Publications
2005
Decadal Change in Tropical Cyclone Activity in the Western Pacific
In view of the concern over of global warming and the spate of destructive tropical cyclones in recent months, there has been interest in finding a link between the two phenomena. Recently published papers (Emanuel 2005, Webster et al. 2005) showed that disturbances...
Rainfall patterns and Self-Organizing Feature Maps
This paper investigates the use of Self Organizing Feature Maps (SOFMs) as an objective method for classifying rainfall data to identify climate types. Results show that SOFMs are effective clustering tools for nonlinear climate data such as precipitation. [Presented at the Samahang Pisika...
A comparative study of boundary layer height measurement techniques using data from a continuously operated portable lidar (PAL)
Lidar data are used to measure the boundary layer height (BLH) of the atmosphere. In this paper, a comparative study among the basic methods (first and second derivatives and standard deviation) is done to get the BLH from a continuously-operated portable automated lidar...
A Comparative Study of Luzon Rainfall Simulations with the MM5 and the RegCM3 Models
The performance of the MM5 and the RegCM3 models in simulating total monthly rainfall has been evaluated. Total rainfall for the two months of June 2000 and June 2001 are simulated. June 2000 is a relatively dry month while June 2001 is a...
Comparative Analysis of Statistical Reduction and Classification Methods for Philippine Rainfall
Changing climatic conditions necessitate the updating of traditional climate classification schemes in the Philippines, which are based primarily on the Coronas Climate Atlas created in 1920. This study aims to establish an objective method for reducing rainfall data that is varying both in...
PM2.5 Source Identification through a Modified Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF)
Receptor models based on the traditional mass balance approach provide quantified source identification and apportionment which does not include spatial/directional information of the sources. Application of trajectory-based models of which PSCF is a part of, easily mitigates such a problem. In the absence...
Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation on Philippine Coasts
Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation on Philippine Coasts
The Philippine archipelago, which has one of the longest coastlines in the world, will not be spared of the adverse impacts of sea-level rise and extreme climate events that are expected to happen in a warmer world. This study aims to review climate...
After Yoyong and Katrina: Seeking a Link Between Climate Change and Tropical Cyclones
by E.G. Anglo, Ph.D. First published in the Philippine Star (Part I: 15 September 2005 and Part II: 22 September 2005). Posted with permission from the author. Was it global warming? When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi last week, many observers were...
Urban Modification of the Climate of Metro Manila, Philippines
The Fifth-generation PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) is used to characterize the climatic effect of growing urbanization in Metro Manila from 1988 to 1997. Simulations are performed using the same initial and boundary conditions for different land cover data derived from satellite images of...
Simulation of Monthly Rainfall Climatology with the MM5 Model
A method for computing climatological rainfall is used to determine the rainfall distribution for Luzon during the month of June. The method consists of simulating the distribution with a fluid dynamical model of the atmosphere and merging the results of the simulation with...
Simulation of Luzon Rainfall with the MM5 and the RegCM3 models: A comparative study
A comparative study of the accuracy of model simulations of accumulated monthly rainfall is made. Two models have been compared: the PSU/NCAR MM5 and the RegCM3 models. For the purpose of the study, we simulated the accumulated rainfall for the month of June...
Forecasting tropical cyclone precipitation in the Philippines using MM5
This study evaluates the skill of the PSU/NCAR mesoscale model (MM5) in predicting precipitation within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) during typhoon/tropical storm events. Accumulated rainfall and rain rate forecasts of six tropical cyclones that occurred in 2003 are compared with satellite...
Monitoring and Modelling Noise Levels in the Ateneo de Manila University Campus
This study assessed noise levels in Ateneo de Manila University caused by motor vehicles and tested the performance of two standard noise models using observations at four monitoring stations inside the campus. Monitoring was conducted at three periods of the day, with each...
Diurnal Variations of NO2 Concentrations at the Manila Observatory, Quezon City
A combined observational and theoretical study of diurnal variations of NO2 concentrations of the air at the Manila Observatory (Quezon City, Philippines) in June and August 2002 was made. The concentrations were monitored using a Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscope (DOAS). The analysis showed...
Integrated Environmental Strategies: Philippine Project Report (Metropolitan Manila: Focus on the Transport Sector)
High Resolution Numerical Simulation of Philippine Weather and Climate using the Agila Beowulf Cluster
Previous simulations of regional scale weather and climate required the power of mainframe supercomputers to handle the formidable nonlinear fluid dynamical equations that describe the atmosphere. Using a reasonably powerful Linux-based Beowulf cluster (christened the Agila), we report a successful application of the...
Comparative Analysis of Water Vapor Composition at Selected Sites
The potential for the use of water vapor as an air quality indicator was investigated. Water vapor samples were collected from three urban sites (roadside, landfill, residential) and an agricultural area, using a simple active cooling system. They were analyzed for standard water...
Ambient SO2 Monitoring using Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS)
A prototype DOAS instrument was assembled to measure ambient concentration of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2). A folded-path configuration employing retroreflectors was chosen because of advantages in sensitivity and convenience in housing the transmitter and receiver together. The measurement path length was approximately 280m. Data...