Phys.org: Earth science

A paper authored by University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) graduate student Zeb Leffler has been published in the Geophysical Research Letters. The student's master's research addresses a long-standing challenge in meteorology: improving the accuracy of hurricane wind estimates after landfall. Knowing the exact strength of surface winds is crucial for effective risk communication and post-storm recovery efforts.

In the early hours of Sept. 10, 2017, the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay were mostly calm: herons and egrets worked the shallows, Miami's skyline stretching across the horizon. Yet within the quiet, unease lingered. Winds grew heavier, clouds darkened and within hours Hurricane Irma and all its fury descended on South Florida. While residents braced for flooding and prayed their homes would hold, scientists, including FIU physical oceanographer Wei Huang, worried about the bay itself.

A glacier on Antarctica's Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50% of the glacier disintegrated.

Groundwater replenishing beneath temperate farmland fields may come from very recent rainfall, merely one to two weeks old, whereas the water actually taken up by crops is drawn from much older sources.