Beyond Tropical Storms: Understanding Disturbance and Forest Dynamics

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change ◽

10.3389/ffgc.2021.698733 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Author(s):

Tamara Heartsill-Scalley ◽

Tania López-Marrero

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Tropical Storm ◽

Tropical Storms ◽

Forest Types ◽

Coastal Forests ◽

Caribbean Island ◽

Before And After ◽

The Caribbean

Most of the knowledge of tropical storm effects on forests is from studies conducted in reserves and protected areas. Effects on other settings such as urban forests, coastal forests, and in landscapes with mixed land uses and covers are, comparatively, less studied. Yet research from a range of forest types and landscape compositions is needed to inform actions associated with management, mitigation, or restoration efforts before and after storms. Studies of forests comprising various conditions, along with long-term observations, would offer unique insights into the varied and cumulative effects of tropical storms on forest ecosystems. The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is one of the sites where most tropical storm-forest studies are conducted, yet studies come from a limited set of sites. Using Puerto Rico as a case study, we emphasize the need for broader research approaches that represent the wider range of forests that are exposed to tropical storms. Such an approach will provide valuable knowledge and understanding needed to inform and take actions across landscape settings, forest context, and socio-environmental conditions.

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Storm Driven Migration of the Napatree Barrier, Rhode Island, USA

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences11080330 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 330

Author(s):

Bryan A. Oakley

Keyword(s):

Rhode Island ◽

Shoreline Change ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Tropical Storms ◽

Lower Intensity ◽

Storm Activity ◽

The Impact ◽

Washover Fan

Napatree Point, an isolated barrier in southern Rhode Island, provides a case study of barrier spit migration via storm driven overwash and washover fan migration. Documented shoreline changes using historical surveys and vertical aerial photographs show that the barrier had little in the way of net change in position between 1883 and 1939, including the impact of the 1938 hurricane. The barrier retreated rapidly between 1945 and 1975, driven by both tropical and extra-tropical storms. The shoreline position has been largely static since 1975. The removal of the foredune during the 1938 hurricane facilitated landward shoreline migration in subsequent lower intensity storms. Dune recovery following the 1962 Ash Wednesday storm has been allowed due to limited overwash and barrier migration over the last several decades. Shoreline change rates during the period from 1945–1975 were more than double the rate of shoreline change between 1939 and 2014 and triple the rate between 1883 and 2014, exceeding the positional uncertainty of these shoreline pairs. The long-term shoreline change rates used to calculate coastal setbacks in Rhode Island likely underestimate the potential for rapid shoreline retreat over shorter time periods, particularly in a cluster of storm activity. While sea-level rise has increased since 1975, the barrier has not migrated, highlighting the importance of storms in barrier migration.

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Solar Radiation Over the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico

Solar Energy ◽

10.1115/isec2004-65159 ◽

2004 ◽

Author(s):

Ramiro L. Rivera ◽

Karim Altaii

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Global Radiation ◽

Global Solar Radiation ◽

Time Frame ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Caribbean Island ◽

Monthly Average ◽

Energy Conversion System ◽

The Caribbean

Solar radiation was measured and recorded on a 5-minute, hourly and daily basis at a number of sites on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico (located from 18° to 18° 30’N latitude and from 65° 30’ to 67° 15’W longitude) over a 24 calendar month time frame. The global solar radiation was measured at four sites (namely: Aguadilla, Ponce, Gurabo, and San Juan). The global solar radiation data was measured by an Eppley Precision Spectral Pyranometer (model PSP) mounted on a horizontal surface. This pyranometer is sensitive to solar radiation in the range of 0.285 ≤ λ ≤ 2.8 μm wavelengths. Statistical analysis such as the daily average, monthly average hourly, monthly average daily, and annual average daily global radiation are presented in this paper. Despite its small size, a 13 percent variation in the global solar radiation has been observed within the island. Reasonable solar radiation values, for solar energy conversion system installation, seem to exist at and possibly around Aguadilla.

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Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2007

Monthly Weather Review ◽

10.1175/2009mwr2995.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 137 (12) ◽

pp. 4061-4088 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Michael J. Brennan ◽

Richard D. Knabb ◽

Michelle Mainelli ◽

Todd B. Kimberlain

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Tropical Storm ◽

First Year ◽

Tropical Storms ◽

Severe Damage ◽

Hurricane Andrew ◽

Atlantic Hurricane ◽

Hurricane Season ◽

Tropical Depressions

Abstract The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season had 15 named storms, including 14 tropical storms and 1 subtropical storm. Of these, six became hurricanes, including two major hurricanes, Dean and Felix, which reached category 5 intensity (on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale). In addition, there were two unnamed tropical depressions. While the number of hurricanes in the basin was near the long-term mean, 2007 became the first year on record with two category 5 landfalls, with Hurricanes Dean and Felix inflicting severe damage on Mexico and Nicaragua, respectively. Dean was the first category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin to make landfall in 15 yr, since Hurricane Andrew (1992). In total, eight systems made landfall in the basin during 2007, and the season’s tropical cyclones caused approximately 380 deaths. In the United States, one hurricane, one tropical storm, and three tropical depressions made landfall, resulting in 10 fatalities and about $50 million in damage.

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Renewable Energy in the Caribbean: A Case Study from Puerto Rico

Environmental Management, Sustainable Development and Human Health ◽

10.1201/9780203881255-34 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 307-322

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

The Caribbean

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Cyathea ruttenbergii, a new tree fern (Cyatheaceae, Polypodiopsida) from Puerto Rico

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.336.3.6 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 336 (3) ◽

pp. 279

Author(s):

ADRIAN TEJEDOR ◽

FABIOLA ARECES-BERAZAIN

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

New Species ◽

Caribbean Island ◽

Tree Fern ◽

The Caribbean ◽

A New Species

A new species, Cyathea ruttenbergii, is described from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. The new species differs from congeners by its large, lanceolate pinnules with wide sinuses and long attenuate apices, ovate lamina with 6–7 pinna pairs, bicolorous petiole scales, strongly armed petioles, and lack of indusium. The affinities and ecology of the species are discussed.

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04/00355 Wind characteristics on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico

Fuel and Energy Abstracts ◽

10.1016/s0140-6701(04)91557-3 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 42

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Caribbean Island ◽

Wind Characteristics ◽

The Caribbean

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EMPIRICAL STUDY ON ALTERNATIVES FOR SAVING AND INVESTING IN THE POSTPANDEMIC PERIOD. CASE STUDY: ROMANIA

Business Excellence and Management ◽

10.24818/beman/2021.s.i.2-03 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol S.I. (2) ◽

pp. 27-40

Author(s):

Alexandru Mihai Alexandru Mihai ◽

◽

Ruxandra DINULESCU ◽

Florin PUCHEANU ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Empirical Study ◽

The Past ◽

Trading Market ◽

Before And After ◽

Double Approach ◽

Potential Risks ◽

Potential Strategy ◽

The Impact

This paper develops investigations in the field of saving and investing techniques related to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on the Romanian trading market. The study focuses particularly on the alternatives for accumulation of money capital which can lead to a positive long-term return. The research aims to investigate the available current services and opportunities in the Romanian investment market and their returns after the pandemic. Towards this objective, the study presents the past returns for several products and the users potential risks. Furthermore, an investigation is conducted based on the latest statistics whereas different variants of portfolios are presented. Unlike most of the previous studies, this analysis has a double approach: evaluating viable alternatives depending on several characteristics and simultaneously developing a long-term potential strategy that could be used to ensure the financial future of an individual in the period of the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic. This contribution provides an initial analysis of the saving and investing market of Romania before and after the pandemic.

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Effectiveness of reducing seismic hazard by means of group winning blasting - case study from a copper ore mine in Poland

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20186601010 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 ◽

pp. 01010

Author(s):

Anna Barbara Gogolewska ◽

Natalia Czajkowska

Keyword(s):

Seismic Event ◽

Seismic Energy ◽

Underground Mines ◽

Copper Ore ◽

Ore Deposit ◽

South West ◽

Effective Operation ◽

Before And After

The copper ore deposit situated in the south-west of Poland is mined by three underground mines owned by KGHM Polish Copper JSC. Exploitation has been accompanied by rock burst hazard since the beginning. Thus, numerous different preventing measures have been developed such as temporary, organizational and long-term ones. However, no one has been able to predict the time, place and energy of a seismic event. The group winning blasting, with maximum number of blasted faces, is the most effective operation to reduce seismic threat. The more faces are blasted the more seismic energy should be reduced. The study aims at assessing the blasting effectiveness in inducing rock bursts and tremors. For this purpose, the seismic activity induced by mining and blasting were investigated. The number of blasting works and blasted faces as well as length of time between subsequent blasting works were analysed and related to provocation effectiveness. The linear correlation and different regressions were calculated to determine these relations. Moreover, the seismic energy reduction in the rock mass was evaluated by means of SRMS Index, which is a factor measured directly before and after blasting. The analyses covered one mine panel in the Polkowice-Sieroszowice copper mine over four-year period.

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Renewing Street Lighting with LED Technology A Single Case Study in Casarabonela

Light & Engineering ◽

10.33383/2018-079 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 16-26

Author(s):

Rosa Maria Morillas ◽

José Ramon de Andrés

Keyword(s):

Single Case ◽

Light Sources ◽

Single Case Study ◽

Street Lighting ◽

Light Levels ◽

Before And After ◽

Multiple Case

In 2015, the ecological, economic and social necessity of increasing energy efficiency contributed to street lighting renewal in the Spanish municipality of Casarabonela. Considering fixed operating and maintenance costs, it was a significant, long term investment with high impact for the community. Technicians chose LED light sources after studying technical and economic proposals submitted. Measurements of light levels, energy consumption and costs were carried out before and after the renovation. Once the chosen proposal was implemented, follow up surveys from technicians, maintenance workers and final users were collected. This case study aims to describe steps taken in the process of luminaires replacement. It has been estimated savings, expected and actual together with the return period on investment. This case may well serve as a prototype for a subsequent multiple case study which aims to validate a list of indicators obtained in a previous research.

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