Hello All, 

Just wanted to remind you that we will have our first colloqium this Thursday the 24th at 4:30pm by Dr. Natalie Teale! 

Title: Characterizing the relationship between atmospheric moisture transport and precipitation in the eastern United States. Abstract: Changes in the hydroclimatic regime, particularly in heavy precipitation, have been observed in the northeastern US in recent decades. Current research suggests that changes in atmospheric water vapor content and moisture source distances may impact regional precipitation regimes. However, little research has investigated if and how these theoretical changes in water vapor transport are manifested in the regional precipitation regime of the northeastern US. To to determine how the observed changes in precipitation may be linked to changes in atmospheric moisture transport pattern, this research develops a climatology of water vapor fluxes in the Eastern US and adjacent Atlantic Ocean and associates this moisture flux climatology to regional precipitation. Moisture transport patterns are identified through a self-organizing map (SOM) methodology ingesting vertically-integrated water vapor transport (IVT) calculated from ERA-Interim Reanalysis products from 1979—2017 for the eastern US. A suite of spatial and temporal statistics are employed to characterize the moisture fluxes and synthesize the patterns into a cohesive regional climatology. These fluxes are then related to gridded daily precipitation from PRISM as well as historical station records to investigate the spatiotemporal variability in precipitation produced by these fluxes. While some water vapor fluxes frequently produce heavy precipitation, others are less-frequently associated with precipitation. Analyses show that these relationships vary spatially across the eastern US. By examining trends in the temporal frequency of these water vapor transport patterns, this approach discerns the specific moisture fluxes which are associated with changes in precipitation in the Northeast.

I look forward to seeing you all there! 

The Zoom details are in this chain, but the quick link is 

https://tennessee.zoom.us/j/91402032124

 

Hello All, 

I hope your semester is off to a great start! I wanted to update everyone on the plan for colloquium this fall. We will be having four speakers-though everyone is also encouraged to also attend the Zoom sidechats hosted by Michael Camponovo and the Zoom panels hosted by Kurt Butefish. 

Please mark your calendars for Thursdays, September 24, October 1, October 15, and October 29 from 4:30-5:45 pm via Zoom. The Zoom invite below will be the same link for all of our colloquiums this fall, though I will send reminders the week of. First up in just over two weeks is our very own faculty member, Dr. Teale, so please be sure to come out, give a warm welcome, and hear about the work of our new colleague! 

Please let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Zoom for fall's colloqium series! 

Sept 24, Dr. Natalie Teale (Geography): Characterizing the relationship between atmospheric moisture transport and precipitation in the eastern United States