A junior at Pennsylvania State University, David is a meteorology major with
a minor in Geoscience. David's research interests include tropical storms,
east coast snowstorms and mesoscale convective systems.
The diurnal characteristics of various meteorological variables over the island
of Taiwan are investigated for disturbed vs. undisturbed periods during the
Terrain-influenced Monsoon Rainfall EXperiment (TiMREX), which was conducted
from 15 May to 25 June 2008. Data were divided into two categories based on
estimated cloud coverage in the morning hours over the island. The diurnal
cycles of TRMM rainfall, surface wind pattern, and vertical motion are compared.
The results suggest that diurnal cycles in these fields are evident in both
periods. However, the overall weather pattern during the undisturbed period
indicated a stronger diurnal cycle, with afternoon wind components normal to the
coastline 109% stronger than the disturbed period's. The undisturbed period also
featured averaged afternoon surface vertical motion and convergence almost twice
as large as the disturbed period's.
Future studies could incorporate
sophisticated cloud cover, land surface type, and surface heat flux data to
model the influence of cloud cover on the monsoonal weather pattern in Taiwan.
David's summer research poster,
Diurnal Cycle Characteristics During TiMREX: Disturbed vs. Undisturbed Periods, may be found here (2MB).
David enjoys ultimate frisbee, drawing, photography, baseball and hiking in his free time.
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