Characteristics of monsoonal thunderstorms in Arizona and New Mexico

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Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Mines & Earth Sciences
Department Atmospheric Sciences
Author Wall, Christina L
Title Characteristics of monsoonal thunderstorms in Arizona and New Mexico
Date 2009-08-07
Description Monsoonal convection in the southwest United States remains difficult to forecast and at times difficult to observe due to large areas of complex terrain with little population and sparse data. Using 10 years of data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, a climatology of monsoonal precipitation is created. The diurnal cycle, typical locations of precipitation, and characteristics that can be used to infer convective strength are used to understand the development and evolution of monsoon precipitation in Arizona and New Mexico. Additionally, NEXRAD radar data are used to fill in temporal gaps in data from TRMM as well as to provide information on individual features for an example case. Because stronger thunderstorms occur most frequently during monsoonal burst periods, the TRMM 3B42 algorithm is used to create a new and more complete definition of break and burst periods during the TRMM period of record, and composite soundings are used to describe the thermodynamic differences during burst and break periods. The North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) is also utilized to compare synoptic conditions during the TRMM break and burst periods to previous studies that defined break and burst periods in different ways. An example case from July 25, 2006 illustrates the type of intense thunderstorms that can occur within monsoonal burst periods and demonstrates the diurnal cycle and properties of convection observed using the TRMM climatology.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Monsoons; Thunderstorms
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name MS
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Characteristics of monsoonal thunderstorms in Arizona and New Mexico" J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections QC3.5 2009 .W35
Rights Management © Christina L. Wall
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 46,884 bytes
Identifier us-etd2,125379
Source Original: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Conversion Specifications Original scanned on Epson GT-30000 as 400 dpi to pdf using ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Professional Edition.
ARK ark:/87278/s6nv9zzk
Setname ir_etd
ID 194183
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6nv9zzk