates the economic potential of using the NSR as a cost-effective route in comparison with Suez Canal Route (SCR) …

Numerical And Approximate Analytic Solutions Of Second- Order Nonlinear Boundary Value Problems, Chein-Shan Liu, Jian-Hung Shen, Yung-Wei Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The shooting method consists of guessing unknown initial values, transforming a second-order nonlinear boundary value problem (BVP) to an initial value problem and integrating it to obtain the values at the right end to match the specified boundary condition, which acts as a target equation. In the shooting method, the key issue is accurately solving the target equation to obtain highly precise initial values. Due to the implicit and nonlinear property, we develop a generalized derivative-free Newton method (GDFNM) to solve the target equation, which offers very accurate initial values. Numerical examples are examined to show that the shooting method …

Optimization Of Circular Silencers Internally Hybridized With Multiple Reverse Chambers Using The Ga Method, Min-Chie Chiu, Ying-Chun Chang, Tian-Syung Lan, Ho-Sheng Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

A noise abatement method using an eigen function in conjunction with an optimizer (Genetic Algorithm) under a space-constrain situation is proposed in this study concerning a high order wave propagation effect. An eigen function is used to describe an acoustical field and shorten the acoustical model in a four-pole transfer matrix form. The system’s four-pole matrix estimates the Transmission Loss (TL) for the silencers by multiplying individual four-pole matrices.

Additionally, a case study of an air compressor’s broadband noise elimination is introduced. Three types of circular reverse silencers (silencers A-C) internally hybridized with multiple straight chambers are adopted to efficiently …