[Eoas-seminar] MET Seminar - Thursday October 19 - Prof. Bradford Johnson (FSU Dept. of Geography)

[eoas-seminar at lists.fsu.edu]

Dear all,

Please join us next Thursday October 19 for a Meteorology seminar, given by Prof. Bradford Johnson of FSU’s Department of Geography. He will speak about “Getting Particular about Urban Precipitation Enhancement”. (Abstract below).

Prof. Johnson will be joining us in person in 1044. If you are interested in meeting with the speaker, please contact Allison Wing (awing at fsu.edu<mailto:awing at fsu.edu>). He is available on Thursday afternoon before the seminar.

**Graduate students, there will be a free lunch with the speaker at 12:30 PM; please contact Allison Wing to sign up.**

DATE: Thursday October 19
SEMINAR TIME: Refreshments at 3 PM, Talk 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM.
SEMINAR LOCATION: EOA 1044 (Speaker in person)
SPEAKER: Prof. Bradford Johnson

TITLE: Getting Particular about Urban Precipitation Enhancement

ABSTRACT:  The relationship between the growth of urbanization, the surrounding natural environment, and the corresponding atmospheric response has been studied extensively. Through the replacement of forests, agricultural lands, and other natural land cover with impervious surfaces such as roads, buildings, and supporting infrastructure, several environmental changes can be observed. The combination of unnatural surfaces, commercial and industrial activities, increased emissions from anthropogenic heating and cooling, and decreased evapotranspiration leads to discontinuities in the surface energy budget. This often results in retention of heat in urban areas compared to surrounding rural areas, giving rise to the urban heat island (UHI). Increased surface roughness via the urban form and the UHI alter precipitation distribution and intensity through increased surface-based mechanical and thermal buoyancy, respectively.

Urban precipitation research methods often fall into two broad categories – numerical simulations and climatological studies. High-resolution numerical models, such as the Weather Research and Forecasting model, are deployed to assess dynamic response to land cover change via case study or seasonal simulations at urban-resolving spatial resolutions of less than or equal to 3km. Climatological approaches leverage a combination of in situ, radar, satellite-borne, and rain gauge products to characterize urban precipitation distribution from historical observing networks. Efforts to translate the knowledge of urban precipitation modification to actionable science have had mixed results. The information needed by end users can vary according to the task or application. The current body of research has identified preferred regions of enhanced rainfall – over and downwind of the city center – however, these generalizations are not optimal for operational use. The identification of precipitation hotspots (or areas where heavier and/or more frequent precipitation are observed relative to neighboring subregions) would provide actionable information toward numerous decision-making processes.

Through both climatological and modeling methods, an investigation of urban precipitation hotspots is conducted. This talk highlights a climatological approach and poses a couple of questions:

1) What areas within cities have higher convective precipitation compared to city wide observations?
2) What are the antecedent atmospheric conditions during extreme, isolated precipitation events?


——————————————————
Allison Wing, Ph.D.
Werner A. and Shirley B. Baum Professor
Associate Professor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science
Florida State University
awing at fsu.edu<mailto:awing at fsu.edu>





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