Atmospheric Sciences Commons^™

An Unusual Aerial Photograph Of An Eddy Circulation In Marine Stratocumulus Clouds (Picture Of The Month), Bradley M. Muller, Christopher G. Herbster, Frederick R. Mosher

Publications

An aerial photograph of a cyclonic, von Kármán–like vortex in the marine stratocumulus clouds off the California coast, taken by a commercial pilot near Grover Beach, is presented. It is believed that this is the first photograph of such an eddy, taken from an airplane, to appear in publication.

The eddy occurred with a strong inversion above a shallow marine boundary layer, in the lee of high, inversion-penetrating terrain. Tower and surface wind measurements plotted on satellite imagery demonstrate that the Grover Beach eddy was not just a cloud-level feature, but extended through the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) to …

Use Of Research Aircraft Data To Validate Mesoscale Model Forecasts, Travis Swaggerty, Melanie Wetzel, Dorothea Ivanova

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

A NSF funded Student Training in Airborne Research and Technology (START) two-week deployment of the University of Wyoming King Air (UWKA) research aircraft was conducted at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Prescott, Arizona during late March and early April 2014. Some of the goals of this program were to build knowledge on airborne atmospheric research for undergraduate students across multiple departments and to collect a valuable set of aircraft data for atmospheric model validation. Data collection for 10 research flights is available for mesoscale model case study validation.

This project utilizes the Weather Research and Forecasting mesoscale model (WRF), version …

Improvement In Pilot Training For Aircraft Icing Conditions, Cody Denver, Melanie A. Wetzel

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

One of the most dangerous atmospheric hazards in aviation is aircraft icing. Ice can build on aircraft surfaces, causing decreases in thrust and lift while increasing drag and weight. These effects can be detrimental to any aircraft's ability to successfully remain in flight. Improvement in pilot knowledge of and response to icing conditions can be attained through use of specific meteorological forecast products, completion of interactive training modules, and understanding of cloud physical processes gained through the analysis of aircraft measurement case studies. This poster presents a strategy for enhancing the training of professional pilots in meteorological conditions which cause …

Comparing Three Methods For Estimating Ozone Depleting Substance Substitute Greenhouse Gases: Case Study Of The New York City Region, Wallace A. Murray Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) method for estimating emissions from one source, Ozone Depleting Substances Substitutes (ODS substitutes) by comparing results for the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area (NYC-MSA) with results from two other methodologies. The EPA’s method utilizes population data and GDP data to estimate and geographically allocate emissions, with little regard for the geographies of industrial activity. The two alternative methods use data for industrial employment and activity to provide results for comparison and perhaps a more accurate accounting and allocation of emissions throughout the NYC-MSA.

Observations Of Fire-Induced Turbulence Regimes During Low-Intensity Wildland Fires In Forested Environments: Implications For Smoke Dispersion, Warren Heilman, Craig Clements, Daisuke Seto, Xindi Bian, Kenneth Clark, Nicholas Skowronski, John Hom

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

Low-intensity wildland fires occurring beneath forest canopies can result in particularly adverse local air-quality conditions. Ambient and fire-induced turbulent circulations play a substantial role in the transport and dispersion of smoke during these fire events. Recent in situ measurements of fire–atmosphere interactions during low-intensity wildland fires have provided new insight into the structure of fire-induced turbulence regimes and how forest overstory vegetation can affect the horizontal and vertical dispersion of smoke. In this paper, we provide a summary of the key turbulence observations made during two low-intensity wildland fire events that occurred in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

A One Year Landsat 8 Conterminous United States Study Of Cirrus And Non-Cirrus Clouds, Valeriy Kovalskyy, David P. Roy

GSCE Faculty Publications

The first year of available Landsat 8 data over the conterminous United States (CONUS), composed of 11,296 acquisitions sensed over more than 11 thousand million 30 m pixel locations, was analyzed comparing the spatial and temporal incidence of 30 m cloud and cirrus states available in the standard Landsat 8 Level 1 product suite. This comprehensive data analysis revealed that on average over a year of CONUS observations (i) 35.9% were detected with high confidence cloud, with spatio-temporal patterns similar to those observed by previous Landsat 5 and 7 cloud analyses; (ii) 28.2% were high confidence cirrus; (iii) 20.1% were …

Drougthscape, Winter 2015, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Central U.S. 2012 report

October-December drought summary

2014 drought summary

Caribbean capacity building

Drought impacts in 2014

California timeline 2014

UC Davis ranching workshop

NASA SMAP data

Global drought info system

Community Capitals

Evaluation and assessment

Indicator-impact research

NDMC on YouTube

A Fast Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Simulator For Cloudy Atmospheres, Chao Liu, Ping Yang, Steven Platnick, Kerry G. Meyer, Chenxi Wang, Shouguo Ding

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

A fast instrument simulator is developed to simulate the observations made in cloudy atmospheres by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The correlated k distribution technique is used to compute the transmissivities associated with absorbing atmospheric gases. The bulk scattering properties of ice clouds are based on the ice model used for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Collection 6 ice cloud products, and those ofwater clouds are computedwith the Lorenz-Mie theory. Two fast radiative transfer models based on precomputed ice cloud look-up tables are used for the VIIRS solar and infrared channels. The accuracy and efficiency of the fast …

Dimethylsulfide Gas Transfer Coefficients From Algal Blooms In The Southern Ocean, T. G. Bell, Warren J. De Bruyn, Christa A. Marandino, S. D. Miller, C. S. Law, Eric S. Saltzman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Air-sea dimethylsulfide (DMS) fluxes and bulk air-sea gradients were measured over the Southern Ocean in February-March 2012 during the Surface Ocean Aerosol Production (SOAP) study. The cruise encountered three distinct phytoplankton bloom regions, consisting of two blooms with moderate DMS levels, and a high biomass, dinoflagellate-dominated bloom with high seawater DMS levels (> 15 nM). Gas transfer coefficients were considerably scattered at wind speeds above 5 m s(-1). Bin averaging the data resulted in a linear relationship between wind speed and mean gas transfer velocity consistent with that previously observed. However, the wind-speed-binned gas transfer data distribution at all wind …

The Gravity Environment Of Zhouqu Debris Flow Of August 2010 And Its Implication For Future Recurrence, Diandong Ren, Lance M. Leslie, Xinyi Shen, Yang Hong, Qingyun Duan, Rezaul Mahmood, Yun Li, Gang Huang, Weidong Guo, Mervyn J. Lynch

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

This study investigates the geological background of the August 7-8, 2010 Zhouqu debris flows in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu, and possible future occurrence of such hazards in the peri-Tibetan Plateau (TP) regions. Debris flows are a more predictable type of landslide because of its strong correlation with extreme precipitation. However, two factors affecting the frequency and magnitude of debris flows: very fine scale precipitation and degree of fracture of bedrock, both defy direct observations. Annual mean Net Primary production (NPP) is used as a surrogate for regional precipitation with patchiness filtered out, and gravity satellite measured regional mass …

Development Of A Long-Term (1884-2006) Serially Complete Dataset Of U.S. Temperatures And Precipitation For Climate Services, Jinshing You, Kenneth G. Hubbard, Martha Shulski, Mark D. Svoboda, Michael J. Hayes

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Serially complete climate datasets with no missing data are necessary for a diverse group of users working in many economic sectors. In this article we describe the procedures used to create a Serially Complete Data set (SCD) for the U.S. We include the selection criterion applied to potential SCD stations, the various procedural steps and the details applied to each step. A few observations that were not previously digitized were obtained from observers official paper reports. The methods used to estimate missing data are the Spatial Regression Test and the Inverse Distance Weighting technique. Using the criterion for selecting stations …

A Historical Perspective On Nebraska’S Variable And Changing Climate, Martha Shulski, William Baule, Crystal J. Stiles, Natalie A. Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Nebraska is situated at the intersection of the northern and southern Great Plains, exhibiting a dramatic longitudinal gradient for precipitation and humidity, and benefiting from groundwater resources. The continental climate is highly variable temporally both for temperature and precipitation. Our assessment of long-term meteorological observations shows that over the last century the annual average temperature in Nebraska has warmed approximately 0.6°C, which is similar to the increase in the global average temperature over the same time period. Furthermore, we found minimum temperatures have warmed more than maximum temperatures, and winter and spring show the strongest warming. We found no significant …

Speed And Resolution In The Age Of Technological Reproducibility, Shawn Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

The rate of acceleration of the biologic and synthetic world has for a while now, been in the process of exponentially speeding up, maxing out servers and landfills, merging with each other, destroying each other. The last prehistoric relics on Earth are absorbing the same oxygen, carbon dioxide and electronic waves in our biosphere as us. A degraded .jpeg enlarged to full screen on a Samsung 4K UHD HU8550 Series Smart TV - 85” Class (84.5” diag.). Within this composite ecology, the ancient limestone of the grand canyon competes with the iMax movie of itself, the production of Mac pros, …

Propagation Of Lightning Through Thick Thunderclouds, Isaiah Henry, Dieudonné D. Phanord

McNair Poster Presentations

The phenomenon that is lightning, have sparked the interest of physicists and scientists for centuries. The journey to understanding this phenomenon of high-current electric discharge, can unlock the secret to other lightning related phenomenons. Lightning is a major source of interference in many types of radio communications. The effects of lightning on space crafts, nuclear power plants, and sophisticated military equipment, are problems of increasing concern. The purpose of this research is to study the propagation of lightning through optically thick thunderclouds by applying knowledge of cloud micro-physics, the physics of lightning, diffusion approximations, and an understanding of the scattering …

Remote Sensing And Modeling Of Atmospheric Dust And Studying Its Impact On Environment, Weather, And Climate, Hesham El-Askary, Seon K. Park, Slobodan Nickovic, Mian Chin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

An overview of the 2015 volume of Advances in Meteorology, which was co-edited by Chapman faculty member Dr. Hesham El-Askary.

Diagnosis Of The Source Of Medium-Range Forecast Errors For An Extratropical Cyclone, William Lamberson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Medium-range forecasts of an extratropical cyclone set to impact Western Europe on 16 Dec 2011 consistently predicted that the cyclone would be intense, with a minimum pressure as low as 930-hPa and an expansive area of high winds. In actuality, the cyclone never deepened below 965-hPa and its impact on Western Europe was minimal.

Modulation Of East African Precipitation By The Indian Ocean Dipole (Iod) And Enso, Ahmed Shaaban

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tropical East Africa is influenced by two main rainy seasons, during autumn and spring. During autumn, tropical East African precipitation is clearly influenced by Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and/or ENSO. During spring, there is no clear SST pattern in the Indian Ocean. The association between El Niño and positive IOD phases is much stronger than the association between La Niña and negative IOD during October and November. During October, the association between El Niño and wet condition over tropical eastern Africa is stronger than association between La Niña and dry conditions. During November, the association between positive IOD and eastern …

An Analysis Of High-Impact, Low-Predictive Skill Severe Weather Events In The Northeast U.S, Matthew Thomas Vaughan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An objective evaluation of Storm Prediction Center slight risk convective outlooks, as well as a method to identify high-impact severe weather events with poor-predictive skill are presented in this study. The objectives are to assess severe weather forecast skill over the northeast U.S. relative to the continental U.S., build a climatology of high-impact, low-predictive skill events between 1980–2013, and investigate the dynamic and thermodynamic differences between severe weather events with low-predictive skill and high-predictive skill over the northeast U.S. Severe storm reports of hail, wind, and tornadoes are used to calculate skill scores including probability of detection (POD), false alarm …

Extreme Hydrometeorological Events In The Peruvian Central Andes During Austral Summer And Their Relationship With The Large-Scale Circulation, Juan Carlos Sulca

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In this Master's dissertation, atmospheric circulation patterns associated with extreme hydrometeorological events in the Mantaro Basin, Peruvian Central Andes, and their teleconnections during the austral summer (December-January-February-March) are addressed. Extreme rainfall events in the Mantaro basin are related to variations of the large-scale circulation as indicated by the changing strength of the Bolivian High-Nordeste Low (BH-NL) system. Dry (wet) spells are associated with a weakening (strengthening) of the BH-NL system and reduced (enhanced) influx of moist air from the lowlands to the east due to strengthened westerly (easterly) wind anomalies at mid- and upper-tropospheric levels. At the same time extreme …

The Variability Of Madden-Julian Oscillation Convection And The Role Of The Western Hemisphere Circulation, Naoko Sakaeda

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The convective initiation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) over the Indian basin is often associated with eastward-propagating intraseasonal circulation approaching from the Western Hemisphere (WH), which is suggested to influence the onset of MJO convection. This dissertation first documents the event-to-event variability in the characteristics of MJO convection, which shows a geographical discrepancy in the relative roles of moist and dry dynamics on MJO convection. This dissertation then examines the structural evolution and dynamics of the intraseasonal upper-tropospheric circumnavigating circulation over the WH and its subsequent impact on MJO convection over the Indian basin, where MJO convective characteristics are highly …