Characteristics and coastal effects of a destructive marine storm in the Gulf of Naples (southern Italy)

Destructive marine storms bring large waves and unusually high surges of water to coastal areas, resulting in significant damages and economic loss. This study analyses the characteristics of a destructive marine storm on the strongly inhabited coastal area of Gulf of Naples, along the Italian coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This is highly vulnerable to marine storms due to the accelerated relative sea level rise trend and the increased anthropogenic impact on the coastal area. The marine storm, which occurred on 28 December 2020, was analyzed through an unstructured wind–wave coupled model that takes into account the main marine weather components of the coastal setup. The model, validated with in situ data, allowed the establishment of threshold values for the most significant marine and atmospheric parameters (i.e., wind intensity and duration) beyond which an event can produce destructive effects. Finally, a first assessment of the return period of this event was evaluated using local press reports on damage to urban furniture and port infrastructures.

The Correlations between Building Heights and Wind Speed in Determining the Dimension of Windows in a High-rise Residential Building Façade

Climate change due to architecture occurs as a result of technological developments that support the development of materials, electrical mechanics, structures, and building shapes that play a role in increasing emission levels in the air. One type of building in Indonesia that contributes to increasing emissions is the residential building known as rumah susun. This research employs the case study method, observing the Rumah Susun Jatinegara Barat, located in East Jakarta. The case study shows that the use of prototypes that are not environmentally friendly makes a building’s performance worse. The use of precast, which resulted in monotonous window dimensions, is considered the main factor causing the failure of this Rumah Susun Jatinegara Barat to adapt to the surrounding environment. This problem occurred because the openings in the building façades had a monotonous dimension while the wind intensity that hit the building was increasing. The final result shows that the windows on the façades of the case study were not functioning except if all the openings in the residential unit are open. These results prove that the height of a building is an essential factor in planning high-rise flats, especially in Jakarta.

Tropical Cyclones Affecting Tokyo and Changing Storm Surge Hazard since 1980

This study investigated tidal records and landfall tropical cyclone (TC) best tracks in Japan from 1980 to 2019 to determine changes in storm surge heights in coastal regions of eastern Japan, including Tokyo. The results indicate that annual mean storm surge heights have increased in the last 20 years (2000–2019) compared to those in 1980–1999, and that these changes are noteworthy, particularly in Tokyo Bay. The storm surge hazard potential index (SSHPI), proposed by Islam et al. (2021), is positively correlated with surge height. The temporal change analysis of SSHPI suggests that TC wind intensity and size during landfall time frame have become stronger and larger, respectively, corresponding to increasing storm surge magnitudes from 1980 to 2019. The increased occurrence frequency of TCs with more northeastward tracks is another factor that may have contributed to the increased surge hazards around Tokyo. Tokyo area is likely to experience increasing numbers of extreme storm surge events in the future, if, the current increasing tendency continues.

Understanding the Effects of Wind Intensity, Forward Speed, Pressure and Track on Generation and Propagation of Hurricane Irma Surges around Florida

In this study, it is demonstrated that hurricane wind intensity, forward speed, pressure, and track play an important role on the generation and propagation of coastal storm surges. Hurricane Irma, which heavily impacted the entire Florida peninsula in 2017, is used to study the storm surge sensitivity to varying storm characteristics. Results show that the west coast experiences a negative surge due to offshore wind of the approaching storm, but the positive surge returns after the hurricane eye passes over a location and wind became onshore. In the west coast peak, surges are intensified by an increase in onshore wind intensity and forward speed. In the Florida Keys, peak surges are intensified by an increase in wind intensity, a decrease in forward speed and a decrease in pressure. In southeast and east Florida, peak surges are intensified by decrease in pressure, although overall surges are less significant as the water can slide along the coastline. In the recessed coastline of Georgia-Carolinas, maximum surge is elevated by an increase in onshore wind intensity. Shifting the track westward increases peak surges on the west coast, while shifting the track eastward increases peak surge on the east coast. The results demonstrate a new understanding about the sensitivity of surge to varying parametric conditions and the importance of considering changes in the coastline orientation in storm surge predictions.

Characteristics and coastal effects of a destructive marine storm in the Gulf of Naples (Southern Italy)

Destructive marine storm bring large waves and unusually high surges of water to coastal areas, resulting in significant damages and economic loss. In this study it is examined the characteristics of a destructive marine storm on the strongly inhabited coastal area of Naples Gulf, along the Italian coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is highly vulnerable to marine storms due to the accelerated relative sea level rise trend and the increased anthropogenic impact on the coastal area. The marine storm, occurred on the 28th December 2020, was analysed through an unstructured wind-wave coupled model that takes into account the main weather-marine components of the coastal setup. The model, validated with in-situ data allowed to establish threshold values for the most significant marine and atmospheric parameters (i.e., wind intensity and duration) beyond which an event can produce destructive effects. Finally, a first assessment of the return period of this event was evaluated using local press reports on damage on urban furniture and port infrastructures.

Ignitions explain more than temperature or precipitation in driving Santa Ana wind fires

Autumn and winter Santa Ana wind (SAW)–driven wildfires play a substantial role in area burned and societal losses in southern California. Temperature during the event and antecedent precipitation in the week or month prior play a minor role in determining area burned. Burning is dependent on wind intensity and number of human-ignited fires. Over 75% of all SAW events generate no fires; rather, fires during a SAW event are dependent on a fire being ignited. Models explained 40 to 50% of area burned, with number of ignitions being the strongest variable. One hundred percent of SAW fires were human caused, and in the past decade, powerline failures have been the dominant cause. Future fire losses can be reduced by greater emphasis on maintenance of utility lines and attention to planning urban growth in ways that reduce the potential for powerline ignitions.

Wind Intensity and Power Density in the Brazilian Dry Tropical Forests (Caatinga)

Wind speed has been widely used for energy purposes. Therefore, studies focused on its knowledge are extremely relevant to better benefit from this resource. The aim of this study is to analyze wind behavior and estimate wind power density (WPD) in the interior of northeastern Brazil, a region with predominance of the semi-arid climate, based on the data made available by the automatic station installed at the Experimental Farm in the municipality of São João do Cariri-PB, which come from the SONDA project and refer to the year 2007. Descriptive analysis techniques were used to identify the periods in which the wind behavior is more favorable to wind harnessing. From the results obtained, there was a predominance of southeast in the wind direction component. However, the values of both the observed wind speed (2, 25 and 50 m) and the wind speed estimated for the levels of 100 and 150 m, as well as the estimates of power density (50, 100 and 150 m) showed that the lowest records are present mainly in the first hours of the day, as well as in the first half of the year, while the highest values occur from 10 a.m. extending to the beginning of the night and prevail in the last six months of the year. These determinations denoted higher values of wind power density available for the second half of the year (mainly from August to December).

Factors of boreal summer latent heat flux variations over the tropical western North Pacific

Surface latent heat flux (LHF) is an important component in the heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere over the tropical western North Pacific (WNP). The present study investigates the factors of seasonal mean LHF variations in boreal summer over the tropical WNP. Seasonal mean LHF is separated into two parts that are associated with low-frequency (> 90-day) and high-frequency (≤ 90-day) atmospheric variability, respectively. It is shown that low-frequency LHF variations are attributed to low-frequency surface wind and sea-air humidity difference, whereas high-frequency LHF variations are associated with both low-frequency surface wind speed and high-frequency wind intensity. A series of conceptual cases are constructed using different combinations of low- and high-frequency winds to inspect the respective effects of low-frequency wind and high-frequency wind amplitude to seasonal mean LHF variations. It is illustrated that high-frequency wind fluctuations contribute to seasonal high-frequency LHF only when their intensity exceeds the low-frequency wind speed under which there is seasonal accumulation of high-frequency LHF. When high-frequency wind intensity is smaller than the low-frequency wind speed, seasonal mean high-frequency LHF is negligible. Total seasonal mean LHF anomalies depend on relative contributions of low- and high-frequency atmospheric variations and have weak interannual variance over the tropical WNP due to cancellation of low- and high-frequency LHF anomalies.