Headline News Archive
Research on global systems suggests that coastal communities and regions are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sea level rise and climate change. As a result, researchers and practitioners are developing processes, tools, and strategies for adapting to future impacts. Building on existing and previous UF research, three sea level rise adaptation planning projects "Development of Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Procedures and Tools Using NOAA Sea Level Rise Impacts Viewer", "A Spatial-Temporal Econometric Model to Estimate Costs and Benefits of Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategies", "Rural Coastal Region Adaptation Planning for Sea Level Rise" led by DCP faculty, Zhong-Ren Peng, Kathryn Frank and Dawn Jourda recently received funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the Florida and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant programs.
FCI Member and FSU Professor Allan Clarke, with Assistant Scientist Lucia Bunge received a NSF grant to work on a new project "Understanding Observed Equatorial Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean Interannual Flow Using Theory and High Resolution ECCO2 Model Results". Fundamental to an understanding of El Niño/Southern Oscillation climate fluctuations is an understanding of the anomalous equatorial Pacific surface flows which move the surface waters and change the sea surface temperature. Through the advent of accurate satellite altimeter measurements from late 1992 to the present, they now have an unprecedented opportunity to examine these flows not just in the Pacific, but also in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The main goal of this project will be to describe the anomalous equatorial surface flows in all three ocean basins and understand major aspects of them using theory and the dynamically consistent high resolution ECCO2 global numerical model. The scientific community is beginning to take advantage of the ECCO2 global ocean model, and a secondary benefit of the analysis will be the evaluation of the accuracy of this model and its dynamics near the equator in all three ocean basins. The foundational knowledge gained during this project should be helpful to the many scientists who will analyze future long records of equatorial climate data gathered in the multinational Atlantic Ocean PIRATA and Indian Ocean RAMA observational programs.
The University of Florida and the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR) have received a highly competitive NERRS Science Collaborative Grant to pilot a sea level rise adaptation planning process in the Matanzas Basin near St. Augustine. The project team will work with stakeholders and coastal decision makers to deliver a habitat vulnerability assessment for the basin and to identify opportunities for protecting coastal to inland ecological connectivity. The methodologies will be carefully designed and evaluated to ensure robustness and transferability to other NERR System sites and coastal areas. The interdisciplinary project team includes several UF faculty members: Kathryn Frank, principal investigator and assistant professor of urban and regional planning, Dawn Jourdan, assistant professor of urban and regional planning, Paul Zwick, associate dean and professor of urban and regional planning, Tom Hoctor, director of the Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, Bob Grist, associate professor of landscape architecture, Greg Kiker, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and Thomas Ruppert, coastal planning specialist, Florida Sea Grant. The three-year project, funded at $618,377, kicked off in December.
Researchers throughout Florida have been expressing a need for high-resolution regional climate and climate projection datasets for quite a while. I am delighted to introduce to you our new arrival: the COAPS Regional Downscaling for the Southeast United States. We are providing hourly model output (surface temperature, precipitation and much more) at a 10km resolution, for two categories of simulations:
- downscaling of Global Reanalyses (sub-project CLARReS10) for the period 1979-2000, and
- downscaling of three Global Climate Models (sub-project CLAREnCE10) for the periods 1968-2000 and 2038-2070.
This is a uniquely detailed and comprehensive dataset that, we hope, would be useful as the climate driver to a range of hydrological and ecological modeling studies. The downscaling procedure has been successfully validated in a peer-reviewed publication. We invite you to visit the CLARReS10/CLAREnCE10 datasets here.
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The American Meteorological Society has awarded Professor Allan J. Clarke, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, the 2012 Sverdrup Gold Medal Award for fundamental contributions to the dynamics of ocean currents and air-sea interactions with particular emphasis on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.
James W. Jones, FCI Director, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to understanding climate change, environmental impacts, and sustainable agricultural systems.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 66 new members and 10 foreign associates, announced NAE President Charles M. Vest on Thursday, February 9, 2012. This brings the total U.S. membership to 2,254 and the number of foreign associates to 206.
Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."
The two day event began with the Florida Climate Institute Annual Event (click here for event program) on Monday which offered attendees diverse presentations about various climate scenarios for Florida and the impacts on the environment and economy. Many also participated in a communications workshop to better bridge the gap between science, policy, and citizenry. The evening keynotes, Steve Seibert and Virginia Burkett, presented an interesting balance of social responsibility and climate science.
On Tuesday, November 15, The State University System of Florida Climate Change Task Force Event (click here for event program) featured Jayantha Obeysekera with a keynote that led to panel discussions with leaders from around the state and country about climate impacts.
Over the 2 days, there were 17 presentations, 175 attendees, and 64 posters contributing the success of the events.
Thanks to all who participated!
The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is a multi-disciplinary network of national and international research and public organizations, scientists, and individuals concerned with achieving a better understanding of climate variability and change.