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Full-Text Articles in Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

The Contributions Of Dynamical And Diabatic Processes Preceding And Accompanying Major Greenland Ice-Melt Events, Scott Feldman Dec 2021

The Contributions Of Dynamical And Diabatic Processes Preceding And Accompanying Major Greenland Ice-Melt Events, Scott Feldman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Extratropical cyclones and/or short-wave disturbances can reinforce Greenland blocking through upper-level flow amplification and can increase poleward heat and moisture transport into the Arctic. Increased poleward heat and moisture transport into the Arctic may enhance Greenland ice melt during the spring, summer, and fall months. The need to better understand the underlying dynamical and diabatic processes that may contribute to Greenland ice melt motivates this thesis. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate: 1) the role of advective warming due to poleward heat and moisture transport into the Arctic in facilitating Greenland ice melt, 2) the role of adiabatic …


The Effect Of Differential Friction On Tropical Cyclone Development Close To Land, Minghao Zhou Aug 2021

The Effect Of Differential Friction On Tropical Cyclone Development Close To Land, Minghao Zhou

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Hurricane Karl (2010) underwent unexpected rapid intensification in the Bay of Campeche while remaining in close proximity (within 150 km) to land. It is hypothesized that the frictionally-enhanced inflow contributed positively to this evolution, despite reduced surface fluxes and increased momentum loss over land. In this study, the role of differential friction in the development of a tropical cyclone (TC) tracking parallel to a coastline is examined based on this prototype.A series of high-resolution, semi-idealized numerical simulations with full physics were conducted on a β-plane with curvature effects of the Earth. After initializing a TC from a synoptic-scale thermal perturbation, …


It Takes Two To Tango : Understanding The Processes That Lead To Simultaneous Changes In Tropical Cyclone Intensity And Size And Communicating The Associated Hazards To Emergency Managers, Emily A. Paltz Aug 2021

It Takes Two To Tango : Understanding The Processes That Lead To Simultaneous Changes In Tropical Cyclone Intensity And Size And Communicating The Associated Hazards To Emergency Managers, Emily A. Paltz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The severity of tropical cyclone (TC) hazards is modulated by both TC intensity and size. More intense TCs produce stronger storm surges and increase wind damage. Larger TCs potentially impact more people, increase the duration of TC hazards, produce stronger storm surges and increase the amount of rainfall and flooding. Thus, accurately forecasting both TC intensity and size and effectively communicating those forecasts are critical to properly preparing communities for TC impacts. Forecast accuracy can be improved by enhancing our understanding about the processes that cause changes in TC intensity and size. This research divides the Extended Best Track dataset …


Do Secondary Cyclones Increase The Category Scale Of Atmospheric Rivers?, Edgar Sanchez Fausto Jun 2021

Do Secondary Cyclones Increase The Category Scale Of Atmospheric Rivers?, Edgar Sanchez Fausto

University Honors Theses

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a crucial role in delivering precipitation worldwide. This makes them an important phenomenon for water resource specialists to study. One such interest is to understand what mechanisms make ARs produce significant rainfall and associated hazards such as flooding. One possible mechanism is that AR duration or intensity may increase when it interacts with a secondary cyclone, either of which can increase the AR category scale. The purpose of this study is to determine whether AR and secondary cyclone interactions increase the category scale ARs. Out of 52 AR events analyzed, 32 events contained at least one …


Diagnosing High Sinuosity Regimes Associated With Anomalous Greenland Ice-Melt Events Using Self-Organizing Maps, Mansour El Riachy May 2021

Diagnosing High Sinuosity Regimes Associated With Anomalous Greenland Ice-Melt Events Using Self-Organizing Maps, Mansour El Riachy

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Sinuosity, a metric that describes the waviness of the circumpolar flow, is adapted to quantify modification of the tropospheric polar vortex within longitudinal sectors by localized incursions of warm, moist air from middle latitudes associated with Arctic cyclones (ACs). In this thesis, we identify four corridors of high AC track frequency, on which we center 90° longitudinal sectors comprising the following regions: Pacific, West of Greenland, Atlantic, and Asian. Sectorial sinuosity is calculated for the West of Greenland sector and is used to quantify the amplitude of the 300-hPa flow associated with anomalous Greenland ice-melt events.


An Examination Of The Arctic Environment And Arctic Cyclones During Periods Of Low And High Forecast Skill Of The Synoptic-Scale Flow, Kevin Biernat Jan 2021

An Examination Of The Arctic Environment And Arctic Cyclones During Periods Of Low And High Forecast Skill Of The Synoptic-Scale Flow, Kevin Biernat

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation compares Arctic environmental conditions and Arctic cyclones (ACs) between periods of low and high forecast skill of the synoptic-scale flow over the Arctic during summer, hereafter referred to as low-skill periods and high-skill periods, respectively. This dissertation also examines features and processes influencing the evolution and forecast skill of selected categories of ACs.


A Comparison Of The Upscale Influence Of Various Planetary Boundary Layer Turbulence Parameterizations On The Evolution Of Extratropical Cyclones, Matthew Vaughan Jan 2021

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 …


The Sensitivity Of Convection To Boundary Layer Parameterization In Hurricanes Harvey And Irma 2017, Dylan Card Jan 2021

The Sensitivity Of Convection To Boundary Layer Parameterization In Hurricanes Harvey And Irma 2017, Dylan Card

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tropical cyclones (TCs) pose a significant threat to life and property, and exhibit many severe weather hazards as they make landfall, such as storm surge, strong winds, flooding rains, and tornadoes. TC convection is associated with nearly all of these hazards, which can extend hundreds of kilometers inland; thus, understanding the characteristics and organization of convective cells is important to mitigating risk. Observational studies have noted that TC convection tends to organize downshear and that rotating thunderstorms tend to occur in the downshear-right quadrant of the TC. Modeling studies have also shown that convective cells tend to form upshear right …