(Press-News.org) The word “drought” typically conjures images of parched soil, dust-swept prairies, depleted reservoirs, and dry creek beds, all the result of weeks or seasons of persistently dry atmospheric conditions.
In the sun-soaked islands in the Caribbean, however, drought conditions can occur much more rapidly, with warning signs appearing too late for mediation strategies to limit agriculture losses or prevent stresses on infrastructure systems that provide clean water to communities.
Such occurrences – known as flash droughts – are the focus of a new paper authored by Assistant Professor Craig Ramseyer of the College of Natural Resources and Environment and published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. The paper’s finding is that Caribbean Islands are uniquely susceptible to sudden droughts, and Ramseyer advocates for alternative methodologies to more accurately measure dry conditions in the region.
“The tropics have extremely intense solar radiation, so atmospheric processes tend to be expedited,” said Ramseyer, who teaches in the Department of Geography. “Despite often receiving daily rainfall, island ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to drought conditions.”
Ramseyer, whose research focuses on tropical rainfall and severe weather impacts in the Caribbean, utilized a new drought index that considers the atmospheric demand for moisture to identify drought risk conditions instead of more traditional soil moisture measurements.
“This new drought index is really developed to try to identify the first trigger of drought by focusing on evaporative demand,” said Ramseyer, who collaborated on the paper with Paul Miller ’12, M.S. ’14, an assistant professor at Louisiana State University. “Evaporative demand is a measure of how thirsty the atmosphere is and how much moisture it can collect from soil or plant matter.”
Ramseyer, who received funding for this research through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office, stressed that identifying drying conditions earlier is a key step to limiting the impacts of droughts.
“A lot of drought observation is based on soil moisture, but in tropical environments, a decline in soil moisture is a response to other things that have already happened so you’re further down in the chain of events,” he said. “We can mitigate a lot of losses in, say, agriculture, by being able to forecast sudden, anomalous increases in evaporative demand.”
The impacts of drought conditions extend beyond agriculture: Tropical ecosystems are also strongly impacted by dry atmospheric weather conditions, and access to fresh water is a necessity for both communities in the region and a tourism industry that is a central driver for economies in the Caribbean.
A new position for atmospheric research
To better understand how that interplay of meteorological patterns impacts drought conditions, Ramseyer utilized 40 years of data from a long-term ecological research project in the El Yunque National Forest. He found that flash droughts have routinely occurred in the Caribbean and that occurrences of drought are not limited to traditional dry seasons on the island.
“In terms of climate, Puerto Rico is situated at a crossroads, buffered on the west by the El Niño southern oscillation and by the cooler North Atlantic oscillation on the east,” said Ramseyer. “Because of that, Puerto Rico has a unique geography for researching atmospheric changes.”
The looming concerns over global warming have only accelerated the need for meteorologists to better understand drought occurrences in the Caribbean and enhance monitoring of moisture conditions in the region.
“A warming planet results in more moisture available in the atmosphere overall, which means that the kinds of short-term precipitation events common to the Caribbean will increase in intensity,” said Ramseyer. “Meanwhile, droughts are becoming higher in magnitude, so climate change is altering both extremes.”
Ramseyer, who helped secure Virginia Tech’s membership in the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research this year, said developing clearer criteria for flash drought conditions is an important first step toward addressing the infrastructure challenges that Caribbean communities are likely to face.
“The key current and future issue for the Caribbean is all about finding a way to capture rainfall successfully and draw it out slowly to mitigate evaporation losses,” said Ramseyer. “Puerto Rico and all of the Caribbean have water infrastructure challenges that must be addressed to accommodate these trends.”
Geography department chair Tom Crawford said Ramseyer’s paper reflects a utilization of big data in tackling climate and meteorological challenges.
“Dr. Ramseyer’s research applies advanced computing and geospatial science to make significant contributions to the problem of flash droughts and precipitation variability broadly,” said Crawford. “In addition to his research impact, his course on Climate Data Analysis and Programming is training the next generation of researchers on cutting edge computational techniques applied to the changing climate.”
Ramseyer advocates for additional research into understanding the relationship between flash drought events and economic losses and how future drought events can be better communicated to stakeholders and communities.
END
Understanding atmospheric flash droughts in the Caribbean
2023-12-15
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Pesticides and adjuvants disrupt honey bee’s sense of smell
2023-12-15
It has long been known that exposure to pesticide sprays is harmful to honey bees. In a new study, researchers have uncovered the effect of such sprays on the sense of smell in bees, which could disrupt their social signals.
Honey bees live in dynamic communities and constantly communicate with each other using chemicals that serve as social cues. For example, nurse bees—that are responsible for taking care of larvae that ultimately become queens and worker bees—constantly monitor the ...
Immune cells shape lung before birth and provide new avenues for treating respiratory diseases
2023-12-15
Immune cells play an active and intimate role in directing the growth of human lung tissue during development, researchers find, revolutionising our understanding of early lung development and the role of immune cells outside of immunity.
The research offers new insights for understanding and treating respiratory conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Respiratory conditions account for almost 20 per cent of all deaths in children under five years worldwide1.
The work reveals a surprising coordination between the immune and respiratory systems, much earlier in development than previously thought. This discovery raises questions about the ...
Rembrandt broke new ground with lead-based impregnation of canvas for The Night Watch
2023-12-15
New research has revealed that Rembrandt impregnated the canvas for his famous 1642 militia painting ‘The Night Watch’ with a lead-containing substance even before applying the first ground layer. Such lead-based impregnation has never before been observed with Rembrandt or his contemporaries. The discovery, published today in Science Advances, underlines Rembrandt's inventive way of working, in which he did not shy away from using new techniques.
The surprising observation is yet another result from Operation Night Watch, the largest and most wide-ranging research and conservation project in the history ...
SFU and UBC researchers receive $1.25 million to study cumulative effects on B.C. salmon
2023-12-15
Salmon researchers from British Columbia are embarking on a three-year study to understand and help mitigate the cumulative threats affecting the vulnerable species in the province’s watersheds.
The Watershed Futures Initiative, which includes researchers from Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and University of Montana, has received $1.25 million from the federal and provincial governments – through the joint British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund – to tackle the combined impacts of logging, mining, urban development, agriculture, climate change and other factors on salmon.
While ...
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in menstrual products including tampons, pads, and liners
2023-12-15
The average menstruator will use over 11,000 tampons or sanitary pads in their lifetime. Vaginal and vulvar tissue that touch pads and tampons is highly permeable. Through this permeable tissue chemicals are absorbed without being metabolized, which makes endocrine-disrupting chemicals potentially dangerous when found in menstrual products. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with human hormones and cause medical issues, including gynecological conditions such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids.
Joanna Marroquin, a Mason PhD in Public Health student, and Associate ...
Five researchers named Argonne Distinguished Fellows for 2023
2023-12-15
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has named five highly accomplished scientists as Argonne Distinguished Fellows in 2023. They are Glenn Decker, Paul Fenter, Robert Fischetti, Sven Leyffer and Valentine Novosad.
The honor recognizes scientists who have not only achieved international esteem but who have also demonstrated exceptional achievements in science or engineering relevant to Argonne’s core missions. They are leaders of major, complex, high-priority projects or programs that have an impact on the future of the Laboratory. Only a small ...
Study shows exposure to household chemicals can lower odds of getting pregnant
2023-12-15
Exposure to phthalates, a group of plasticizing and solvent chemicals found in many household products, was linked to a lower probability of getting pregnant, but not to pregnancy loss, according to research by a University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental and reproductive epidemiologist.
The study, published this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, also noted an association between preconception exposure to phthalates and changes in women’s reproductive hormones, as well as increased inflammation and oxidative stress.
“Phthalates ...
NRL’s Debra Rolison elected 2023 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
2023-12-15
WASHINGTON – Debra Rolison, Ph.D., of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), for having demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating and facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.
Rolison has been at the lab for over 43 years and heads the Advanced Electrochemical Materials section. The recognition by the NAI is attributed to the efforts made by her team’s inventions related to a new form factor for zinc anodes in rechargeable ...
North America’s first people may have arrived by sea ice highway
2023-12-15
SAN FRANCISCO — One of the hottest debates in archeology is how and when humans first arrived in North America. Archaeologists have traditionally argued that people walked through an ice-free corridor that briefly opened between ice sheets an estimated 13,000 years ago.
But a growing number of archeological and genetic finds — including human footprints in New Mexico dated to around 23,000 years old — suggests that people made their way onto the continent much earlier. These early Americans likely traveled along the Pacific coastline from Beringia, the land bridge between Asia and North America ...
Xinfeng Gao named 2024 AIAA Associate Fellow
2023-12-15
We are pleased to announce that the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a preeminent aerospace professional society, has selected professor Xinfeng Gao to be a member of the class of 2024 AIAA associate fellows. Only one member of the Institute for every 150 members is selected as an associate fellow each year by the review committee.
“This recognition illustrates the impact of our outstanding faculty. Aerospace engineering at UVA continues on a great trajectory and professor Gao is a big part of that,” said Richard W. Kent, professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Pioneering ...