Ph.D., Meteorology and Physical Oceanography
Postdoc Fellow
Naval Research Laboratory
Marine Meteorology Division
About Me
Welcome to my website! Here, you can learn a little about my research, find my CV,
send me an email, and/or reach me on other platforms across the
web.
Outside of my research, I enjoy spending as much time as I can outdoors, whether it be distance running, hiking, rock climbing,
or hanging out at the park with my dog Mira.
Yes! Hurricanes require deep, warm ocean waters to power the storm. Warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs)
favor storm development, assuming favorable atmospheric conditions. However, a negative feedback occurs
between the wind strength and SSTs. The greater the SSTs, the stronger the wind field may potentially become, which drives
stronger ocean current shear below the surface. These currents aid in mixing cooler waters at depth towards the surface, which
typically result in a cooling of the surface temperatures. Because the SST lacks information about the ocean temperatures below the
surface, ocean heat content (OHC) is often a better estimate of how SSTs will change, because this metric takes into
account the depth of waters containing high heat. Forecasters consider not only the SSTs,
but also how much total heat exists in the upper ocean when predicting whether a storm may strengthen or not.
The amount of cooling under a storm depends on how stable - or resist towards mixing - the upper ocean is.
In some regions of the global tropical oceans, not only is temperature important in determining the density profile and
thus the stability, but also salinity can also affect the structure of the upper ocean.
Previous studies have looked at how upper ocean vertical salinity gradients can essentially dampen
wind-driven ocean mixing and SST cooling, since layers of large increases in salinity with depth,
called "oceanic barrier layers", increase the ocean's stability, or in other words, resistence to vertical fluid movement.
However, there is much disagreement as to whether the changes in SST cooling brought on solely by salinity gradients can
appreciably affect the intensification of a passing hurricane.
Using highly complex numerical model simulations, I've tested how barrier layer thickness modifies the
relationship between a hurricane's wind field and the cooling response of the upper ocean. Through ensemble simulations of idealized
hurricanes, I've shown that vertical barrier layer profiles representative of observations of the Amazon-Orinoco freshwater
plume region in the Western Atlantic can favor additional hurricane intensification, even when vertical wind shear and SSTs are
marginally favorable.
Hurricanes are most dangerous close to and over land, where loss of life and property can occur.
In fact, 8 of the top 10 costlist U.S. natural disasters before 2018 were due to landfalling hurricanes1.
The number of landfalling storms hasn't changed much since 1900, however, the number of people living near the coast
is higher now than at any point in history, and continues to grow. Therefore, damages associated with
landfalling storms has grown exponentially over the past few decades, and this vulnerability will continue
progressing forward. Storm surge and inland flooding are the main causes of loss of life associated with
hurricanes, however intense winds also bring about substantial damages even far inland from the coast.
Despite the threat hurricanes pose towards society,
not much is known about changes in structure before, during, and after landfall. This is because rapid changes in the surface
conditions during landfall occur first at very small scales which are difficult to observe using current methods.
My research has consisted of performing numerical simulations of storms over land masses of differing soil moisture and roughness
characteristics to better understand how these two parameters affect the inland decay of the broader wind field. Additionally, the
coastline forces changes to the storm wind field that drastically differ from observations over the open ocean.
The overall goal of my work is to shed light on the landfall process and how properties
of the underlying surface affect the rate of storm decay, which has implications for understanding inland and coastal
losses.
1Klotzbach, P.J., Bowen, S.G., Pielke Jr, R. and Bell, M., 2018. Continental US hurricane landfall
frequency and associated damage: Observations and future risks. Bulletin of the American Meteorological
Society, 99(7), pp.1359-1376.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Mollitia neque assumenda ipsam nihil, molestias magnam, recusandae quos quis inventore quisquam velit asperiores, vitae? Reprehenderit soluta, eos quod consequuntur itaque. Nam.
Controller
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Mollitia neque assumenda ipsam nihil, molestias magnam, recusandae quos quis inventore quisquam velit asperiores, vitae? Reprehenderit soluta, eos quod consequuntur itaque. Nam.
Locked Safe
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Mollitia neque assumenda ipsam nihil, molestias magnam, recusandae quos quis inventore quisquam velit asperiores, vitae? Reprehenderit soluta, eos quod consequuntur itaque. Nam.
Submarine
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Mollitia neque assumenda ipsam nihil, molestias magnam, recusandae quos quis inventore quisquam velit asperiores, vitae? Reprehenderit soluta, eos quod consequuntur itaque. Nam.
