Posted on Sep 26, 2007

James Lawrence, Alumni, class of 1964, University of Houston, Geosciences, Hurricanes

The topic of weather has been used as a conversation starter, usually as fodder for idle chat when nothing else comes to mind. To researchers like associate professor of geosciences James Lawrence, however, the interest in weather had led him to try to better understand the nature of natural disasters, particularly hurricanes through his scientific investigations.

"It's important because it might be able to help people at the National Hurricane Center provide advisories to public and let them know what they should do," Lawrence said about his research.

A professor at the University of Houston since 1984, Lawrence has concentrated his efforts on measuring the hydrogen and oxygen isotope content that arises during a hurricane by constructing a device that can evaluate the amount of these particles present in high-speed winds — a main source of destruction next to the flooding that occurs and affects property and human life.

Lawrence received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Union College, and his master's and doctorate from the California Institute of Technology. He has also been affiliated with the American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society and the American Meteorological Society.

Previously, the device has been tested and had successful results in a wind tunnel facility located at the Texas A&M, but has yet to be flown by the hurricane research division of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to test its capabilities and durability in an actual natural disaster.

"We will know within a few weeks when and if it will be flown this season," he said.

The device is expected to resist high-speed winds while flying multiple times though a hurricane in a four-engine NOAA plane.

The machine measures the isotopes present in the air as a way to determine the strength of the storm.

During a Category 3 hurricane, seawater that is blown away from the waves is called "sea-spray." The stronger the winds become, the more water is taken from waves, which in turn, increases the amount of salt in the air. "During a storm the wind blows across the waves and rips the water off of the waves and into the air," Lawrence said.

The internal winds of a hurricane are not uniform in strength and areas of high winds contain more isotopes in the air.

Lawrence's machine intends to map out the levels of intensity in a hurricane that correlate with the high levels of salt in the air.

"Because it gets its wind speed by a different method, it may add extra information," he said.

This new method of measuring the intensity of a hurricane could be more accurate than radar, which evaluates "instantaneous speed," whereas the sea-spray method emits an average over time and could possibly predict hurricane wind speed changes better than current technologies.

Based on the recent experiences of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, natural disasters have become an increasing concern, particularly during hurricane season, which begins in May and ends in November.

Lawrence's interest in attempting to understand the nature of hurricanes came naturally.

"Who wouldn't be (interested)?" he asked.

Hurricanes are known to gain their strength from warm water that fuels the storms' trajectories. In recent years, global warming has also become an issue raised by scientists who have warned about the dangers of changing climate patterns and has concerned the international community of its effects.

Lawrence also said that he hopes that scientists can learn more from highly destructive hurricanes, evaluated as Categories 3, 4 or 5.

"Anything we learn about changes in intensity will be helpful," he said.