Climate change projected fire weather sensitivity: CaliforniaSanta Ana wind occurrence
A new methodbased on global climate model pressuregradients was developed for identifying coastal high-wind fire weatherconditions, such as the Santa Ana Occurrence (SAO). Application of thismethod for determining southern California Santa Ana wind occurrenceresulted in a good correlation between derived large-scale SAOs andobserved offshore winds during periods of low humidity. The projectedchange in the number of SAOs was analyzed using two global climatemodels, one a low temperature sensitivity and the other amiddle-temperature sensitivity, both forced with low and high emissionscenarios, for three future time periods. This initial analysis showsconsistent shifts in SAO events from earlier (September-October) to later(November-December) in the season, suggesting that SAOs may significantlyincrease the extent of California coastal areas burned by wildfires, lossof life, and property.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 923407
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-61004; GPRLAJ; R&D Project: G2W025; BnR: 600305000; TRN: US200804%%1110
- Journal Information:
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue L15711; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: 08/15/2006; ISSN 0094-8276
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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