Prior studies of the long-term temperature record in the Southeastern United States (SE US) mostly discuss the long-term cooling trend, and the inter-annual variability produced by the region's strong ties to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). An examination of long-term temperature records in the SE US show clear multi-decadal variations in temperature, with relative warm periods in the 1920's through the mid 1950's and a cool period in the late 1950's through the late 1990's. This substantial shift in multi-decadal variability is not well understood and has not been fully investigated. It appears to account for the long-term downward trend in temperatures. An accurate characterization of this variability could lead to improved interannual and long-term forecasts, which would be useful for agricultural planning, drought mitigation, water management, and preparation for extreme temperature events. Statistical methods are employed to determine the spatial coherence of the observed variability on seasonal time scales. The goal of this study is to characterize the nature of this variability through the analysis of National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) station data in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. One finding is a shift in the temperature Probability Distribution Function (PDF) between warm regimes and cool regimes. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2010. / July 2, 2010. / Meteorology, Climate Variability, Climate, Warm Regime, Cold Regime / Includes bibliographical references. / Mark. A. Bourassa, Professor Directing Thesis; Eric P. Chassignet, Professor Directing Thesis; Philip Sura, Committee Member; David F. Zierden, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253904 |
| Contributors | Williams, Marcus De'Andre (authoraut), Bourassa, Mark. A. (professor directing thesis), Chassignet, Eric P. (professor directing thesis), Sura, Philip (committee member), Zierden, David F. (committee member), Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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