RUI: P2C2--Assessing the Influence of Extreme Rainfall Events on Australian Stalagmite Reconstructions of Tropical Cyclone Landfalls and the Indo-Australian Summer Monsoon

该奖项一般旨在利用洞穴系统和洞穴主题作为与热带气旋和海洋和大气条件变化有关的环境条件的自然档案。这项研究很重要，因为它将有助于扩大对过去热带气旋活动的性质和时间的科学认识，特别是在变化的区域（即印度-太平洋海面温度和太平洋温度梯度）和热带外（即北半球温度）气候条件期间。由于热带气旋是某些地区大多数极端降雨事件的原因，因此改进对其动态的评估有助于开发长期水资源预算和与风暴有关的风险模型。就拯救生命和保护财产而言，投资于了解热带气旋具有重大的经济和社会回报。此外，该奖项将促进主要本科院校的研究和教育，从而为学生提供进行研究的早期经验。具体来说，该研究项目将包括在横跨澳大利亚西北部近海岸样带的三个洞穴中安装监测气象、化学和水文条件的仪器。每个洞穴的环境变量（如温度、相对湿度、气压）将与每个地点收集的气象和雨水数据（包括降雨量和稳定同位素组成）以及板生长的洞穴碳酸盐的氧同位素比率相结合。这些数据将有助于全面了解洞穴对极端降雨事件（如许多热带气旋的特征）的反应，包括水文和同位素。

This award generally aims to use cave systems and speleothems as natural archives of environmental conditions related to tropical cyclones and variations in ocean and atmospheric conditions. This research is important because it will help expand the scientific understanding of the nature and timing of past tropical cyclone activity, especially during periods of varying regional (i.e., Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature and Pacific temperature gradients) and extra-tropical (i.e., Northern Hemisphere temperature) climatic conditions. Since tropical cyclones are responsible for the majority of extreme rainfall events in some regions, an improved assessment of their dynamics can aid in developing models of long-term water budgets and storm-related risks. Investing in understanding tropical cyclones has significant economic and social returns in terms of saved lives and protected property. Furthermore, this award will advance research and education at a primarily undergraduate institution thereby providing an early experience for students in the conduct of research. Specifically, the research project will involve the installation of instruments to monitor meteorological, chemical, and hydrologic conditions at three caves spanning a near-coastal transect across northwestern Australia. Environmental variables (e.g., temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure) in each cave will be integrated with meteorological and rainwater data (including rainfall amounts and stable isotopic compositions) collected at each site, along with the oxygen isotopic ratios of plate-grown spelean carbonate. These data will help develop a holistic understanding of cave responses, both hydrologic and isotopic, to extreme rainfall events such as those that characterize many tropical cyclones.