The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners.
As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
i
Diagnosing Moisture Sources for Flash Floods in the United States. Part II: Terrestrial and Oceanic Sources of Moisture
-
2019
-
Source: J. Hydrometeor. (2019) 20 (8): 1511–1531.
[PDF-4.89 MB]
Details:
-
Journal Title:Journal of Hydrometeorology
-
Personal Author:
-
NOAA Program & Office:
-
Description:Backward trajectories were derived from North American Regional Reanalysis data for 19 253 flash flood reports published by the National Weather Service to determine the along-path contribution of the land surface to the moisture budget for flash flood events in the conterminous United States. The impact of land surface interactions was evaluated seasonally and for six regions: the West Coast, Arizona, the Front Range, Flash Flood Alley, the Missouri Valley, and the Appalachians. Parcels were released from locations that were impacted by flash floods and traced backward in time for 120 h. The boundary layer height was used to determine whether moisture increases occurred within the boundary layer or above it. Moisture increases occurring within the boundary layer were attributed to evapotranspiration from the land surface, and surface properties were recorded from an offline run of the Noah land surface model. In general, moisture increases attributed to the land surface were associated with anomalously high surface latent heat fluxes and anomalously low sensible heat fluxes (resulting in a positive anomaly of evaporative fraction) as well as positive anomalies in top-layer soil moisture. Over the ocean, uptakes were associated with positive anomalies in sea surface temperatures, the magnitude of which varies both regionally and seasonally. Major oceanic surface-based source regions of moisture for flash floods in the United States include the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California, while boundary layer moisture increases in the southern plains are attributable in part to interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere.
-
Keywords:
-
Source:J. Hydrometeor. (2019) 20 (8): 1511–1531.
-
DOI:
-
Document Type:
-
Funding:
-
Place as Subject:
-
Rights Information:Other
-
Compliance:Submitted
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
Related Documents
-
[PDF - 14.87 MB]
[PDF - 13.13 MB]
[PDF - 1.75 MB]
