SOARS Manuscripts

The Climate and Global Dynamics Division (CGD) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) wants to provide the greatest possible public access to their climate model research databases. CGD recognized that the information from their climate model runs could be better organized to allow f…

Accurate cloud droplet measurements are important for an increased understanding of cloud microphysical processes, especially the nucleation and growth of cloud particles through condensation and coalescence. In addition, cloud droplets play a significant role in the formation of precipitation; ther…

The daily cycle of the wind in the lower troposphere is not well known over the Gulf of California and the western coastal plains of Mexico. During the North American Monsoon (NAM) it is thought to be associated with the daily cycle of convective precipitation in this region. For this research proje…

Ice cores recovered from Mt. Kilimanjaro provide evidence of significant climate changes in the East African region over the past 10,000 years. However, the atmospheric processes that lead to snowfall on Kilimanjaro are poorly understood. Earlier studies have suggested that East African climate is d…

The Local Data Manager (LDM) was created by Unidata at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) to relay atmospheric data in near real time to its community of universities and research facilities. Although the LDM successfully delivers data to its community, Unidata is considering…

An aging infrastructure, environmental concerns, and growing demand threaten to undermine the reliability and long-term sustainability of the current fossil fuel electricity supply and transmission system. It is widely agreed that renewable energy sources will become increasingly important in the ev…

Although the potential causes of harmful algal blooms (HABs), or red tides, have been studied extensively, the relationships between the environmental drivers and economic impacts have not been fully explored. This paper examines the environmental-economic link by investigating similarities in the e…

Mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs), which form within the stratiform rain of some mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), may persist for days, often regenerating convection daily. Long-lived MCVs can produce as much precipitation as a landfalling hurricane and lead to catastrophic flooding. The theo…

This research is motivated by concerns about how climate change is affecting Indigenous communities across the globe. Many residents of the Navajo Nation on the southern Colorado Plateau are concerned that the future climate of the region will be warmer and drier than observed in the 20th Century. D…

In early 2006, the US-Taiwan joint satellite mission known as the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) will launch six Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. These satellites, each equipped with an advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, will use radi…

Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange (STE) is the bi-directional exchange or transfer of mass and chemical species between the stratosphere and troposphere. STE helps determine the chemical composition of the stratosphere and troposphere, and thus affects climate, stratospheric ozone, and oxidation rea…

Although significant research has been performed on impacts and mitigation of flash flood events, the methodology for assessing social vulnerability and regions at risk has not been fully developed. This project explored the environmental-social links of flood hazards and developed a GIS-based metho…

Water vapor is a key component in defining Earth's climate and has a vital role in the Earth's hydrologic cycle. Despite its significance, the water vapor content in the atmosphere has often been difficult to measure with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution. In this experiment, path-integrate…

Multipath, the skewed positions due to signal deflections from surrounding objects, remains one of the limiting sources of error in position measurements determined by 1-Hertz Global Positioning System (GPS) data. There is currently no standard automated technique to remove multipath consequently af…

Because many natural occurring chemical reactions can produce compounds that cause health problems as well as affect global climate, it is important to study the processes that affect the chemical compounds in the atmosphere. One major gap in our knowledge of atmospheric chemistry is the effect of c…

Extreme aerosol events, such as dust storms, can produce large quantities of dust and haze dispersed over regional or global-scales. Remote Sensing data (ground-based and satellite) can be used to assess the frequency and magnitude of these dust events for potential impacts on climate, visibility an…

Dengue fever affects 50 - 100 million people worldwide, with symptoms ranging from unaffected to a 50% mortality rate. Unfortunately, no specific medical treatment or vaccine is available. Dengue is transmitted in the Caribbean primarily through a mosquito vector called Aedes aegypti. Past studies h…

Emissions of Carbon Monoxide (CO) from anthropogenic sources, in particular automobile exhaust, exceed in quantity the mass of all other man-made source pollutants combined. Because of its photochemical lifetime and insolubility, CO is an exceptional tracer to examine polluted air masses. By measuri…

In late 2005, the US-Taiwan joint satellite mission known as the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) will launch six Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. These satellites, each equipped with an advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, will use radi…

The Niwot Ridge has been the site of numerous chemical transport and spatial distribution studies, including the 2004 Carbon in the Mountains Experiment (CME); however, an in-depth characterization and understanding of the wind structure of this complex terrain does not exist. The CME will investiga…

Hurricanes can cause significant economic loss in the eastern coastal United States. Forecasts of seasonal hurricane frequency and intensity are available, but the use of these forecasts in the reinsurance industry to mitigate the economic impacts of hurricane landfall is not apparent. If reinsuranc…

The study of carbon interaction in alpine forests has, for the most part, been neglected by the science community. Studies have shown that carbon sinks are located in the northern hemisphere, and a recent satellite study has shown that possible carbon sinks are located in alpine forests throughout t…

Located at a distance of approximately 90-km above the Earth's surface, the ionosphere is distinguished by a relatively high density of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons distributed in several distinct regions. In part to facilitate the study of the ionosphere, the Thermospher…

Atmospheric nanoparticles, defined as having a spherical equivalent diameter smaller than 50 nanometers (nm), have become a major interest to atmospheric scientists. It is believed that these particles form an integral part of important atmospheric processes such as cloud formation, precipitation an…

Floods cause billions of dollars worth of annual losses to physical property, crops, and public infrastructure. Annual flood losses, which have increased from 1929 to 2003, average approximately 6.5 billion U.S. dollars. A common assumption is that increasing flood damage over time is caused by incr…