Abstract

Characteristics of Atlantic Tropical Storms from Long-Term Observations
Track: Climate, Weather, and Atmosphere
Author(s): Constantin Andronache, Rudolph Hon, Barbara Mento, Barry Schaudt

The relationship between global climate variability and Atlantic hurricane activity is a topic of great interest. Several studies have shown that the rise in global temperatures is correlated with upward trends in sea surface temperature in ocean regions where hurricanes are formed. The skill in forecasting seasonal or inter-annual Atlantic hurricane activity with dynamical models is limited, due to a rapid decay of predictability in such models. Nevertheless, time series of data accumulated in more than 100 years yield some insight into the general features of tropical storm frequency and intensity. We employ ArcGIS and other techniques to investigate inter-annual and decadal variability Atlantic hurricane characteristics by analyzing long-term weather and climate observations. Results suggest that part of Atlantic hurricane inter-annual variability can be directly linked to sea surface temperature variations in the same region. The advantages of ArcGIS use for climate and weather data integration are discussed.

Constantin Andronache
Boston College
O'Neill 5th Fl. 562
140 Commonwealth Ave
Chestnut Hill , Massachusetts 02467
United States
Phone: 1-617-552-6215
E-mail: andronac@bc.edu

Rudolph Hon
Boston College
Devlin Hall
140 Commonwealth Ave
Chestnut Hill , Massachusetts 02467
United States
Phone: 1-617-552-3656
E-mail: hon@bc.edu

Barbara Mento
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Ave
Chestnut Hill , Massachusetts 02467
United States
Phone: 1-617-552-3354
E-mail: mento@bc.edu

Barry Schaudt
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Ave
Chestnut Hill , Massachusetts 02467
United States
Phone: 1-617-552-0242
E-mail: schaudt@bc.edu