On tropospheric rivers
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2002. Page 231 blank. Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-230). In this thesis, we investigate atmospheric water vapor transport through a distinct synoptic phenomenon, namely, the Tr...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2002
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8058 |
id |
ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8058 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8058 2023-06-11T04:12:21+02:00 On tropospheric rivers Hu, Yuanlong, 1964- Reginald E. Newell. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. 2002 231 p. 21100122 bytes 21099879 bytes application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8058 eng eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8058 51038453 M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Thesis 2002 ftmit 2023-05-29T08:37:13Z Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2002. Page 231 blank. Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-230). In this thesis, we investigate atmospheric water vapor transport through a distinct synoptic phenomenon, namely, the Tropospheric River (TR), which is a local filamentary structure on a daily map of vertically integrated moisture flux. Firstly, an automated procedure for identifying and tracking these rivers (named TRICKS, i.e., the Tropospheric River Identifying and traCKing Scheme) is described and its performance is evaluated. This procedure enables the maxima of moisture flux (so-called TR cores) to be detected and accurately located. The relationships among the adjacent TR cores are then evaluated to construct the axes of rivers. A river is tracked from birth to termination and its life cycle properties are recorded, thus allowing various statistics of TR distributions and movements to be estimated. All these stages of the scheme are performed without intervention once a number of governing constants have been decided upon. We then apply the scheme to the vertically integrated moisture flux calculated from 43 years of 6-hourly NCEP/NCAR reanalyses and present a climatology of mean TR behavior. On average, there are 4 - 5 rivers per analysis in the Northern Hemisphere and 5 in the Southern Hemisphere. Northern Hemisphere TRs form and intensify near the eastern seaboards of Asia and North America. They move eastward and poleward during their lives before weakening in the two principal graveyards: over the Gulf of Alaska and the region to the southeast of Greenland. In comparison, Southern Hemisphere TRs are more evenly distributed and tend to form in a band extending from the southeast coast of South America into the Atlantic, across the Indian Ocean, and throughout much of middle latitudes of the Pacific sector. (cont.) The corresponding genesis regions are also found to be adjacent to (or slightly equatorward to) the ... Thesis Greenland Alaska DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Gulf of Alaska Greenland Pacific Indian |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftmit |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Hu, Yuanlong, 1964- On tropospheric rivers |
topic_facet |
Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences |
description |
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2002. Page 231 blank. Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-230). In this thesis, we investigate atmospheric water vapor transport through a distinct synoptic phenomenon, namely, the Tropospheric River (TR), which is a local filamentary structure on a daily map of vertically integrated moisture flux. Firstly, an automated procedure for identifying and tracking these rivers (named TRICKS, i.e., the Tropospheric River Identifying and traCKing Scheme) is described and its performance is evaluated. This procedure enables the maxima of moisture flux (so-called TR cores) to be detected and accurately located. The relationships among the adjacent TR cores are then evaluated to construct the axes of rivers. A river is tracked from birth to termination and its life cycle properties are recorded, thus allowing various statistics of TR distributions and movements to be estimated. All these stages of the scheme are performed without intervention once a number of governing constants have been decided upon. We then apply the scheme to the vertically integrated moisture flux calculated from 43 years of 6-hourly NCEP/NCAR reanalyses and present a climatology of mean TR behavior. On average, there are 4 - 5 rivers per analysis in the Northern Hemisphere and 5 in the Southern Hemisphere. Northern Hemisphere TRs form and intensify near the eastern seaboards of Asia and North America. They move eastward and poleward during their lives before weakening in the two principal graveyards: over the Gulf of Alaska and the region to the southeast of Greenland. In comparison, Southern Hemisphere TRs are more evenly distributed and tend to form in a band extending from the southeast coast of South America into the Atlantic, across the Indian Ocean, and throughout much of middle latitudes of the Pacific sector. (cont.) The corresponding genesis regions are also found to be adjacent to (or slightly equatorward to) the ... |
author2 |
Reginald E. Newell. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Hu, Yuanlong, 1964- |
author_facet |
Hu, Yuanlong, 1964- |
author_sort |
Hu, Yuanlong, 1964- |
title |
On tropospheric rivers |
title_short |
On tropospheric rivers |
title_full |
On tropospheric rivers |
title_fullStr |
On tropospheric rivers |
title_full_unstemmed |
On tropospheric rivers |
title_sort |
on tropospheric rivers |
publisher |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8058 |
geographic |
Gulf of Alaska Greenland Pacific Indian |
geographic_facet |
Gulf of Alaska Greenland Pacific Indian |
genre |
Greenland Alaska |
genre_facet |
Greenland Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8058 51038453 |
op_rights |
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
_version_ |
1768388123657502720 |