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Impacto del Huracan Maria en Arecibo, Puerto Rico

Undergraduate Research, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Department of Geology, 2017

In this paper, we used remote sensing to examine Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico’s coast. A comparison of aerial imagery before and after the hurricane showed a significant decrease in vegetation density, an increase in ocean sediments, major floodings, and extensive shoreline erosion. This manuscript is in Spanish. Don’t hesitate to contact the authors for a translation if needed.

Impact of High-Resolution Terrain Data in Tropical Cyclone’s Simulations

Undergraduate Research, SOARS, NCAR, 2018

The atmospheric processes involved in a tropical cyclone are affected by topographical factors during and after landfall. Interactions with land can change the tropical cyclone’s structure and behavior and, ultimately, its impact on the landmass. However, one of today’s forecasting challenges is that numerical weather prediction models cannot resolve many factors that influence surface weather, resulting in a forecast that predicts the expected behavior of a tropical cyclone moving over a smooth landmass. Therefore, these models do not accurately represent the impact at landfall of these systems in regions characterized by complex terrain and multiple mountain ranges. This research project investigated how terrain resolution affects the landfall and behavior of tropical cyclones focusing on the landfall of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017.