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Investigating the relationship between atmospheric moisture transport and precipitation in the eastern United States
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TitleInfo
Title
Investigating the relationship between atmospheric moisture transport and precipitation in the eastern United States
Name
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Teale
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Natalie
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Natalie Teale
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author
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Robinson
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David
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David Robinson
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Rennermalm
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Asa
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Asa Rennermalm
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Broccoli
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Anthony
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Anthony Broccoli
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Mote
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Thomas
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Thomas Mote
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Advisory Committee
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Rutgers University
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School of Graduate Studies
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theses
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ETD doctoral
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2020
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2020-10
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English
Abstract
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This dissertation develops a climatology of water vapor fluxes for the eastern United States and investigates its relationship with precipitation. This approach enriches the current literature, which relates changes in precipitation in the eastern US to weather patterns but largely overlooks the role of moisture supply. Because atmospheric water vapor content is sensitive to temperature, this dissertation contributes new knowledge on how large-scale climate variability impacts regional precipitation. This knowledge is foundational for interpreting past, present, and projected changes in precipitation and understanding its impacts in regional climatology and water resources applications.
Major patterns of water vapor transport in the eastern US are identified using a self-organizing map methodology ingesting daily moisture fluxes from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim reanalysis from 1979–2017 for 30°–50°N × 60°–90°W. This procedure produces sixteen patterns of integrated water vapor transport (IVT) that encompass the variety of moisture transport through the region. Spatial and temporal characteristics of these patterns, including moisture distribution across the domain, qualities of atmospheric rivers, frequency, seasonality, and persistence of the patterns are examined. This resulting climatology presents a precise and comprehensive framework for relating atmospheric moisture supply to precipitation.
This climatology is related to precipitation from 1981–2017 using PRISM daily precipitation data and is extended to 1900–2010 using empirical precipitation data and ECMWF ERA-20C IVT reanalysis. These relationships reveal that the semi-frequent patterns defined by moderate moisture transport are important contributors to annual precipitation, and that the majority of moisture transport patterns are associated with increasing amounts of heavy precipitation. Additionally, increases in the frequency and intensity of strong, meridional moisture transport patterns result in changes in the moisture patterns most often associated with heavy precipitation in the eastern US. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of the eastern US precipitation regime to variability in moisture transport, indicating a need for future studies of regional precipitation to include this information. Overall, this study of kinematic moisture transport provides a new framework for better understanding precipitation variability.
Major patterns of water vapor transport in the eastern US are identified using a self-organizing map methodology ingesting daily moisture fluxes from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim reanalysis from 1979–2017 for 30°–50°N × 60°–90°W. This procedure produces sixteen patterns of integrated water vapor transport (IVT) that encompass the variety of moisture transport through the region. Spatial and temporal characteristics of these patterns, including moisture distribution across the domain, qualities of atmospheric rivers, frequency, seasonality, and persistence of the patterns are examined. This resulting climatology presents a precise and comprehensive framework for relating atmospheric moisture supply to precipitation.
This climatology is related to precipitation from 1981–2017 using PRISM daily precipitation data and is extended to 1900–2010 using empirical precipitation data and ECMWF ERA-20C IVT reanalysis. These relationships reveal that the semi-frequent patterns defined by moderate moisture transport are important contributors to annual precipitation, and that the majority of moisture transport patterns are associated with increasing amounts of heavy precipitation. Additionally, increases in the frequency and intensity of strong, meridional moisture transport patterns result in changes in the moisture patterns most often associated with heavy precipitation in the eastern US. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of the eastern US precipitation regime to variability in moisture transport, indicating a need for future studies of regional precipitation to include this information. Overall, this study of kinematic moisture transport provides a new framework for better understanding precipitation variability.
Subject
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Topic
Climatology
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Geography
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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1 online resource (xiii, 148 pages) : illustrations
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Ph.D.
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Includes bibliographical references
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School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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doi:10.7282/t3-v96d-b946
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
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Teale
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Natalie
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Permission or license
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2020-06-01 13:17:55
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Natalie Teale
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Rutgers University. School of Graduate Studies
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Author Agreement License
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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2020-10-31
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2022-10-31
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Access to this PDF has been restricted at the author's request. It will be publicly available after October 31st, 2022.
Copyright
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Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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2020-06-01T13:13:46
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