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

该项目调查了热带气旋期间的降雨如何被城市基础设施（如铺砌路面）所改变。美国沿海城市是数百万人的家园，容易受到热带风暴造成的极端降雨和洪水的影响。众所周知，城市地区由于其广阔的铺砌表面而增加了洪水，但对城市地区如何影响这些风暴期间的降雨却知之甚少。这项研究探讨了在热带气旋风暴期间，城市地区是否会导致降雨量增加。与城市发展相关的洪水变化对洪水管理具有广泛的意义。了解和量化城市地区如何影响降雨和洪水可以改善当地的洪水预报。这可能有助于为政府管理洪水影响的政策提供信息。该项目有助于一名研究生的教育，为几名本科生提供实习机会，培养他们对科学，技术，工程和数学领域的兴趣，并为高中教师提供专业发展研讨会。拟议的研究重点是在近40年内影响美国主要城市的登陆热带气旋，一年的时间来研究城市化在控制与这些风暴相关的降雨和洪水方面所发挥的作用。拟议研究的具体目标是：1）提高我们对城市地区在修改与美国登陆热带气旋相关的降雨中的作用的理解; 2）量化城市在加剧洪水响应方面的影响; 3）描述热带气旋通过期间降水和径流变化方面的城市特征。拟议的工作是建立在观测和模拟结果，提供了一个全面的检查热带气旋和城市地区之间的相互作用。该项目开发的知识、工具和数据集增强了用于描述城市地区热带气旋降雨特征的方法学工具，并推进了水文和大气科学、区域气候建模、气候学和应用统计学的跨学科研究。该项目为高中教师提供专业发展讲习班，帮助他们教授天气和气候。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.