The CMCC organizes two seminars with Dr. Julie Pullen, to be held in Lecce at the Ocean Lab’s premises.

The first seminar is entitled “Nested coupled air/sea modeling for multi-scale processes in the Maritime Continent” and is scheduled for Wednesday, October 14 (h. 10.30 – 11.15 a.m.).

Abstract:
Simulations of the western Pacific region were conducted utilizing high-resolution nested coupled air/sea modeling. The 3-km resolution model (the Navy’s COAMPS) results are compared with observations on land, at sea and by satellite.  The confluence of several factors operating at multiple scales created a winter of extreme precipitation in the Philippines in 2008.   These factors included: a moderately strong La Nina, a neutral to negative Indian Ocean Dipole, northeast monsoon conditions with strong synoptic monsoon surges, and intense MJO activity.  On land, towns were evacuated due to rain-induced flooding of rivers emanating from mountainous regions.  In the ocean, near-surface low salinity measured from a research vessel in adjacent coastal waters was attributed to freshwater run-off from the rivers draining the mountains.

The 3-km model simulations revealed high precipitation in the mountains coinciding with peak MJO wet phase and monsoon cold surge episodes, and consistent with the interpretation of ocean measurements and ground-based reports.  However rain gauges were not well situated to capture the rainfall signal in the mountains, and it is likely the model overestimated rainfall totals.  The need for additional rain gauge and river discharge monitoring is highlighted as important aspects for the upcoming international Years of the Maritime Continent field and modeling campaign (2017-2019).  Additional elements are being added to the COAMPS system that will be able to seamlessly represent the hydrological processes that are important in the multi-scale impacts documented in this study.

The second seminar is entitled “Coastal urban modeling applications: heat waves and atmospheric transport & dispersion“ and is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 (h. 10.00 – 10.45 a.m.).

Abstract:
Simulations of NYC-area extreme heat events were conducted using a 1-km resolution urbanized meteorological model (the Navy’s COAMPS) and compared with observations.  An examination of the dynamics reveals the unique heterogeneous footprint of high air temperatures in the region.  The mitigating impact of sea breezes is documented during the evolution of the heat waves.

In a related effort, we link the same urbanized meteorological model to the U.S. national plume model capability (the DOD’s HPAC) for chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear (CBRN) airborne contaminant releases.  We evaluate the sensitivity of the resultant plumes to the wind direction, and the release sites’ proximity to water (the New York/New Jersey harbor).  A Computational Fluid Dynamics model at ~3 m resolution is applied to NYC, Chicago and Washington DC and the impact of urban morphology on plume dispersion is explored.

 Dr. Julie Pullen is an associate professor in Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology.  Her expertise is in coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling for understanding and forecasting the dynamics of coastal urban regions throughout the world. Specific research interests encompass the ocean response to atmospheric flows around island topography, as well as sea breeze interactions with city morphology during heat waves. Applications include predicting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) dispersion in coastal cities in the event of a terrorist or accidental release. [more info..]

The two seminars will be also broadcasted via streaming.
For registration: [email protected]