For GSS Energy Flow chapter 7. Excerpt: new NASA-led study of
"atmospheric river" storms from the Pacific Ocean may help scientists
better predict major winter snowfalls that hit West Coast mountains and
lead to heavy spring runoff and sometimes flooding. Atmospheric rivers
-- short-lived wind tunnels that carry water vapor from tropical oceans
to mid-latitude land areas -- are prolific producers of rain and snow on
California's Sierra Nevada mountains. ...An atmospheric river is a
narrow stream of wind, about a mile high and sometimes of hurricane
strength. Crossing the warm tropical Pacific in a few days, it becomes
laden with water vapor. A moderate-sized atmospheric river carries as
much water as the Mississippi River dumps into the Gulf of Mexico in an
average week. When the river comes ashore and stalls over higher
terrain, the water falls as snow or rain. "Atmospheric rivers are the
bridge between climate and West Coast snow," said [Bin Guan of the Joint
Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineerin]. "If
scientists can predict these atmospheric patterns with reasonable lead
times, we'll have a better understanding of water availability and
flooding in the region." The benefit of improving flood prediction alone
would be significant. A single California atmospheric-river storm in
1999 caused 15 deaths and $570 million in damage. Guan's team used data
from the JPL-developed Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on
NASA’s Aqua satellite, ...http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov.... http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/november/study-finds-climate-link-to-atmospheric-river-storms/. NASA RELEASE 13-329. |
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