Quantification of the Impacts of Urban Areas on Heavy Rainfall and Flooding from North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones

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This project investigates the how rainfall occurring during tropical cyclones is altered by urban infrastructure such as paved surfaces. Coastal cities in the United States are home to millions of people and are vulnerable to extreme rainfall and flooding caused by tropical storms. It is known that urban areas increase flooding because of their vast paved surfaces, but less is known about how urban areas impact the rainfall during these storms. This study examines if urban areas result in an increase in rainfall during tropical cyclone storms. Changes in flooding associated with urban development are of broad interest for flood management. Understanding and quantifying how urban areas impact rainfall and flooding can lead to improved local flood forecasts. This could help to inform governmental policy on managing the impacts of floods. This project contributes to the education of one graduate student, provides internship opportunities for several undergraduate students to nurture their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields, and offers professional development workshops for high school teachers.The proposed research focuses on land-falling tropical cyclones impacting major U.S. cities over a nearly 40-year period to examine the role played by urbanization in controlling the rainfall and flooding associated with these storms. The specific goals of the proposed research are to: 1) improve our understanding of the role of urban areas in modifying rainfall associated with U.S. land-falling tropical cyclones; 2) quantify the impacts of the cities in exacerbating flood response; and 3) characterize the urban signature in terms of the alteration of precipitation and runoff during the passage of tropical cyclones. The proposed work is built on both observations and modeling results, providing a comprehensive examination of the interactions between tropical cyclones and urban areas. The knowledge, tools, and datasets developed in this project enhance the methodological tools used for characterizing tropical cyclone rainfall in urban areas and advance interdisciplinary studies of hydrologic and atmospheric science, regional climate modeling, climatology, and applied statistics. This project provides professional development workshops for high school teachers to help them teach weather and climate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.