Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Analysis Of Titan's Fluvial Features Using Numerical Modeling, Jeshurun Horton

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

River channels have been observed near the Huygens probe landing site on the surface of Titan, along with evidence of rounded water ice boulders transported through fluid flow. Evidence near the landing site suggests active flow of liquid methane, which has motivated the study of the effects of sediment load and channel sizes on Titan’s fluvial features. A numerical model is used to determine the viscosity, flow velocity, and critical boulder transport diameter based on channel size, slope, and a range of sediment concentrations. This model achieves two ends: first, observed boulder diameters are used to determine the ideal channel …

Deep Learning For Weather Clustering And Forecasting, Nathaniel R. Beveridge

Theses and Dissertations

Clustering weather data is a valuable endeavor in multiple respects. The results can be used in various ways within a larger weather prediction framework or could simply serve as an analytical tool for characterizing climatic differences of a particular region of interest. This research proposes a methodology for clustering geographic locations based on the similarity in shape of their temperature time series over a long time horizon of approximately 11 months. To this end an emerging and powerful class of clustering techniques that leverages deep learning, called deep representation clustering (DRC), are utilized. Moreover, a time series specific DRC algorithm …

Exploring Environmental And Methodological Sensitivities Of Forecasted And Observed Surface Winds And Gusts Using Underutilized Datasets, Alex Roslyn Gallagher

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Accurate forecasts and reliable observations of surface mean winds and gusts inhabit a vast and essential role in meteorological applications that range from wind energy, atmospheric transport, fire weather, and hazard assessment. This dissertation aims to address and explore known shortfalls in the prediction of mean winds and gusts as well as enhance evaluation and understanding of observed surface wind measurements. A variety of forecasts, methodologies, and observational dataset, many of which have been previously un- or under-utilized, are leveraged to tackle the differing needs of assessing mean winds, gusts, and the surface environment.Detailed verifications of HRRR (version 3 and …

Theoretical And Observational Analysis Of Ice Particles For Improvement Of Ice Microphysical Models, Vanessa Przybylo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Frozen hydrometeors can grow to acquire a multitude of shapes and sizes, which influence the distribution of mass within cloud systems. Aggregates have a variety of formations based on initial ice particle size, shape, falling orientation, and the number of particles that collect. This work employs the theoretical Ice Particle and Aggregate Simulator (IPAS) as a statistical tool to repetitively collect ice crystals to derive bulk aggregate characteristics.

Weather And Crime: New York State, Yuna Kim

Student Theses

The present study assesses the degree to which temperature affects the crime rates in all 62 counties in the State of New York. Five different crimes (i.e., robbery, aggravated assault, burglary; larceny, and motor vehicle theft) for the year 2019 were selected from the Division of Criminal Justice Services of New York to be examined. The current study examined whether the rate of these crimes was associated with the changes in weather, with the assumption that higher weathers would lead to higher property and violent crimes, when controlling for the effect of various control variables. The findings suggest that the …

Characterizing The Northern Hemisphere Circumpolar Vortex Through Space And Time, Nazla Bushra

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This hemispheric-scale, steering atmospheric circulation represented by the circumpolar vortices (CPVs) are the middle- and upper-tropospheric wind belts circumnavigating the poles. Variability in the CPV area, shape, and position are important topics in geoenvironmental sciences because of the many links to environmental features. However, a means of characterizing the CPV has remained elusive. The goal of this research is to (i) identify the Northern Hemisphere CPV (NHCPV) and its morphometric characteristics, (ii) understand the daily characteristics of NHCPV area and circularity over time, (iii) identify and analyze spatiotemporal variability in the NHCPV’s centroid, and (iv) analyze how CPV features relate …

Hydrometeorological Responses To Abrupt Land Surface Change Following Hurricane Michael, Shannon Alexis Nelson

LSU Master's Theses

While many of the destructive environmental conditions associated with tropical cyclones are well recognized, tropical cyclone-induced defoliation, a reduction in green leaves and mature vegetation, has been largely overlooked as a source of environmental stress following tropical cyclone passage. The land surface change associated with defoliation reduces evapotranspiration and shade, thus altering boundary layer moisture and energy fluxes that drive the local water cycle, for many months after tropical cyclone passage. Understanding the potential for any hydrometeorological impacts arising from such abrupt land surface change is important for guiding future post-hurricane preparedness and recovery planning in coastal communities.

This thesis …

Hazardous Weather And Human Response In The Southeastern United States, Daniel Burow

Doctoral Dissertations

Effectively mitigating the human costs of future hazardous weather events requires examining meteorological threats, their long-term patterns, and human response to these events. The southeastern United States is a region that has both a high climatological risk and a high societal vulnerability to many different meteorological hazards. In this dissertation, I study hazardous weather and human response in the Southeast through three different lenses: identifying uniquely simultaneous hazards posed by tropical cyclones, assessing precipitation and synoptic weather patterns on hazardous weather days, and examining patterns in intended response to tornado watches. I find that simultaneous and collocated tornado and flash …

The Effect Of Initial Conditions On The Weather Research And Forecasting Model, Aaron D. Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modeling our atmosphere and determining forecasts using numerical methods has been a challenge since the early 20th Century. Most models use a complex dynamical system of equations that prove difficult to solve by hand as they are chaotic by nature. When computer systems became more widely adopted and available, approximating the solution of these equations, numerically, became easier as computational power increased. This advancement in computing has caused numerous weather models to be created and implemented across the world. However a challenge of approximating these solutions accurately still exists as each model have varying set of equations and variables to …

Correction Of Back Trajectories Utilizing Machine Learning, Britta F. Gjermo Morrison

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this work was to analyze 24-hour back trajectory performance from a global, low-resolution weather model compared to a high-resolution limited area weather model in particular meteorological regimes, or flow patterns using K-means clustering, an unsupervised machine learning technique. The duration of this study was from 2015-2019 for the contiguous United States (CONUS). Three different machine learning algorithms were tested to study the utility of these methods improving the performance of the CFS relative to the performance of the RAP. The aforementioned machine learning techniques are linear regression, Bayesian ridge regression, and random forest regression. These results mean …

Ccsfs/Ksc Total Lightning Warning Radii Optimization For Merlin Using Preexisting Lightning Areas, Kimberly G. Holland

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to optimize lightning warning radii specifications for the 45th Space Wing (45 SW), thus reducing the number of unnecessary warnings that delay ground processing needed for space launch execution at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This thesis sought to answer two key research questions addressing: 1) What radius reduction effectively balances both safety and operations and do reduction recommendations from previous research align with results from the new detection system? 2) What insights can be gained from comparing measurement results for seasonal lightning events as well as lightning types? This …

Behavior Of Lightning In Developing Storms, Erick A. Tello

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force weather squadrons issue a warning when lightning activity is observed within 5 nautical miles (NM) of protected areas. Upon receiving this warning, personnel outdoors are expected to pause work and move inside. Studies sponsored by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) have concluded that the 5 NM warning radius can be safely reduced for well-developed storms. This thesis investigates whether radii for storms in early development can also be reduced. Our research develops algorithms to partition lightning sensor data into storms. Next, storms are filtered to their earliest lightning events, and the study calculates distances between successive early …

Weather-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In The United States: 2000-2019, Bailey Raine Stevens

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that can cause injury or death if inhaled. CO is a frequent secondary hazard induced by the aftereffects of natural hazards as individuals, families, and communities will often seek alternative power sources for heating, cooking, lighting, and cleanup during the emergency and recovery phases of a disaster. These alternative power sources – such as generators, petrol heaters, and vehicles, exhaust CO – can ultimately build to toxic levels in enclosed areas. Ever-increasing environmental and societal changes combined with an aging infrastructure are increasing the odds of power failures during hazardous weather events, …

Trends In Observed And Simulated Radar Reflectivity For The 21st Century, Christopher Michael Battisto

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The effects of climate change may influence the prevalence of regional atmospheric conditions supportive of hazardous convective weather (HCW). As a result, the possibility of an increase in the frequency, strength, and/or variability of thunderstorms and their high-impact hazards—including tornadoes, damaging winds, hail, and flash flood-producing downpours—has garnered much scientific and public interest. Radar reflectivity, which remotely assesses precipitation intensity, may be used to detect, track, catalog, and appraise HCW and their parent storms over broad spatiotemporal scales. Reflectivity may also be simulated with regional climate models, and recent, but limited, efforts using these simulation output have identified the potential …

Midwestern U.S. Diurnal Temperature Range: Spatial And Temporal Trends From 1900-2018, Kelly Ann Swaney

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In the Corn Belt region of the United States, the twentieth century saw many land use changes as the land had been converted from the natural landscape to cropland. As the twentieth century progressed, numerous advancements occurred to increase the crop acreage, crop density, and amount of irrigated land. All of these changes contributed to higher rates of evapotranspiration, which put more moisture into the low levels of the atmosphere. This additional moisture played a role in changing the radiative fluxes and, as a result, the surface temperature. The Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR) is examined across the 1900 to 2018 …

A Comparison Of The Upscale Influence Of Various Planetary Boundary Layer Turbulence Parameterizations On The Evolution Of Extratropical Cyclones, Matthew Vaughan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Subgrid-scale turbulence in numerical weather prediction models is typically handled by a PBL parameterization. These schemes attempt to represent turbulent mixing processes occurring below the resolvable scale of the model grid in the vertical direction, and they act upon temperature, moisture, and momentum within the boundary layer. This dissertation utilizes idealized and full-physics numerical model simulations to understand how variations in turbulent mixing parameterizations may influence sensible weather forecasts of baroclinic cyclones across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Furthermore, a primary pathway through which PBL turbulence projects upscale during baroclinic cyclone events is identified using a combination of …

Process-Based Evaluation Of Stochastic Perturbed Parameterization Tendencies On Ensemble Forecasts Of Heavy Rainfall Events, Kevin Michael Lupo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Stochastic model error schemes, such as the stochastic perturbed parameterization tendencies (SPPT) and independent SPPT (iSPPT) schemes, have become an increasingly utilized method to represent model error associated with uncertain subgrid-scale processes in ensemble prediction systems (EPSs). While much of the current literature focuses on how stochastic methods influence ensemble skill, relatively less attention is given to the processes by which these schemes lead to forecast variability. In this vein, this dissertation examines the physical processes by which the application of SPPT and iSPPT to the microphysics, planetary boundary layer (PBL), and radiation parameterization schemes yields rainfall forecast variability. These …

Evaluating The Performance Of National Water Model Snow Simulations In The Northeastern United States Using Advanced Mesonet Observations, Patrick William Naple

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Snow is a critical component in the hydrologic cycle and critical to runoff in many regions. While not as deep or persistent as snow in the Western United States (WUS) , snow in the Northeastern US (NEUS) is critical to water resource management and flood forecasting. For hydrological applications, snow is simulated using coupled hydrology models . These models couple numerical weather models, land surface models, and channel routing models that simulate water transport. One such coupled hydrology model is the NOAA National Water Model (NWM), implemented in 2016. The NWM runs a specific configuration of the WRF-Hydro community model. …

Reveal Wind Loading Of Tornadoes And Hurricanes On Civil Structures Towards Hazard-Resistant Design, Ryan Honerkamp

Doctoral Dissertations

"Extreme winds impacting civil structures lead to death and destruction in all regions of the world. Specifically, tornadoes and hurricanes impact communities with severe devastation. On average, 1200 tornadoes occur in the United States every year. Tornadoes occur predominantly in the Central and Southeastern United States, accounting for an annual $1 billion in economic losses, 1500 injuries, and 90 deaths. The Joplin, MO Tornado in 2011 killed 161 people, injured more than 1000, destroyed more than 8000 structures, and caused $2.8 billion of property loss. Hurricanes occur predominantly on the United States East coast regions and along the coast of …

Activation Scavenging Of Aerosol : Effect Of Turbulence And Aerosol-Composition, Abu Sayeed Md Shawon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The interaction of aerosol particles with solar radiation significantly contributes to the global radiation balance. The magnitude of this aerosol-radiation interaction, among other parameters, depends on different aerosol properties, including how readily these particles would act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). These properties are governed by the formation and scavenging processes of aerosol. This dissertation explores some of these scavenging processes.

Favorable humidity and preexisting aerosol particles acting as CCN are the sine qua non conditions to form cloud droplets in Earth’s atmosphere. Forming cloud droplets (known as activation), meanwhile, acts as a wet scavenging mechanism for those CCN. Given …