Meteorology Commons^™

Droughtscape, Spring 2012, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report.

Climate Masters 1

Ranch plan workshop . 3

Winter climate summary 4

Winter impacts summary . 6

Zhao research.

Getachew research 0

Other international news

Wardlow move 13

IPCC disaster report .

November Snowfall Variability And Trends Around Lake Michigan: Sensitivity To Temperature And Teleconnection Patterns, Amanda Bandurski, Justin Barrick, Kristin Smedley

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Using available long-term stations, November climatology of temperature and snowfall since 1950 has been composited for the region near Lake Michigan. Daily data was examined for the available stations to explore the monthly temperature and snowfall, the number of days with snowfall, and snow cover. The characteristics of six sub-region composites were compared using composites around Lake Michigan, respectively. Early season snowfall is much more common in the eastern sub-regions, implying a dominant role of lake-effect snowfall to the overall climatology. The number of days with snowfall is greater in the eastern sub-regions. Western and eastern sub-regions both exhibit a …

Gis Mapping And Analysis Of Lake-Effect Snowfall Patterns In Indiana And Sw Michigan, Holly Boney, Matthew Christy

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Using a multi-decade climatology of lake-effect snowfall events in northern Indiana and adjacent southwest Michigan, a Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis has been developed to explore the spatial patterns of snowfall, as well as the relationship between snowfall and upstream sounding parameters. Using a minimum peak snowfall threshold of five cm reported at one of the available locations with long-term snow reports, there are ~250 cases in the data set. While there are numerous additional reports available for more recent events, particularly with CoCoRAHs data, only the stations available for the entire period were used for the analysis. While reducing …

Water And Energy Balance Response Of A Riparian Wetland To The Removal Of Phragmites Australis, Phillip Mykleby

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vegetation and climate both play integral roles in water availability, particularly for arid to semi-arid regions. Changes in these variables can lead to extreme shortages in water for regions that rely on water for crop irrigation (i.e., the Great Plains). The objective of this study is to evaluate the impacts of vegetation on water availability in the Republican River basin in central Nebraska. Decreases in streamflow have been observed in the river basin for many years and, as a result, an invasive riparian plant species (Phragmites australis) is being removed in an effort to reduce evapotranspiration and reclaim …

Synoptic-Scale Analysis Of Freezing Rain Events In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gina M. Ressler, Shawn M. Milrad, Eyad H. Atallah, John R. Gyakum

Publications

Freezing rain is a major environmental hazard that is especially common along the St. Lawrence River valley (SLRV) in southern Quebec, Canada. For large cities such as Montreal, severe events can have a devastating effect on people, property, and commerce. In this study, a composite analysis of 46 long-duration events for the period 1979–2008 is presented to identify key synoptic-scale structures and precursors of Montreal freezing rain events. Based on the observed structures of the 500-hPa heights, these events are manually partitioned into three types—west, central, and east—depending on the location and tilt of the 500-hPa trough axis. West events …

Turbulence Measurement In The Atmospheric Boundary Layer Using Cellular Telephone Signals, Lee R. Burchett

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated a new method for measuring the intensity of turbulence in the planetary boundary layer that shows a high correlation with measurements from weather radar. The method takes measurements of cell phone signal strength and uses scintillation in the signal to estimate the strength of local turbulence. Using cell phone signals provides unique measurement advantages: it is a passive measurement method, it is not strongly affected by precipitation, and one device can potentially measure several paths at once. The measurements were taken using an Android® cell phone running a custom built application. The strength of turbulence was quantified …

Ice Supersaturation And Cirrus Clouds In Hippo Global Campaign #1-5, Minghui Diao, Mark Zondlo

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

No abstract available.

Evaluating Modeled Intra- To Multidecadal Climate Variability Using Running Mann–Whitney Z Statistics, Steven A. Mauget, Eugene C. Cordero, Patrick T. Brown

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

An analysis method previously used to detect observed intra- to multidecadal (IMD) climate regimes was adapted to compare observed and modeled IMD climate variations. Pending the availability of the more appropriate phase 5 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP-5) simulations, the method is demonstrated using CMIP-3 model simulations. Although the CMIP-3 experimental design will almost certainly prevent these model runs from reproducing features of historical IMD climate variability, these simulations allow for the demonstration of the method and illustrate how the models and observations disagree. This method samples a time series’s data rankings over moving time windows, converts those ranking sets …

Application Of A Mini-Unmanned Aircraft System For In Situ Monitoring Of Fire Plume Thermodynamics Properties, Caroline Keifer, Craig Clements, Brian Potter

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

Direct measurements of wildland fire plume properties are rare because of difficult access to regions near the fire front and plume. Moisture released from combustion, in addition to added heat, can enhance buoyancy and convection, influencing fire behavior. In this study, a mini unmanned aircraft system (miniUAS) was used to obtain in situ measurements of temperature and relative humidity during a prescribed fire. The miniUAS was successfully maneuvered through the plume and its associated turbulence and provided observations of temperature and humidity profiles from near the centerline of the plume. Within the plume, the water vapor mixing ratio increased by …

Multi-Decadal Drought Cycles In The Great Basin Recorded By The Great Salt Lake: Modulation From A Transition-Phase Teleconnection, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Robert R. Gillies, Thomas Reichler

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

This study investigates the meteorological conditions associated with multidecadal drought cycles as revealed by lake level fluctuation of the Great Salt Lake (GSL). The analysis combined instrumental, proxy, and simulation datasets, including the Twentieth Century Reanalysis version 2, the North American Drought Atlas, and a 2000-yr control simulation of the GFDL Coupled Model, version 2.1 (CM2.1). Statistical evidence from the spectral coherence analysis points to a phase shift amounting to 6–9 yr between the wet–dry cycles in the Great Basin and the warm–cool phases of the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO). Diagnoses of the sea surface temperature and atmospheric …

Synoptic-Scale Environments Conducive To Orographic Impacts On Cold-Season Surface Wind Regimes At Montreal, Quebec, Alissa Razy, Shawn M. Milrad, Eyad H, Atallah, John R. Gyakum

Publications

Orographic wind channeling, defined as dynamically and thermally induced processes that force wind to blow along the axis of a valley, is a common occurrence along the St. Lawrence River Valley (SLRV) in Quebec, Canada, and produces substantial observed weather impacts at stations along the valley, including Montreal (CYUL). Cold-season observed north-northeast (n = 55) and south-southeast (n = 16) surface wind events at CYUL are identified from 1979 to 2002. The authors partition the north-northeast wind events into four groups using manual synoptic typing. Types A and D (“inland cyclone” and “northwestern cyclone”) are associated with strong lower-tropospheric geostrophic …

Global Variations Of Hdo And Hdo/H2o Ratios In The Upper Troposphere And Lower Stratosphere Derived From Ace-Fts Satellite Measurements, William J. Randel, Elisabeth Moyer, Mijeong Park, Eric Jensen, Peter Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

High-quality satellite observations of water and deuterated water in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) are used to map global climatological behavior. Spatial and temporal variability in these data suggest that convection plays a significant role in setting water vapor isotopic composition in these regions. In many instances, enhancements in HDO/H₂O (i.e., δD) are closely tied to patterns of climatological deep convection and uncorrelated with water vapor, although convection appears to have different isotopic effects in different locations. The ACE-FTS data reveal seasonal variations in the tropics …

Revisiting 3d Stereo Satellite Image Displays, Frederick R. Mosher

Applied Aviation Sciences - Daytona Beach

Over 30 years ago, there were a number of development efforts to display 3D stereo satellite images and associated weather. Dr. Fritz Hasler showed how the GOES-east and west satellites could be remapped to generate true stereo pairs for obtaining cloud heights and he also showed how artificial stereo images could be generated using derived IR cloud heights to generate parallax shifts for the visible or infrared images. While there was a flurry of interest in the 1980s, the techniques had largely fallen from routine usage until recently. However, technology advances in both satellites and display technology has allowed for …

Ua94/6/10 Student / Alumni Personal Papers Wku Carl Ellis, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Scientific notebooks used by Carl Ellis during his years at WKU.

A Synoptic Perspective Of The Record 1-2 May 2010 Mid-South Heavy Precipitation Event, Joshua D. Durkee, Lee Campbell, Kyle Berry, Dustin Jordan, Gregory Goodrich, Rezaul Mahmood, Stuart Foster

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

During 1–2 May 2010, a series of strong thunderstorms led to 41, 57, and 43 tornado, severe wind, and severe hail reports, respectively, across portions of the southern United States. In addition to severe weather, these storms also distributed recordsetting rainfall amounts across the mid-South region, which contributed to historic flooding across portions of central and western Kentucky and Tennessee (Fig. 1). This heavy precipitation event was sampled by multiple surface observational networks, including (but not limited to) 48 research-grade automated stations from the Kentucky Mesonet (www.kymesonet .org), first-order automated stations from the National Weather Service (NWS; www.ncdc.noaa.gov /oa/ncdc.html), and …

Estimating Climate Trends: Application To United States Plant Hardiness Zones, Nir Krakauer

Publications and Research

The United States Department of Agriculture classifies plant hardiness zones based on mean annual minimum temperatures over some past period (currently 1976–2005). Since temperatures are changing, these values may benefit from updating. I outline a multistep methodology involving imputation of missing station values, geostatistical interpolation, and time series smoothing to update a climate variable’s expected value compared to a climatology period and apply it to estimating annual minimum temperature change over the coterminous United States. I show using hindcast experiments that trend estimation gives more accurate predictions of minimum temperatures 1-2 years in advance compared to the previous 30 years’ …

Droughtscape, Winter 2012, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Drought Planning for Kansas Ranchers Jan. 21

South Hoping La Niña Dryness Stays Away

2011 Brought Record-Breaking Extent of D4

Reported Impacts Ease as Growing Season Ends

Disaster Planning in Nanjing at Hohai U

Ag, Fire and Water Supply Topped 2011 Impacts

Assessing Satellite-Based Rainfall Estimates In Semiarid Watersheds Using The Usda-Ars Walnut Gulch Gauge Network And Trmm Pr, Eyal Amitai, Carl L. Unkrich, David C. Goodrich, Emad Habib, Bryson Thill

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The rain gauge network associated with the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) in southeastern Arizona provides a unique opportunity for direct comparisons of in situ measurements and satellite-based instantaneous rain rate estimates like those from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR). The WGEW network is the densest rain gauge network in the PR coverage area for watersheds greater than 10 km(2). It consists of 88 weighing rain gauges within a 149-km(2) area. On average, approximately 10 gauges can be found in each PR field of view (similar to 5-km diameter). All gauges are very well synchronized with …

A Wrf Simulation Of The Asymmetric Rapid Intensification And Trough Interaction Of Tropical Storm Gabrielle (2001), Diana Elizabeth Thomas-Abernethy

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite 13 ms-1 ambient wind shear, Tropical Storm (TS) Gabrielle underwent 22 hPa pressure falls within 3 hours prior to 0900 UTC 14 September. The rapid intensification of Gabrielle was atypical due to an upper-level trough approaching from the northwest. Additionally, a convective cell developed in the downshear left quadrant of the center, moved cyclonically and inward to the 17 km radius. During this time, The Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) had one of its most intense 85 GHz scattering measurements ever (Molinari and Vollaro, 2010).

An Analysis Of The Formation And Evolution Of The 1989 Western North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, Brian Andrew Crandall

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis conducts an observational study of a large cyclonic gyre that developed in the Western North Pacific (WNP) in late July 1989. For a period of six days, azimuthally-averaged winds at 850 hPa remained cyclonic out from the center of circulation to the 2000 km radius, with azimuthally-averaged tangential wind speeds at or greater than 10 m s-1. The gyre exhibited an asymmetric convection pattern, with the center, north and west flanks devoid of large convective areas, but the southern and eastern flanks maintained large-scale convective regions, extending as much as 4000 km in longitude.