Hurricane!: Coping with Disaster: Progress and Challenges Since Galveston, 1900

About this book

Hurricane research implicates something more than science. It is the key to saving lives and mitigating economic damage. From the Galveston catastrophe of 1900, where more than 8,000 people died, to the economic devastation wrought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in the United States, scientists have striven to understand and track hurricanes while charting their societal effects. Hurricane! Coping with Disaster tells the dramatic history of that effort by leading meteorologists – the men and women who brought hurricane science into the 21st century, and those who sustain it today. for readers everywhere interested in climatology, hurricane research, the historical background, and more.

Contents

Foreword  v
Preface vii

Part I. Struggles to Understand and Track Hurricanes
      Introductory Comments

Chapter 1 Twentieth Century Challenges and Milestones
      William M. Gray  3
Chapter 2 Impact of Technologiesfr om Two World Wars
      Edward N. Rappaport and Robert H. Simpson 39
Chapter 3 Hurricane Surveillance by Specially Instrumented Aircraft
      Robert C. Sheets 63
Chapter 4 Evolution of Prediction Models
      Mark DeMaria and James M. Gross 103

Part II. Societal and Economic Challenges
      Introductory Comments 127

Chapter 5 The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900
      Neil L. Frank 129
Chapter 6 Social Choice in Dealing with Hurricanes
      Mary Frances Myers and Gilbert F. White 141
Chapter7 Communicating Damage Potentials and Minimizing Hurricane Damage
      Herbert S. Saffir 155
Chapter 8 Reducing Vulnerability
      Roger A. Pielke., Jr.  165

PART III. Potential Impact of Science and Technology, Present and Future
      Introductory Comments 175

Chapter 9 A Century of Scientific Progress An Evaluation
      Kerry Emanuel 177
Chapter 10 A Century of Progressin Tracking and Warning: Improvements in Observations, Models, and Forecasts
      H. E. Willoughby 205
Chapter 11 The Burgeoning Role of Weather Satellites
      C. Velden, J. Simpson, W. Timothy Liu, J. Hawkins, K. Brueske, and R. Anthes 217
Chapter 12 Present Day Satellite Technology for Hurricane Research: A Closer Look at Formation and Intensification
      E. A. Ritchie, J. Simpson, W.T Liu, J. Halverson, C. Velden, K.F. Brueske, and H. Pierce 249
Chapter 13 Continuous Monitoring of the Hurricane Core: Availability of New Long-Endurance Small Drone Aircraft
      Greg Tyrrell and Greg Holland 291
Chapter 14 Hurricane Upper Level Wind Measurements: Applications of Doppler Lidar
      G. David Emmitt 305
Chapter 15 A Century After Galveston, 1900: A Personal Perspective and Outlook
      Greg Holland 317

Appendices Recommended Further Reading 335
Acronyms and Abbreviations 336
Brief Meteorological Glossary 339
Index  351

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