Hurricane Maria was the strongest hurricane that arrived on the island of Puerto Rico since 1928, with an estimated damage cost of ninety one billion dollars between the island of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Hurricane Maria registered unprecedented total rainfall that results in floods, landslides and high -speed winds that led to the destruction of most electrical energy and communication transmission systems on the island. Meteorological data recorded during extreme events are of the utmost importance to predict future events and prepare for damage control. Unfortunately, limited data were recorded for Hurricane Maria due to the collapse of the recording station during the first hours of the storm.
A team of researchers from the City College of New York led by Professor Jorge González along with his colleagues Dr. Rabindra Pokhrel, Salvador del Cos, Juan Pablo Montoya Rincon and Equisha Glenn Simulated Hurricane Maria in Research and Forecastia del Meteorarate (WRF) Tool of Modeling, a numerical weather prediction system developed by the National Atmospheric Research Center (NCAR), compared and validated the results of the model with limited observation records during Hurricane Maria. The original article was published in the research magazine Climate climate and extremes.
Professor González said: “Hurricane Maria was an exceptional storm with record mortality. The study of the study is to provide information before and during the event for impact analysis, especially in critical energy infrastructure. “
Professor González and his colleagues have identified the hydro-meteorological processes that occurred before and during this exceptional event. The results of the WRF model were used for the evaluation of the geospatial risk of the failure of the electric power posts on the island.
With respect to the synoptic analysis of the conditions that led to the storm, they registered 2017 as the hottest year for the surface temperatures of the sea worldwide. The highest sea surface temperature was accompanied by a low vertical wind shear that helps the formation and intensification of hurricanes.
The research team predicted the comparable land location and the magnitude of Hurricane Maria through the use of WRF. The maximum wind speed simulated by the model was similar to the wind speed recorded by ocean buoys during the hurricane. The simulation also predicted total rainy peaks in the center of the island through the use of precipitation records and the orographic effect of the great altitudes in the central mountains of the island. In addition, it is simulated that the orographic variation increased rain by more than four times. A risk assessment for the failure of the electric power towers on the island was carried out using the wind speed and the maximum rainy data, which concluded a greater risk of failure in the north and the center of the island.
This study has successfully provided a critical vision of the events that preceded Hurricane Maria. Registration of high temperatures of the sea surface and a low vertical wind shear were responsible for incomparable rainfall and floods caused by the hurricane. The directed author, Dr. Rabindra Pokhrel, told science presented: “Validated weather variables can be used even more to obtain more impact evaluations, such as hydrological modeling (for the risk of flooding) and the resilience model ( for the impact on critical infrastructure). Future works will focus on generating reliable data sources for other hurricanes on the island and using data for critical infrastructure impacts. “
Newspaper reference:
Pokhrel, Rabindra, Salvador del Cos, Juan Pablo Montoya Rincon, Equisha Glenn and Jorge E. González. “Hurricane Maria observation and modeling for damage assessment”. Climate climate and extremes (2021): 100331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2021.100331
About the author
Rabindra Pokhrel Assistant Professor
University of Katmandú Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering Pobox 6250, Dhulikhel, Nepal. Email: rabindra@ku.edu.np
Dr. Pokhrel obtained his doctorate (2021) from City College of New York, CCNY and Master’s (2009) from the University of Santa Clara, California. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering (2003) from the University of Katmandú, Nepal. Since 2011, Dr. Pokhrel has been teaching at the University of Katmandu as an assistant professor who focuses mainly on alternative energy and recently in environmental dynamics and urban planning. His doctoral research prepared him to understand the weather of the Caribbean, extreme climatic events and especially in the sustainability of urban energy. He has developed tools to incorporate into the urban weather model to study the impacts of the construction of technologies integrated in the mitigation of the use of maximum energy for extreme historical and future heat events. Dr. Pokhrel’s professional objective is to use modeling/observation data to understand, implement and promote measures to adapt to climate change.
Salvador del Cos is a student graduated in the work of City College of New York who had previously graduated from the Technological and Higher Studies of Monterrey (ITESM), obtaining a degree (2012) in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree (2017 (2017 ) In energy engineering. The resulting designs compete the intensity of radiation in the receptor tube using Sabrace.
Juan P. Montoya-Rincon (Juanpablomonto10@hotmail.com)
Juan P. Montoya-Rincon He received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Eafit, Medellin, Colombia, in 2018. A pH.D. Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at the City College of New York, NY, US Transmission systems
Equisha Glenn It is a science center of the Earth Systems of NOAA and Remote Detection Technologies (Cessrst) Postgraduate Research at the City College of New York. She is pursuing her doctorate in Civil Engineering (2021) with an focus on water resources, weather and resistance. In addition, it has a Bs and MS in the science of Earth Systems and Environmental Engineering. He has worked with local, municipal and federal government agencies throughout his academic and professional career, including NASA, the New York Environmental Protection Department (NYCDEP) and the Resilience Office of the Mayor of New York. Currently, he is working on several research -related research projects. His work with NOAA focuses on understanding the influence of climatic changes in water resources to adapt water management strategies for floods and droughts. In addition, their projects with NASA focus on analyzing extreme heat conditions for Chicago and Durban (South Africa). Equisha is interested in closing the gap between data, weather and politics to help build a more resistant future for cities and society.
Professor González is the director of The CCNY initiative to promote academic success in Stem (Cipás), Main scientist of the coast-urban environmental research group (Cúerg), and the presidential professor of Mechanical Engineering of the City College of New York at the City College of New York (CCNY). Professor González obtained his doctorate (1994) and Bachelor (1988) in mechanical engineering of the Institute of Technology of Georgia and the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, respectively. He teaches and conducts research on sustainability of urban energy, climate and urban climate, urban television and regional climatic analysis and analysis. Professor González has several patents in solar energy equipment, aerosol detection and energy forecasts for buildings, and was recognized as an outstanding young researcher by the National Science Foundation with a prestigious career award. He is the author or co -author of more than 100 publications reviewed by peers, has delivered hundreds of conferences presentations, and his investigation has attracted more than $ 40 million in external funds. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and former vice president of the Board of the American Meteorological Society on the urban environment. He was appointed in 2015 by the mayor of the city as a member of the Climate Change Panel for New York City, and more recently as a senior visiting scientist of the Institute of Urban Meteorology of Beijing and the National Laboratory of Brookhaven. He is the co -editor of the ASME OF EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEM ASSEMBLY INTEGRATED AND SUSTAINABLE, and was named this year 2019 as the founding editor of the newest Asme Journal of Engineering for sustainable buildings and cities.
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