Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Atmospheric Sciences

The upper ocean significantly influences tropical cyclone structure and intensity. These effects, however, are not well understood mostly due to a lack of oceanic and atmospheric boundary layer observations within the inner-core region. This study relates ocean-atmosphere energy exchange processes to mid-to-upper tropospheric latent heating using mesoscale inner-core convective burst events. A global survey of convective burst events in tropical cyclones from the year 1999 – 2001 was constructed. This study shows that 80% of tropical cyclones have at least one convective burst event and that convective burst events usually occur during the intensification phase of the storm life cycle. Latent and sensible heat flux estimates and a measure of upper-ocean energy utilization were calculated for the inner-core (<.5° radius) and the near-core (.5° - 1° radius). This study found that tropical cyclones generally utilize only about 8% of the total enthalpy flux available from the ocean/atmosphere boundary layer. Storms with convective bursts utilize more energy from the ocean (11%) than storms with no convective burst (2%). Sea-air fluxes are greatly enhanced (doubled) during convective burst time periods. These along-track ocean-atmosphere analyses was compared to vertical profiles of atmospheric latent heating calculated using a combined active and passive TRMM PR and TMI retrieval algorithm. Results show strong positive space and time correlations between ocean-air fluxes and mid-upper tropospheric latent heating. Additionally, the 30 storms analyzed were categorized by the presence or absence of convective burst events during the storm lifecycle. Composite atmospheric latent heating profiles constructed for each group show a two-fold release in energy for the storms with convective burst events compared to storms with no convective burst event. Finally, seven case studies are presented which attempt to resolve the upscale energy cascade of the tropical cyclone with a co (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jay Hobgood (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2023, Washkewicz College of Engineering

Most of the rain that falls over land, falls over forests, which cover approximately one-third of global land surface. Significant immediate and wide-ranging impacts are exerted on hydrological, ecological, and societal systems due to canopy-rainfall interactions, altering rainwater supply to the surface. All storm-related hydrological processes are impacted by the relative rates that canopy surfaces retain, evaporate, and redistribute rain. Many forest canopies host a community of plants called epiphytes that are generally capable of storing and evaporating substantial water. Epiphytes are comparatively under-researched regarding their role in rainfall partitioning compared to bark and leaves. Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia, has a forest canopy that hosts an epiphyte community consisting primarily of these three groups on a single host tree species, Quercus virginiana (southern live oak). The objective of this research was to determine the amount of time the study epiphytes were saturated, the amount of rainfall evaporated by the epiphytes, and the amount of condensation received by the epiphytes. It was found that saturation time had a positive relationship with Pleopeltis and detritus biomass, and decreased with Tillandsia. An indirect positive relationship between Pleopeltis and detritus biomass with evaporation and condensation amounts was observed.

Committee: John Van Stan (Advisor); Yong Tao (Committee Chair); Michael Gallagher (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science; Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2010, Mechanical Engineering

In response to the fact that residential buildings consume a significant amount of the energy produced within the United States, students at The Ohio State University undertook to design and build two small, solar powered homes. These homes are now public demonstrations of the feasibility of energy-efficiency, solar energy, and sustainability in residential homes. The effectiveness of each of the houses major components are discussed and evaluated using both analytical and numerical methods. Results show that significant energy savings can be achieved by employing solar power generation, solar hot water heating, energy-efficient building materials, gray water recycling, and passive solar heating. Passive solar heating using a thermal storage wall incorporating phase change material is evaluated in more detail to determine the effects of wall materials on performance. The thermal storage wall analysis indicates that the incorporation of phase change material (PCM) and the glazing material has a subtantial effect on the wall performance, but the PCM encapsulation material is less important. The study suggested several improvements to the original house thermal storage wall design.

Committee: Mark Walter (Advisor); Gary Kinzel (Committee Member) Subjects: Energy; Engineering