Digitized Honors Theses (2002-2017)

Date of Award

5-2007

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

BS

Faculty Mentor

Sytske Kimball, Ph.D.

Advisor(s)

Madhuri Mulekar, Ph.D., Robert Coleman, Ph.D.

Abstract

The Extended Best Track (EBT) dataset considered by Kimball and Mulekar (2004) and Veren (2005) is analyzed in this study using the available asymmetrical components. All Tropical Cyclones (TCs) display some degree of asymmetry. The outer wind radii (but not the radius of maximum winds) are observed and recorded for each storm in each of four quadrants; northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. The relative and absolute angular momentum of a TC are derived parameters. Angular momentum quantifies the degree of rotational velocity in a storm.

Extended knowledge of these parameters is useful in forecasting TC structure change and in assessing damage potential of landfalling TCs as intensity and motion are insufficient by themselves. The objective of this study is to understand the real world asymmetries present in TCs and to determine how asymmetry changes in relation to other variables of TC forecasting (such as intensity).

This data is plotted and analyzed using the JMP Start Statistics software package. Fort the EBT dataset as a whole the northeast quadrant of the TC is the largest and the southwest is the smallest. Factors including direction of motion, speed, location, time of year, and TC size are investigated to determine their impact on the asymmetry. In several cases it was found that TCs are symmetric, but this may be due to inaccuracies in data collection or a low number of observations.

Download

Share

COinS