Thesis. 1977. Sc.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Meteorology. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND LINDGREN. / Vita. / Bibliography : leaves 136-139. / Sc.D.

Thesis. 1978. Sc.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Meteorology. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Bibliography : leaves 213-218. / Sc.D.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Meteorology. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 168-170. / Ph.D.

Thesis. 1976. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Meteorology. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 146-152. / Ph.D.

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Hurricane Sandy made landfall in Brigantine, New Jersey on October 29th, 2012. The storm impacted the coastal regions of New Jersey and New York, especially the heavily populated area of New York City. This research, which analyzes secondary data obtained from a telephone survey, investigates the public response of residents before, during and after Hurricane Sandy. The survey consisted of questions regarding what the residents expected concerning the threat of Hurricane Sandy, whether it matched what they experienced, where they got their information and how they made their decision to evacuate or not. The results from the survey were statistically analyzed in order to answer important research questions about public perception of Sandy's impacts. A Vulnerability Assessment of New York City, where some of Sandy's impacts were felt the most, was completed in order to understand why this area was so vulnerable. The concern level of various hurricane related hazards was analyzed and correlated to demographic variables to determine a relationship among the variables. A qualitative analysis was performed on the survey questions "Why did you evacuate?" and "Why did you not evacuate?" in order to determine themes in relation to people's reasons for evacuating or not evacuating. Finally, differences in how the public perceived Hurricane Sandy before and after the storm were analyzed and may be used for improving communication of the forecast to the public. Interdisciplinary research in this area is needed in order to better understand the public's need for appropriate warnings to ensure safety. Results show that residents were most concerned about wind damage and that they mainly used their television to obtain their information about the storm. Also, the most common reasons respondents reported for evacuating were because of the threat of possible impacts (storm surge, flooding, wind, rain and waves), the forecast called for bad conditions, or being told, recommended or convinced to leave. The main reasons reported by respondents for not evacuating are thinking that the impacts would not be bad in their area, feeling prepared or safe and thinking they could handle the impacts. This research can be used in the future for improving hurricane warning communication to the public.

Occult deposition is the direct uptake of cloudwater by vegetation that comes into physical contact with wind-driven cloud droplets. This can be a significant pathway for hydrological and chemical fluxes from the atmosphere to some forests. Methods for estimating cloudwater fluxes to forests are reviewed. Previous studies have neglected the fact that cloudwater is not a conservative atmospheric quantity. This invalidates traditional micrometeorological approaches for estimation of cloudwater fluxes to forests. A theory is developed to predict the change in the cloudwater flux with height due to condensation in the updrafts of orographic cloud, allowing estimation of surface uptake via eddy correlation measurements while accounting for condensation. The performances of three microphysical instruments are examined. From collocated measurements, errors in cloud liquid water content are determined for a Particulate Volume Monitor (PVM) and a Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe (FSSP) to be less than 0.01 g m⁻³ and 0.035 g m⁻³ respectively. Similarly, the error bounds for surface-normal cloud liquid water fluxes are found to be 2 mg m⁻² s⁻¹ for the PVM and 3.5 mg m⁻² s⁻¹ for the FSSP. Smaller errors are found to be associated with the uncertainty in the direction of the flux relevant to surface uptake. The FSSP is seen to have larger errors when droplet concentrations exceed 600 cm⁻³. A vertical divergence is detected in the cloudwater flux; the downward flux decreases with increasing distance from the surface, usually changing sign by 15 m above ground. Five candidate processes are identified as possible explanations for this measured flux divergence. A scale analysis shows that the liquid water source (condensation due to pseudoadiabatic ascent) is largely responsible for the change in flux with height. Accounting for the change in flux with height results in a near doubling of the estimated surface flux relative to the flux measured at a height of 10 m in the surface layer for this silver fir forest. This factor applies to chemical as well as liquid water fluxes. This source of liquid water also is seen to be important in developing a simple model for cloudwater deposition. / Graduation date: 1997

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