Research Online

Dr. Xiquan Dong, Professor with the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota, will present a seminar entitled “Regional extreme events: US SGP drought/flood and Arctic Sea-ice retreat” on Thursday, September 6, 2012 at 3 p.m. in Streibel Hall, Room 106.

Abstract

With global warming, the extreme events occur more frequently than before, which results in dry areas get drier and wet areas get wetter.  In this talk, we will present two extreme cases based on our two JGR papers. The first paper documented the 2006 drought and 2007 flood over the SGP region. These two extreme events provide a unique opportunity to examine hydrological extremes in the central US because there are no other examples of two such highly contrasting precipitation extremes occurring in consecutive years at the SGP in recorded history.  The second paper investigated the critical mechanisms for the formation of extreme Arctic sea-ice extent in the Summers of 2007 and 1996. Along with significant changes in Arctic climate system, the largest year-to-year variation in sea-ice extent has occurred in the Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi seas where two extremes of opposite signs were observed in the summers of 2007 and 1996.  To untangle underlying forcing and feedbacks critical to the formation of the minimum (maximum) Arctic sea-ice extent of 2007 (1996), we examined in details the corresponding 2007 and 1996 anomalies of the large-scale atmospheric circulation and atmospheric physical parameters relevant to sea-ice variation utilizing satellite-derived sea-ice products and the NASA MERRA reanalysis. 

Faculty and students are encouraged to attend.

~ Wanda Seyler, Administrative Secretary, Department of Atmospheric Sciences