The effects of storm-induced sea surface temperature (SST) cooling on hurricane intensity are investigated using a 5-day cloud-resolving simulation of Hurricane Bonnie (1998). Two sensitivity simulations are performed in which the storm-induced cooling is either ignored or shifted close to the modeled storm track. Results show marked sensitivity of the model-simulated storm intensity to the mag...

Most Atlantic hurricanes form in the Main Development Region between 9°N to 20°N along the northern edge of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Previous research has suggested that meridional shifts in the ITCZ position on geologic timescales can modulate hurricane activity, but continuous and long-term storm records are needed from multiple sites to assess this hypothesis. Here we prese...

The most pressing issue for the Ku-band scatterometer is associated with the measurement of ocean surface winds in tropical cyclones in the presence of precipitation, which can significantly degrade the wind vector retrieval. Furthermore, at high wind speeds (> 32 m/s), the measurements suffer from radar backscatter saturation effects. Since the spatial resolution of satellite scatterometer and...

OBJECTIVE To explore the prevalence and progression of posttraumatic symptomatology (PTS), using emotional and behavioral indices of psychopathology in school-age children in the pathway of Hurricane Andrew (HI-IMPACT) and in a comparison group north of Miami (LO-IMPACT). METHOD Pynoos' Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index and Achenbach's Teacher's Report Form (TRF) were administered ...

[1] Passive ocean acoustic measurements may provide a safe and inexpensive means of accurately quantifying the destructive power of a hurricane. This is demonstrated by correlating the underwater sound intensity of Hurricane Gert with meteorological data acquired by aircraft transects and satellite surveillance. The intensity of low frequency underwater sound measured directly below the hurrica...

We analyzed population dynamics and changes in species diversity and composition of saplings (tree or shrub stems >50 cm in height and < 1 cm diameter at breast height) during an interval lasting from 5 years before the 1996 Hurricane Fran to 5 years post-hurricane through use of permanent transects where individual sapling stems were censused annually. The study site was the Duke Forest, locat...

Helicity was calculated in Hurricane Bonnie (1998) using tropospheric-deep dropsonde soundings from the Convection and Moisture Experiment conducted by NASA. Large helicity existed downshear of the storm center with respect to the ambient vertical wind shear. It was associated with veering, semi-circular hodographs created by strong, vortex-scale, radial-vertical flow induced by the shear. The ...

INTRODUCTION Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are complex environmental toxicants. Exposure to them has been linked to adverse health outcomes including cancer, as well as diseases of the skin, liver, and immune system. Based on an ongoing community engagement partnership with stakeholder groups and residents, we conducted a small longitudinal study to assess domestic exposure to PAHs am...

The science of ecology fundamentally aims to understand species and their relation to the environment. At sites where hurricane disturbance is part of the environmental context, permanent forest plots are critical to understand ecological vegetation dynamics through time. An overview of forest structure and species composition from two of the longest continuously measured tropical forest plots ...

Hurricane Opal (1995) crossed the Gulf of Mexico rapidly intensifying to a 130-kt storm, then fortunately weakening before landfall on the Florida panhandle. This intensification was underforecast by the National Hurricane Center. Forecast fields from the 1997 version of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Hurricane Prediction System (GFDL model) for Hurricane Opal are used to diagnose th...