Identifier

etd-11092016-170313

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geography and Anthropology

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Climate extremes are meteorological events that can have significant impacts on human and natural systems. Weather hazards, such as heat waves, drought, heavy thunderstorms, floods, hurricanes, occur frequently, and are a threat to human lives and property. Climate data observations spanning over 100 years are an important asset in understanding climate extremes and trends. This research uses daily climate data observations from more than 3000 climate stations in the continental U.S. to assess the climate trends and extremes, including temperature, precipitation, and snowfall. The climate data measurement sites were grouped by climate divisions and each climate division was statistically assessed for the following elements: maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and snowfall. Furthermore, by dividing the climate data time series into 2 time intervals (1946-1980 and 1981-2015). Application of a host of non-parametric, statistical tests, provided insights on whether the recent time period is experiencing increased, decreased or similar frequencies of the climate extremes threshold being analyzed. The study also analyzed trends of climate extremes on a regional basis by breaking up the continental US into western, high plains, southern, midwestern, northeast and southeast regions. A data visualization system was also developed to assess and analyze the results from this data-intensive study. The visualization system includes intuitive choropleth maps and charts that depict climate trends.

Date

2016

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Sathiaraj, David

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.4471

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