SOARS Manuscripts

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) endanger satellites and astronauts in orbit and can disrupt air traffic and spaceflight communication, among other effects. Therefore, the ability to forecast these events in advance is vital, both, economically, and for the safety of air and space-faring passengers.…

The summer-time American Monsoon region experiences large variations in precipitation, leading to significant impacts on hydrology. These fluctuations are poorly represented in climate models, making it challenging for predicting future changes and enforcing countermeasures. The project analyzed the…

The atmospheric processes involved in a tropical cyclone are affected by topographical factors during and after landfall. Interactions with land are capable of changing the tropical cyclone's structure, behavior, and impact on the landmass. However, one of today's forecasting problems is that comput…

Snow/ice is a key climate element in the Earth system, which significantly affects surface energy and water balance through a strong snow/ice albedo feedback (SAF). Over the past decade, substantial progress has been made on improving the understanding of SAF over the Northern Hemisphere, particular…

Wyoming has various forms of hazardous weather, most of which occur in the winter. However, high winds occur year-round and pose the most danger to the freight traffic along the I-80 corridor with elevations of up to 8000 feet. Freight traffic makes up half of the daily average traffic volume along …

In 2016, a very strong El Niño increased the amount of precipitation measured on Kiritimati Island (2 °N, 157.4 °W) during the El Niño Rapid Response (ENRR) field campaign. ENRR collected surface meteorological data from January-March 2016. This project focuses on daily precipitation data collected …

Phytoplankton play a significant role in global biogeochemical cycles as they account for approximately 40% of annual carbon fixation, the conversion of inorganic carbon dioxide to organic compounds. Their ability to produce organic compounds provides food to marine organisms and, particularly in th…

While climate change is predicted to strengthen the stratospheric Brewer-Dobson circulation, the impacts on stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) remain uncertain. The evaluation of changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation driven STE contributes to better understanding the radiative and dynamical …

In many coastal areas where communities are vulnerable, the impact of tropical cyclones can be devastating and linger for generations. One way to mitigate the impact of tropical cyclones is by understanding and improving models that have the ability to predict their climatology and distribution. Usi…

Orographic precipitation is the primary water resource in the Western United States. Snowmelt from orographic precipitation in the mountains of Idaho powers over a dozen hydroelectric power plants and irrigates over 2 million acres of land. Although advances have been made in understanding orographi…

In September of 2008, Hurricane Ike swept across the Gulf of Mexico and hit the coast of Galveston, Texas causing high storm surges that led to billions of dollars in damage and killed hundreds of people. Predicting storm surges is difficult, due to limits in computational ability and forecasting er…

Aircraft icing is a known hazard in the aviation field that results from supercooled liquid water in clouds impacting aircraft surfaces. Detecting icing conditions is an important step in keeping aircraft out of harm's way. However, detecting icing conditions aloft can be difficult. In this study, d…

During El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, enhanced convection in the equatorial Pacific creates a wave pattern over the Pacific-North America (PNA) region. The associated changes in winds, temperatures, and moisture foster atmospheric forcing on the North Pacific Ocean, which induce sea sur…

Extreme temperature events take thousands of lives every year and are a threat to agriculture and the biosphere. Therefore, it is essential that climate models be able to accurately reproduce the statistics of these extreme events and provide accurate predictions for how the probability of extreme e…

The total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 provided a notable opportunity to measure the solar corona at specific emission wavelengths to gain information about coronal magnetic fields. Solar magnetic fields are intimately related to the generation of space weather and its effects on the earth. The …

Models project that with current CO2 emission rates the Southern Ocean surface will be undersaturated with respect to aragonite and calcite by the end of the 21st century resulting in widespread impacts on biogeochemistry and the ocean ecosystem. However, accurate assessment of future acidification …

Argentina is a global hotspot for sever hailstorms, especially within the vicinity of the Andes Mountains and the Sierras de Cordoba. This hail activity results in substantial damage and economic loss in both urban areas and farms in the region. The RELAMPAGO (Remote sensing of Electrification, Ligh…

Northern California experienced multiple heavy precipitation events in early 2017, which filled the Lake Oroville Reservoir to maximum storage. The National Water Model (NWM) forecasts simulated streamflow nationwide and went operational in August 2016. This research involved testing both versions (…

Many questions remain regarding driving mechanisms behind the diurnal cycle across ocean basins and factors that influence it. This study utilizes buoy data to examine diurnal variability of rainfall across the equatorial Pacific basin during the December through February (DJF) seasonal period from …

The Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a tropical phenomenon that develops over the Indian Ocean as a large area of convection approximately 1000km across. This intraseasonal oscillation affects both weather and climate in extratropical regions, where most of the world's population resides. However,…

Accurately reproducing the diurnal cycle of rainfall for atmospheric modeling represents a potential challenge for improving the reliability of weather and climate forecasting. Scientific advances such as the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and Global Precipitation Measurement have provided inva…

This study describes various techniques for investigating the cause of the noise being output from the Geonor T-200B Precipitation Gauge, which utilizes vibrating wire technology to measure the accumulating mass of precipitation. In some instances, data recorded by the gauge is unusually noisy. This…

Spatial verification methods for feature- or object-based approaches are becoming more prevalent owing to increases in both model resolution and the demand for identification of specific features in storms. Yet further investigation is needed to determine which spatial verification methods and speci…

Hazardous weather events have the greatest impact when they are not accurately forecasted. The quest for advanced lead times of accurate forecasts has motivated the improvement of numerical weather prediction models. Stemming from successful hourly updated forecasting by the High Resolution Rapid Re…

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a trace gas best known for its toxicity to humans but is also vital in understanding the concentrations and potential climate effects of strong greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon Monoxide can be easily transported across continents and oceans in as little as a few day…