Wind erosion of soil is an appreciable but unstudied event following fires in cold desert. We examined aeolian transport of sediment for 1 year following fire in semi-arid shrub steppe on loess soils in southern Idaho, USA. Sediment collectors were used to determine horizontal mass transport of soil and saltation sensors and anemometers were used to determine saltation activity (fraction of tim...

Thirty-one years of imager data from polar orbiting satellites are composited to produce a satellite climate data set of cloud amount for the Great Lakes region. A trend analysis indicates a slight decreasing trend in cloud cover over the region during this time period. The trend is significant and largest (~2% per decade) over the water bodies. A strong seasonal cycle of cloud cover is observe...

This thesis focuses on the development, analysis and evaluation of methods for the retrieval of ocean surface winds with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and surface currents with infrared (IR) radiometer sensors. The SAR wind speed retrievals are based on geophysical model functions using wind directions obtained with two approaches. The first approach determines wind directions from the spatial...

Recent satellite observations reveal far-reaching effects of the Hawaiian Islands on surface wind, cloud, ocean current, and sea surface temperature (SST) that extend leeward over an unusually long distance (.1000 km). A three-dimensional regional atmospheric model with full physics is used to investigate the cause of this long wake. While previous wind–wake studies tend to focus on regions nea...

The phase relationships of the western North Pacific (WNP) summer monsoon (WNPM) with the Australian monsoon (AM) and Indian monsoon (IM) are investigated using observational rainfall, SST, and NCEP reanalysis data for the period of 1979–2005. It is found that a strong WNPM often follows a strong AM but leads a weak AM, and a significant simultaneous negative correlation appears between WNPM an...

Massive binary star systems are not uncommon, and neither the supersonic collision of their winds. In the present work we study these shocks and the further consequences on wind structure. The post-shock gas is a warm and high-density environment, which allows dust to form and grow. We show that this growth is fast, of just a few hours. An application for ηCar shows that, probably, the decline ...

The impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is studied, based on reanalysis data and output from an ensemble general circulation model (GCM) experiment. Observed monthly sea surface temperature variations over the period of 1950–99 are imposed in the deep tropical eastern/central Pacific in the course of the SST experiment. Both GCM, and reanalys...

The breaking of wind-generated waves plays a significant role in the exchanges of momentum, heat, water vapour, and gas between the atmosphere and the ocean. Breaking waves entrain air into the surface water forming bubbles, which manifests itself as a whitecap on the ocean surface. Whitecap measurements in the open ocean are sparse and are limited to Monahan and Muircheartaigh, (1980), the war...

Climate model results suggest that future climate change in Antarctica will be accompanied by continued strengthening and poleward contraction of the Southern Ocean westerly wind belt. Paleoclimate records suggest past changes in the westerly winds can be abrupt and that healing of the Antarctic ozone hole could lead to poleward contraction of the westerlies and increased meridional atmospheric...