Climate &amp; Environment /today/ en Where does your food come from? First-of-a-kind map tracks journey across thousands of miles /today/2025/07/24/where-does-your-food-come-first-kind-map-tracks-journey-across-thousands-miles <span>Where does your food come from? First-of-a-kind map tracks journey across thousands of miles</span> <span><span>Yvaine Ye</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-07-24T10:17:42-06:00" title="Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 10:17">Thu, 07/24/2025 - 10:17</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-07/Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2010.18.23%E2%80%AFAM.png?h=d04fca53&amp;itok=X9EUb5Al" width="1200" height="800" alt="Global food twin map"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <a href="/today/yvaine-ye">Yvaine Ye</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>If extreme rainfall wiped out all food growing in Jalisco, a Pacific coastal state in western Mexico, it would eliminate enough calories to feed 765,000 people in the United States. A widespread drought in the Brazilian state of Paran谩 could cut enough fat to meet needs of more than 1.7 million people in Egypt. Western Australia鈥檚 next major heatwave could knock out enough protein to feed 8 million people in China.&nbsp;</p><p>These are some of many insights revealed by a newly launched interactive tool called the <a href="https://foodtwin.theplotline.org/" rel="nofollow">Global Food Twin</a>. Developed by 色戒成人直播 data scientist <a href="/envs/zia-mehrabi" rel="nofollow">Zia Mehrabi</a> and his collaborators at <a href="https://www.earthgenome.org/" rel="nofollow">Earth Genome</a>, a non-profit organization, the interactive digital map shows how food moves from farm to table. It offers a first-of-its kind view into the world鈥檚 highly connected and increasingly fragile food system.</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-center ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title"><i class="fa-solid fa-globe">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Explore the global food twin</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><a href="https://foodtwin.theplotline.org" rel="nofollow"> <div class="align-center image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2025-07/Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2010.18.23%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=eJl2mA92" width="750" height="405" alt="Global food twin map"> </div> </div> </a></div></div></div><p>鈥淭his is a landmark effort, because no one鈥檚 ever done this at this scale and level of detail,鈥� said Mehrabi, assistant professor of environmental studies and founder of 色戒成人直播鈥檚 <a href="https://betterplanetlab.com/" rel="nofollow">Better Planet Laboratory</a>, which leverages data science to address some of the leading global environmental and human rights issues. <span>鈥淲e鈥檙e able to represent the complexity of our food system, showing people a window into a world they haven鈥檛 seen before.鈥�</span></p><p>As climate change continues to put pressure on global food production and supply chains, the team hopes the data could help countries better anticipate and prepare for disruptions like droughts and floods, ensuring communities maintain food access in the face of hazards. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>Food hubs</h2><p>The team built the map using data on <span>agricultural yields of common foods鈥攊ncluding grains, meats and vegetables. They also accounted for consumer demand, trade records, transportation networks, and satellite ship-tracking data from around the world.</span></p><p>With the Global Food Twin, users can look up how common agricultural food groups, from grains to oil to fresh produce, travel from where they鈥檙e produced to consumers in more than 3,700 states and provinces across 240 countries. T<span>he team also calculated the calories and essential nutrients, such as protein and iron, that flow through the trades.&nbsp;</span></p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="align-center image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2025-04/Zia%20Mehrabi%20portrait.jpg?itok=BP1HoLzr" width="750" height="1126" alt="Zia Mehrabi"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p>Zia Mehrabi (Credit: Patrick Campbell/色戒成人直播)</p> </span> </div> </div></div></div><p><span>The map is an expansion on Mehrabi鈥檚 pioneering project visualizing the&nbsp;</span><a href="/today/2023/11/21/interactive-map-shows-where-your-food-comes" rel="nofollow">U.S. food system</a><span>. It revealed that just 5.5% of U.S. counties produce half of the nation鈥檚 crops.</span></p><p><span>The global version paints a similar picture.&nbsp;Only 1.2% of sub-national administrative units, such as states, provinces and districts, supply 50% of the world鈥檚 grains.</span></p><p><span>For example, India鈥檚 Uttar Pradesh supplies 17 gigatons of grains annually. Together with other food products the state grows, Uttar Pradesh alone provides enough calories for more than 22 million people, including close to half a million in the United States.</span></p><p><span>鈥淢any people think the U.S. can stand alone when it comes to food supply, and we can call the shots on trade agreement. But this map illustrates that even a powerhouse like the U.S. relies heavily on imports,鈥� Mehrabi said, adding that many food items that Americans enjoy daily almost all come from other countries.</span></p><p><span>Take bananas. Almost every banana in U.S. grocery stores comes from countries like Guatemala, Ecuador and Mexico. Coffee, aside from a small amount grown in Hawaii, mainly comes from Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam.</span></p><p><span>鈥淭his map shows very clearly how connected we are with each other when it comes to food, something many consumers don鈥檛 think about when they鈥檙e eating a banana,鈥� Mehrabi said.</span></p><h2><span>Choke points</span></h2><p><span>The map also highlights the growing vulnerability of global food systems to climate change. Many critical trade corridors, such as the Mississippi&nbsp;River&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Rhine&nbsp;River&nbsp;in Europe, have experienced low water levels this summer,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/07/low-water-levels-shipping-europe-rivers-heatwave-rhine" rel="nofollow">stranding ships and disrupting food transportation</a><span>.</span></p><p><span>Certain globally traded crops are also under threat.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/major-banana-exporters-could-face-60-drop-in-growing-area-due-to-warming/" rel="nofollow">Studies estimate</a><span> that by 2080, rising temperature,&nbsp;extreme weather and climate-related pests&nbsp;could slash the areas suitable for growing bananas by 60%. Climate change could also reduce coffee yields in the Americas by 70%.&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></p><p><span>Mehrabi said the Global Food Twin enables researchers and policymakers to model the impact of these climate hazards on the food system.</span></p><p><span>鈥淚f, say a heatwave hit the Midwest and, at the same time, the Mississippi River slowed because of drought, where are the communities that would feel the biggest impact? We haven鈥檛 really been able to track how disruptions could ripple through the food system until now. This dataset lets us start asking those questions,鈥� Mehrabi said.</span></p><p><span>He added that low-income households already facing food insecurity are the most vulnerable to production or supply chain disruptions, because even small shocks in the system can trigger dramatic food price spikes.</span></p><p><span>When food prices rise, policy-makers can use stimulus payments and other dignity-focused safety nets to improve purchasing power for vulnerable communities, according to Mehrabi.</span></p><p><span>鈥淭his is a critical window into how climate change can collide with trade infrastructure, labor needs and food production. For the first time, we can start visualizing how that plays out on a global scale,鈥� Mehrabi said.&nbsp;</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A new interactive tool exposes the fragile, interconnected web of global food trade鈥攁nd how climate change could disrupt it.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-07/Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2010.18.23%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=9HsTyns5" width="1500" height="810" alt="Global food twin map"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:17:42 +0000 Yvaine Ye 54986 at /today CUriosity: In the wake of Texas floods, how do emergency alerts work, and where do they fall short? /today/2025/07/22/curiosity-wake-texas-floods-how-do-emergency-alerts-work-and-where-do-they-fall-short <span>CUriosity: In the wake of Texas floods, how do emergency alerts work, and where do they fall short?</span> <span><span>Daniel William鈥�</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-07-22T10:37:06-06:00" title="Tuesday, July 22, 2025 - 10:37">Tue, 07/22/2025 - 10:37</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-07/Texas_floods.jpg?h=2fb2a41d&amp;itok=BNlhdofq" width="1200" height="800" alt="Air boat moves down swollen river with people riding horses in the background"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <a href="/today/daniel-strain">Daniel Strain</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><em>In </em><a href="/today/curiosity" rel="nofollow"><em>CUriosity</em></a><em>, experts across the 色戒成人直播 campus answer pressing questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.&nbsp;</em></p><p><em>This week, Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, a research associate at the </em><a href="https://hazards.colorado.edu/" rel="nofollow"><em>Natural Hazards Center</em></a><em> at the 色戒成人直播, answers: 鈥淗ow do emergency alerts work, and where do they fall short?鈥�</em></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-07/Texas_floods.jpg?itok=b7pRi_k5" width="1500" height="789" alt="Air boat moves down swollen river with people riding horses in the background"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Aftermath of the deadly flooding that devastated Central Texas in July 2025. (Credit: CC photo by World Central Kitchen via Flickr)</p> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>In the early hours of July 4, flash floods rose through parts of Texas鈥� Kerr County and surrounding regions, killing more than 130 people, including 27 children and counselors at a local summer camp.</p><p>In the wake of the disaster, numerous media reports raised questions about whether residents had enough warning to make it to safety. &nbsp;</p><p>Carson MacPherson-Krutsky knows how important timely emergency alerts are for people in the path of natural hazards like floods, wildfires, tornadoes and more. She鈥檚 a research associate in the <a href="https://hazards.colorado.edu/" rel="nofollow">Natural Hazards Center</a> at 色戒成人直播 and has investigated emergency alert systems in Colorado. Simply put, she said: They鈥檙e all over the place.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-small_500px_25_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle small_500px_25_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/small_500px_25_display_size_/public/2025-07/MacPhersonKrutsky.png?itok=a-BkcOdF" width="375" height="375" alt="Carson MacPherson-Krutsky headshot"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Carson MacPherson-Krutsky</p> </span> </div> <p>鈥淭he biggest takeaway is that it鈥檚 complicated,鈥� said MacPherson-Krutsky, a geologist and social scientist by training who studies how to communicate risk and help people prepare for natural disasters. 鈥淭here are multiple systems at work, and they vary from municipality to municipality.鈥�</p><p>In a <a href="https://hazards.colorado.edu/research-projects/colorado-inclusive-language-and-access-in-emergency-alerts" rel="nofollow">report published in 2024</a>, MacPherson-Krutsky and her colleagues surveyed 222 officials from 57 of Colorado鈥檚 64 counties about their emergency alert systems. The research was <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1237" rel="nofollow">funded through a bill</a> passed by the state legislature.</p><p>One of the most basic kinds of disaster warnings, she said, are <a href="https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/integrated-public-alert-warning-system/public/wireless-emergency-alerts" rel="nofollow">wireless emergency alerts</a> (WEAs). These text messages go directly to the phones of people located in a particular geographic area. Amber Alerts for abducted children use the same system. (You may be familiar with the blaring beeps and vibrations that accompany these messages).</p><p>A wide range of government groups, both local and national, can send out WEAs in the event of natural disasters or acts of violence. Personnel need to take a training, and they work through a system administered by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its partners.</p><p>Before dawn on July 4, for example, the National Weather Service (NWS), which is part of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sent out several such text alerts. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/texas-weather-service-warning-kerr-county/" rel="nofollow">According to The Texas Tribune</a>, one alert at 4:03 a.m. local time urged recipients to 鈥淪EEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!鈥�</p><p>Beyond WEAs, alerts get more complicated.</p><p>In Colorado, for example, every county tends to have its own alert system, which can be managed by a wide range of groups鈥攆rom sheriff鈥檚 offices to fire departments and 911 call centers. They may send out warnings over text messages, social media, TV and radio, &nbsp;word of mouth or even sirens. In many cases, residents have to sign up or download an app to receive messages.</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-black"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="text-align-center hero"><i class="fa-solid fa-bolt-lightning">&nbsp;</i><strong>&nbsp;Previously in CUriosity</strong></p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-07/Adobe_shark.jpeg?itok=5l6RnnkF" width="1500" height="938" alt="Shark swimming underwater"> </div> <p class="text-align-center hero"><a href="/today/2025/06/17/curiosity-are-sharks-really-scary-their-reputation" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="a371a1ad-4b14-4dab-a42d-91f4b0f31141" data-entity-substitution="canonical" rel="nofollow" title="CUriosity: Are sharks really as scary as their reputation?">Are sharks really as scary as their reputation?</a></p><p class="text-align-center"><a href="/today/curiosity" rel="nofollow"><em>Or read more CUriosity stories here</em></a></p></div></div></div><p>鈥淒epending on who's sending the alert, they have different procedures and protocols in place for what triggers an alert, who sends it, what approvals are needed and so on,鈥� MacPherson-Krutsky said.</p><p>Those disparities become especially glaring for people with disabilities or who speak languages other than English, MacPherson-Krutsky added. Currently, the WEA technology can only support messages in English and Spanish. The federal government has made moves to expand the languages available, but she noted that a <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/06/2025-03694/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states" rel="nofollow">recent executive order</a> from the Trump administration could make those changes harder to enact. In Colorado, more than one-third of the emergency personnel the researchers surveyed didn鈥檛 know if their emergency alert systems had the ability to translate to other languages or alert people who are deaf.</p><p>鈥淭hat creates a lot of inequity,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 deaf person living in one county might receive an alert, but their brother who lives across the border wouldn鈥檛.鈥�</p><p>In their report, MacPherson-Krutsky and her colleagues recommended that Colorado adopt a single, state-wide system for sending out emergency alerts. Connecticut, Florida and Oregon have such a system, which counties or other localities can use at no cost to them.</p><p>She added that federal and state funding is critical for sending timely alerts in the event of natural disasters. The White House鈥檚 proposed budget for 2026 includes a more than 25% cut in funding for NOAA.</p><p>鈥淣atural hazards researchers are worried about what these cuts would do to public safety,鈥� MacPherson-Krutsky said. 鈥淥ur colleagues at NOAA and the National Weather Service are doing such amazing work to make these warnings better. And if some of them aren鈥檛 there to advance this research, we鈥檒l all bear the consequences of that.鈥�</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>When natural disasters strike, people across the United States often depend on timely warnings to get to safety. But in Colorado and many parts of the country, these alerts are a patchwork that vary from county to county.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Zebra Striped</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 22 Jul 2025 16:37:06 +0000 Daniel William Strain 54973 at /today Waleed Abdalati to testify July 16 at congressional hearing /today/2025/07/15/waleed-abdalati-testify-july-16-congressional-hearing <span>Waleed Abdalati to testify July 16 at congressional hearing</span> <span><span>Yvaine Ye</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-07-15T07:00:00-06:00" title="Tuesday, July 15, 2025 - 07:00">Tue, 07/15/2025 - 07:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-07/Waleed_Abdalati1GA.jpg?h=0404c02e&amp;itok=aYWYkSt1" width="1200" height="800" alt="Waleed Abdalati"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/1237"> Experts Shaping Policy </a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div> <div class="align-left image_style-small_500px_25_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle small_500px_25_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/small_500px_25_display_size_/public/article-thumbnail/waleed_abdalati_sq.jpg?itok=85pR8_Nh" width="375" height="375" alt="Waleed Abdalati"> </div> </div> <p class="lead"><a href="https://cires.colorado.edu/people/waleed-abdalati" rel="nofollow"><span>Waleed Abdalati</span></a><span>, a professor of geography and director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at 色戒成人直播, is scheduled to testify on July 16 at 8:00 AM MT before the Environment Subcommittee of the U.S.&nbsp;House Science, Space and Technology Committee.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="lead"><span>CIRES is the oldest and largest of the national network of Cooperative Institutes at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).&nbsp;</span></p><p class="lead"><span>The hearing, titled 鈥淧rotecting Lives and Property: Harnessing Innovative Technologies to Enhance Weather Forecasting,鈥� will examine emerging technologies for weather data collection. It will discuss how using diverse data sources can greatly improve the accuracy and timeliness of weather forecasting.</span><br>&nbsp;</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><h2 class="text-align-center"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfgHNpiy4Pc" rel="nofollow">Watch the livestream here</a></h2></div></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Waleed Abdalati, a climate scientist and director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, is scheduled to testify before the&nbsp;House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Watch via livestream.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000 Yvaine Ye 54902 at /today Why flood prediction in the US falls short and how researchers are working to fix it /today/2025/07/14/why-flood-prediction-us-falls-short-and-how-researchers-are-working-fix-it <span>Why flood prediction in the US falls short and how researchers are working to fix it</span> <span><span>Yvaine Ye</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-07-14T13:08:40-06:00" title="Monday, July 14, 2025 - 13:08">Mon, 07/14/2025 - 13:08</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-07/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville%2C_Texas_in_2025.jpg?h=b2fb8976&amp;itok=9LyKhYuf" width="1200" height="800" alt="Houses and buildings submerged in floodwater"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <a href="/today/yvaine-ye">Yvaine Ye</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Dangerous floods struck communities across the United States this July.&nbsp;</p><p>Heavy rains in New York region <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07/15/nyregion/new-york-jersey-floods" rel="nofollow">killed at least two people </a>after swamping roads and rails this week. In New Mexico, a flash flood hit a mountain town, killing three people. Torrential rain from a tropical storm destroyed homes and claimed at least four lives in North Carolina.</p><p>In Texas, over the July 4 holiday weekend, catastrophic floods swept through the central part of the state, claiming the lives of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/texas-floods-live-updates-kerry-county-rcna217920" rel="nofollow">at least 120 people</a>, including more than two dozen children.</p><p>Even with advances in technology, forecasting how much rain will fall, where it will land and the impact of flooding all remain difficult, according to<a href="/instaar/zhi-li" rel="nofollow"> Zhi Li</a>, a researcher at 色戒成人直播鈥檚 Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2025-07/Zhi%20Li.jpeg?itok=JlDE4b0q" width="750" height="648" alt="Zhi Li"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p>Zhi Li</p> </span> </div> <p>鈥淚n Texas, different weather forecasting models were giving out different predictions,鈥� said Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, who uses computer models to simulate floods and forecast risk. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until just a day before heavy rain began to inundate the area that the models finally agreed there would be extreme precipitation. That left very little time for people to respond.鈥�</p><p>色戒成人直播 Today sat down with Li to discuss where the current flood prediction system falls short and what鈥檚 being done to meet the urgent need for real-time flood forecasting.</p><h2>How does the official current flood prediction system work?</h2><p><a href="https://www.weather.gov/" rel="nofollow">The National Weather Service</a><span> (NWS) is the primary government agency responsible for issuing weather forecasts and warnings in the United States. Currently, flash flood forecasting is mainly based on the amount of rainfall expected in a given region. If the predicted rainfall is likely to exceed a certain threshold and overflow riverbanks, streams or dams in the area, the NWS will issue a flash flood warning.</span></p><h2><span>Where does this system fall short?</span></h2><p><span>The current system can only predict where the floods might happen, but it doesn鈥檛 provide detailed information about how much water could overflow onto land, how far it will spread or how deep the flooding might get.</span></p><p><span>Without the data, it鈥檚 hard to know where exactly the danger is and who should evacuate. As a result, it offers little urgency or actionable information for residents.</span></p><h2><span>Is there a better way to predict floods?</span></h2><p><span>At my newly established </span><a href="https://hydrors.us" rel="nofollow"><span>Flood Lab at 色戒成人直播</span></a><span>, we鈥檙e working on developing accurate, high-resolution flood models, which are computer programs that predict how water will behave during flood events. Our latest model can predict flooding impacts at one-meter resolution, meaning we can pinpoint exactly where water will go and how deep it will get. Running these models is very computationally expensive, which is why the National Weather Service doesn鈥檛 have real-time flood models currently in use.</span></p><p><span>We鈥檙e developing a flood prediction model powered by artificial intelligence that also follows the physical laws governing how water moves. This will significantly speed up forecasting compared to traditional flood models.</span></p><h2><span>Can we prevent damage from these increasingly common, record-breaking weather events?</span></h2><p><span>We need to be aware that climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent, and that鈥檚 why deploying a real-time flood model is very necessary. It would be able to tell us with more confidence where the vulnerable regions are.</span></p><p><span>I also want to point out that our buildings and flood infrastructure were built 50 or even 100 years ago. They are aging, and they鈥檙e also not designed for the kind of severe weather we鈥檙e seeing now.</span></p><p><span>Flood mitigation is a very complex problem that needs collective effort from research communities, government agencies and industry.</span></p><h2><span>Are drier places like Colorado at risk of floods?</span></h2><p><span>Floods can happen anywhere, especially as climate change drives more weather extremes.&nbsp; Colorado has a drier climate, but it can still get very heavy thunderstorms. Because of the state鈥檚 mountainous terrain, it鈥檚 easy for water to rush down hillsides and trigger flash flooding.</span></p><p><span>And we have seen that happen. In 2013, heavy rains inundated 色戒成人直播 and many towns along the Front Range, killing nine people and destroying nearly 2,000 homes.</span></p><h2><span>What else can we do in addition to deploying better flood models?</span></h2><p><span>Improving flood risk communication with the public is very important.&nbsp;Instead of just telling people there will be, say one meter or three feet per second of water flow in their area, we want to translate that into how much damage specific buildings might sustain and what actions people should take.</span></p><p><span>We鈥檙e also exploring customized alert systems. For example, we could provide tailored warnings for people with disabilities, parents with young children or others with specific needs. Current alerts are issued at the county level, but with better prediction tools, we could tell people exactly who鈥檚 at risk, where to go and when to leave.</span></p><h2><span>Will federal funding cuts impact our ability to predict future disasters?</span></h2><p><span>Budget cuts are certainly not helpful, but I also see it as an opportunity for industry and the research communities to step up.</span></p><p><span>I鈥檓 very optimistic about the future. I鈥檝e seen firsthand how much the technology has improved in just the past few years. I believe we鈥檒l soon have better warning systems, better flood models, and fewer lives lost to natural disasters.</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--from-library paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="ucb-article-secondary-text"> <div><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p><em><span lang="EN">色戒成人直播 Today regularly publishes Q&amp;As with our faculty members weighing in on news topics through the lens of their scholarly expertise and research/creative work. The responses here reflect the knowledge and interpretations of the expert and should not be considered the university position on the issue. All publication content is subject to edits for clarity, brevity and&nbsp;</span></em><a href="/brand/how-use/text-tone/editorial-style-guide" rel="nofollow"><em><span lang="EN">university style guidelines</span></em></a><em><span lang="EN">.</span></em></p></div></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>色戒成人直播 flood modeler Zhi Li explains why current flood warnings can leave communities unprepared鈥攁nd how high-resolution forecasting and better risk communication could save lives.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-07/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville%2C_Texas_in_2025.jpg?itok=9wtkl3qA" width="1500" height="1130" alt="Houses and buildings submerged in floodwater"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><span>Flooding of the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, Texas in 2025. (Credit: USCG/Wikimedia)</span></p> </span> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Flooding of the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, Texas in 2025. (Credit: USCG/Wikimedia)</div> Mon, 14 Jul 2025 19:08:40 +0000 Yvaine Ye 54942 at /today Electricity, air and plastic recycling /today/2025/06/26/electricity-air-and-plastic-recycling <span>Electricity, air and plastic recycling</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-26T08:42:20-06:00" title="Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 08:42">Thu, 06/26/2025 - 08:42</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/2025_06_02_LucaPlastics.jpg?h=8f74817f&amp;itok=lbUp6yn7" width="1200" height="800" alt="illustration of molecules"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>A collaboration between four fellows in the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute shows how electricity can be used to impart "superoxide powers" to oxygen gas molecules from air, enabling the efficient recycling of PET plastics.&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A collaboration between four fellows in the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute shows how electricity can be used to impart "superoxide powers" to oxygen gas molecules from air, enabling the efficient recycling of PET plastics. </div> <script> window.location.href = `/rasei/2025/06/17/electricity-air-and-plastic-recycling`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 26 Jun 2025 14:42:20 +0000 Megan Maneval 54890 at /today Wildfires threaten water quality for years after they burn /today/2025/06/24/wildfires-threaten-water-quality-years-after-they-burn <span>Wildfires threaten water quality for years after they burn</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-24T12:01:53-06:00" title="Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - 12:01">Tue, 06/24/2025 - 12:01</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/1000012586.jpg?h=2848f5af&amp;itok=X1XivyK8" width="1200" height="800" alt="river basin"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <span>CIRES</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>CIRES-led research used big data to analyze more than 500 river basins鈥攂urned and unburned鈥攖o create and analyze the first large-scale dataset of post-fire water quality.&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>CIRES-led research used big data to analyze more than 500 river basins鈥攂urned and unburned鈥攖o create and analyze the first large-scale dataset of post-fire water quality. </div> <script> window.location.href = `https://cires.colorado.edu/news/wildfires-threaten-water-quality-years-after-they-burn`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 24 Jun 2025 18:01:53 +0000 Megan Maneval 54879 at /today Beneath crumbling walls: How rock glaciers took over the southern Rockies /today/2025/06/24/beneath-crumbling-walls-how-rock-glaciers-took-over-southern-rockies <span>Beneath crumbling walls: How rock glaciers took over the southern Rockies</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-24T09:54:18-06:00" title="Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - 09:54">Tue, 06/24/2025 - 09:54</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/20250618%20Robert%20Anderson%20Suzanne%20Anderson%20Rock%20Glaciers.jpg?h=7b3f6b7b&amp;itok=0vR80Y_h" width="1200" height="800" alt="rock glaciers in the southern Rockies"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <span>INSTAAR</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Rock glaciers are everywhere鈥攁t least in the Colorado Rockies. New research from Robert and Suzanne Anderson investigates how they formed and what benefits they might provide for alpine ecosystems.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Rock glaciers are everywhere鈥攁t least in the Colorado Rockies. New research from Robert and Suzanne Anderson investigates how they formed and what benefits they might provide for alpine ecosystems.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/instaar/2025/06/18/beneath-crumbling-walls-how-rock-glaciers-took-over-southern-rockies`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 24 Jun 2025 15:54:18 +0000 Megan Maneval 54876 at /today Mortenson Center innovations delivering clean water to more than 5 million worldwide /today/2025/06/23/mortenson-center-innovations-delivering-clean-water-more-5-million-worldwide <span>Mortenson Center innovations delivering clean water to more than 5 million worldwide</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-23T12:36:04-06:00" title="Monday, June 23, 2025 - 12:36">Mon, 06/23/2025 - 12:36</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/IMG_5973%20-%20Square.jpg?h=fa2ea4a2&amp;itok=AWceRC2u" width="1200" height="800" alt="A team member holds two water quality sensors used to test for water contamination."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> </div> <span>College of Engineering and Applied Science</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>色戒成人直播's Mortenson Center in Global Engineering &amp; Resilience is building a new model for global water access, one that is grounded in a deep understanding of why so many past efforts have fallen short.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>色戒成人直播's Mortenson Center in Global Engineering &amp; Resilience is building a new model for global water access, one that is grounded in a deep understanding of why so many past efforts have fallen short.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/center/mortenson/clean-water`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 23 Jun 2025 18:36:04 +0000 Megan Maneval 54872 at /today Farm-diversification research wins top international prize /today/2025/06/18/farm-diversification-research-wins-top-international-prize <span>Farm-diversification research wins top international prize</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-18T13:11:14-06:00" title="Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - 13:11">Wed, 06/18/2025 - 13:11</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/Zia%20Mehrabi%20thumbnail.jpg?h=6da65a24&amp;itok=8_8iCnWt" width="1200" height="800" alt="Zia Mehrabi"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/914"> Sustainability </a> </div> <span>Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>色戒成人直播鈥檚 Zia Mehrabi is one of three researchers named international champions of the Frontiers Planet Prize for research that finds environmental and social benefits of agricultural diversification.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>色戒成人直播鈥檚 Zia Mehrabi is one of three researchers named international champions of the Frontiers Planet Prize for research that finds environmental and social benefits of agricultural diversification.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/asmagazine/2025/06/17/farm-diversification-research-wins-top-international-prize`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 18 Jun 2025 19:11:14 +0000 Megan Maneval 54868 at /today Chasing hail: Researchers fly drones into storms as part of largest US hail study in 40 years /today/2025/06/17/chasing-hail <span>Chasing hail: Researchers fly drones into storms as part of largest US hail study in 40 years</span> <span><span>Daniel William鈥�</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-06-17T23:47:07-06:00" title="Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - 23:47">Tue, 06/17/2025 - 23:47</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-06/Storm_Chasing_Day_2_PC0424.jpg?h=890e752e&amp;itok=Bv4-peto" width="1200" height="800" alt="Two white SUVs drive down a single-lane highway in the country as gray storm clouds form overhead"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/18"> Space </a> </div> <a href="/today/daniel-strain">Daniel Strain</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Storm_Chasing_Day_2_PC0424.jpg?itok=u2j-bPgw" width="1500" height="880" alt="Two white SUVs drive down a single-lane highway in the country as gray storm clouds form overhead"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">色戒成人直播 researchers follow a storm brewing in south central Kansas. (Credit: Patrick Campbell/色戒成人直播)</p> </span> <p>Gray clouds swirl above a dusty highway in eastern Colorado between the towns of Akron and Atwood鈥攚hat鈥檚 left of a thunderstorm that rolled through this stretch of prairie and rangeland just minutes before.</p><p>Wind whistles through patches of stubbly grass nearby. Then a hiss and a pop break the silence. A group of researchers release a blast of compressed air to fling a flying drone from a metal scaffold, or 鈥渃atapult,鈥� sitting on top of a white SUV. The uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) measures more than 6 feet from wingtip to wingtip. It catches the wind, and its rear propeller buzzes to life, lifting the plane dozens of feet into the air in a matter of seconds.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="align-center image_style-large_image_style"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Storm_Chasing_Day_2_PC0056.jpg?itok=oKInXi-I" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Man works on a small plane out of the back of an SUV"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">C茅u G贸mez-Faulk makes adjustments to the RAAVEN drone. (Credit: Patrick Campbell/色戒成人直播)<br>&nbsp;</p> </span> </div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Storm_Chasing_Day_2_PC0214%20%281%29.jpg?itok=FYKMUoLd" width="1500" height="1000" alt="People stand in front of vehicles in the bay of a car wash as storm clouds loom overhead"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">The IRISS team rides out an oncoming storm near Wichita, Kansas. (Patrick Campbell/色戒成人直播)</p> </span> </div></div><p>The chase is on.</p><p>Aerospace engineering sciences Professor Brian Argrow and his team at the 色戒成人直播 have joined a research project called the <a href="https://icechip.niu.edu/" rel="nofollow">In-situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains</a>, or ICECHIP. For six weeks this summer, scientists from 15 U.S. research institutions and three overseas are criss-crossing the country from Colorado east to Iowa and from Texas to North Dakota.</p><p>They鈥檙e searching for summer thunderstorms.</p><p>The group is exploring the conditions that give rise to hail in this part of the country鈥攑eaking in the summer and causing billions of dollars of damage every year. In the United States, <a href="https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/hail/" rel="nofollow">hail is most common</a> in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and nearby regions, which are sometimes dubbed 鈥渉ail alley.鈥� Today, ice the size of grapes and even bigger litter the side of Colorado鈥檚 State Highway 63.</p><p>The campaign is led by Rebecca Adams-Selin at the company <a href="https://aer.powerserve.net/index.html" rel="nofollow">Atmospheric and Environmental Research</a> and is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. It鈥檚 the largest effort to study hail in the United States in 40 years.</p><p>The researchers hope to understand not just how ice forms miles above the ground, but also how homeowners and builders can protect their properties from dangerous weather. They鈥檒l do that by using radar to peer inside hailstorms. They鈥檒l collect and freeze hailstones, and they鈥檒l crush hail in vice-like devices to see how strong it is. Argrow鈥檚 team is usings its drone to map the swaths of hail that storms leave behind them in their wake.</p><p>鈥淚t is about saving lives and saving property,鈥� said Argrow, professor in the <a href="/aerospace" rel="nofollow">Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences</a> and director of the <a href="/iriss/" rel="nofollow">Integrated Remote and In-Situ Sensing</a> (IRISS) research center at 色戒成人直播. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working with meteorologists and atmospheric scientists trying to increase warning times to give people a chance to get to safety and work with engineers and insurance companies to build better infrastructure to withstand these onslaughts.鈥�</p><p>His team pilots the plane, known as the RAAVEN, short for <a href="/iriss/content/equipment-and-facilities/raaven" rel="nofollow">Robust Autonomous Airborne Vehicle - Endurant and Nimble</a>, north toward the rear flank of the thunderstorm. Then, they jump into two SUVs and follow the drone as it flies as low as 120 feet above them. A camera in the plane鈥檚 belly captures the ice trailing behind the storm. From that vantage point, the landscape, normally brown dotted with green, now also has pearly white patches for hundreds of yards in either direction.</p><p>For C茅u G贸mez-Faulk, who鈥檚 piloting the drone today, the sight is a testament to thunderstorms.</p><p>鈥淚t鈥檚 awe-inspiring in a very serious sort of way,鈥� said G贸mez-Faulk, a graduate student in aerospace engineering sciences.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div> <div class="align-center image_style-default"> <div class="field_media_oembed_video"><iframe src="/today/media/oembed?url=https%3A//youtu.be/z3D3pWsb4dQ%3Fsi%3DA2NphV7qrAZknJu9&amp;max_width=516&amp;max_height=350&amp;hash=pLScFMtjy_Ac_T9mzcoFrWzU9j_alGdMJlwO5Aw_G6A" width="516" height="290" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Why 色戒成人直播 is Flying Drones Around Tornadoes | Project TORUS"></iframe> </div> </div> <p class="text-align-center small-text">Credit: College of Engineering and Applied Science</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2>Dark skies</h2><p>Five days earlier, Argrow and his team from 色戒成人直播 join the ICECHIP armada at a Phillips 66 gas station in Greensburg, Kansas. The crew includes three graduate students, two IRISS employees and Eric Frew, professor of aerospace engineering sciences. They鈥檙e marking the first day of the project鈥檚 field season, or what the researchers call Intensive Observation Period 1 (IOP 1).</p><p>Judging by the conditions, the team should have plenty to study today. Weathervanes sitting on top of vans whip in circles as gusts blow a misty rain through Greensburg, a town in south central Kansas that is home to just over 700 people.</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"> <div class="field_media_oembed_video"><iframe src="/today/media/oembed?url=https%3A//youtu.be/DkS5UYCMluw%3Fsi%3D5WNuhhmhVedB9bQl&amp;max_width=516&amp;max_height=350&amp;hash=tncrgFjq2n3_Rqxrs5D_oVOqGJxol50uJs2kHuM5y2Q" width="516" height="290" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Weather Briefly: Hail"></iframe> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p><p class="hero"><i class="fa-solid fa-cloud-bolt">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;What makes hail</p><p>When conditions are right in states like Kansas and Colorado, winds blowing over the prairie can start to lift upward, forming a powerful column of rising air. These updrafts can push clouds from the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, up to the colder stratosphere, which begins miles above Earth鈥檚 surface.</p><p>Within those towering, cauliflower-like clouds, tiny drops of water may freeze, then bounce around in the air鈥攁 sort of atmospheric game of Plinko.</p><p>That鈥檚 how hail is born.</p><p>鈥淚t starts with what we call a hail embryo, or ice,鈥� said Katja Friedrich, professor in the <a href="/atoc" rel="nofollow">Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences</a> at 色戒成人直播. 鈥淚t goes through the cloud, and it accumulates supercooled liquid, which is liquid that is below freezing. The embryos accumulate more and more until they fall.鈥�</p><p>But there鈥檚 still a lot that scientists don鈥檛 know about what happens inside the clouds.</p><p>To help find out, Friedrich is participating in the ICECHIP campaign through an effort that鈥檚 separate from Argrow鈥檚 team and its drone. Over the summer, two researchers in her lab, Jack Whiting and Brady Herron, are traveling with the armada in a red pickup truck. They鈥檙e using a device called a microwave radiometer to collect measurements of the air that rushes into hailstorms from outside鈥攅xploring how environmental conditions can feed a storm to keep it churning, or even cause it to die off.</p><p>鈥淚t鈥檚 my dream to be doing this, to be in the field studying severe weather,鈥� said Whiting, who graduated from 色戒成人直播 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences in spring 2025. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a good chance that these events are going to become more frequent in the future because of climate change, so it鈥檚 really important to understand these dangerous storms.鈥�</p></div></div></div><p>鈥淭his is relatively typical this time of the year, mid-May for the Great Plains. That鈥檚 when the storms really turn up and pass through,鈥� Argrow said. 鈥淚f you live in this area, you know what this means.鈥�</p><p>In Greensburg, they definitely do.</p><p>In 2007, a tornado ripped through the heart of this community, damaging or destroying more than 1,400 homes and buildings and killing 10 people. Just hours after the ICECHIP crew departed on May 18 this spring, another tornado touched down south of Greensburg. It traveled 11 miles before dying out, and no injuries were reported.</p><p>Argrow is no stranger to the danger storms bring. He grew up in Stroud, Oklahoma, in the heart of Tornado Alley and remembers sheltering in his family鈥檚 storm cellar during severe weather warnings.</p><p>The engineer and his colleagues previously worked on a project, led by long-time collaborator. Adam Houston of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, called Targeted Observation by Radar and UAS of Supercells (TORUS). Over two seasons, the group flew RAAVEN aircraft into supercell thunderstorms, the phenomena that give rise to dangerous tornadoes. &nbsp;</p><p>But while storm-chasers may pay a lot of attention to those kinds of weather events, hail causes more damage than tornadoes every year, said Ian Giammanco. He鈥檚 the lead research meteorologist for the Insurance Institute for Business &amp; Home Safety (IBHS), a non-profit organization supported by property insurance and reinsurance companies.</p><p>Since 2012, hail has caused an estimated $280 billion worth of damage in the United States, according to IBHS estimates. The largest piece of hail ever discovered was about 8 inches wide, the size of a large cantaloupe.</p><p>鈥淥ur role is to understand how we can design better building materials to withstand hail,鈥� said Giammanco, whose team is joining the ICECHIP expedition on the road. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 a lot of small hail, or these really big hailstones, we want to understand what that risk looks like.鈥�</p><p>Ellington Smith, a graduate student on Argrow鈥檚 team, was an undergrad at Iowa State University in spring 2023 when hailstorms erupted around the state, flattening corn fields.</p><p>鈥淜nowing what hail can do to farmland, its鈥� really important to be able to quantify the damage鈥攆iguring out why these hailstorms happen and how to better predict them,鈥� Smith said.</p><h2>Intrepid aircraft</h2><p>Adams-Selin and the ICECHIP team are taking what she calls a 鈥渉olistic鈥� approach to studying those kinds of dangers.</p><p>The study armada is something to behold: At the start of the field season, the ICECHIP campaign included around 100 researchers traveling in more than 20 vehicles鈥攊ncluding pickup trucks with mesh canopies overhead to protect them from hail damage and two Doppler on Wheels trucks. These massive vehicles carry portable, swiveling radar dishes that can peer into the heart of hailstorms.</p><p>鈥淚CECHIP is 100% NSF funded,鈥� Adams-Selin said. 鈥淚f you want to know who is responsible for improved hail forecasts, better understanding of hail science and any of these technological advances that we are using, like mobile radar, that is all NSF funding.鈥�</p><p>The IRISS team depends on a vehicle that is a little smaller鈥攖he RAAVEN.</p><p>It鈥檚 a tough little drone. The aircraft is based off a kit designed by the company Ritewing RC. This same design inspired a storm-chasing drone that appeared in the 2024 summer blockbuster Twisters. The body of the RAAVEN is made from the same kind of foam that鈥檚 in your car bumper. It also carries sensors for measuring wind speeds and air pressure, temperature and humidity.</p><p>If the RAAVEN is flying with the wind, it can hit speeds of 75 miles per hour or more, and the aircraft can fly for up to two hours uninterrupted.</p><p>鈥淩adar can only tell you so much,鈥� said Frew, who joins Argrow on the ICECHIP campaign. 鈥淭o really further our understanding of the atmosphere, you have to be in it.鈥�</p><p>For ICECHIP, the team also added a 360-degree camera that drops out of the belly of the RAAVEN after it launches.</p><p>The IRISS team鈥檚 key role on the ICECHIP campaign is to measure the swaths of hail that storms leave in their wake.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2025-06/Storm_Chasing_Day_1_PC0068.jpg?itok=BjPeoJep" width="750" height="500" alt="A weather vane sitting on a pole with grain silos in the background"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">A storm builds near Greensburg, Kansas. (Credit: Patrick Campbell/色戒成人直播)</p> </span> </div> <p>The team doesn鈥檛 fly the RAAVEN directly into storms for ICECHIP. Instead, it stays safely behind the bad weather, soaring in a zig-zag pattern in the wake of hailstorms as they billow across the landscape. Using the drone鈥檚 camera in real-time, the researchers view the area below that鈥檚 covered in ice. They can then measure the width of these hail swaths, capturing how big a storm鈥檚 path of destruction can grow. Argrow likens it to 鈥渁 snail that leaves a trail.鈥�</p><p>Federal Aviation Administration rules require Argrow鈥檚 team to stay in sight of the RAAVEN at all times. To do that, the researchers get in their SUVs.</p><p>G贸mez-Faulk explained that the RAAVEN is semi-autonomous. Pilots like him can control where the aircraft goes, but it鈥檚 also programed to follow a sort of digital marker the team refers to as a 鈥渃arrot.鈥�</p><p>鈥淭here鈥檚 a carrot guide point that we set off some distance from the car, usually in front of the car,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he aircraft is going to chase that guide point as we drive.鈥�</p><h2>Heart pounding</h2><p>Back in Greensburg, Frew emphasizes that safety is the number one priority of the IRISS team. But he acknowledges that central Kansas at the height of storm season may be an odd place to find an aerospace engineer.</p><p>Before Frew started working on projects like TORUS and ICECHIP, he didn鈥檛 know a lot about weather. His time on these studies, however, has taught him to respect the power of storms鈥攁nd what engineers can accomplish when they bring their work out of the lab and into the real, windy world.</p><p>鈥淭he first time I did it, my heart was pounding. I didn鈥檛 know what to expect,鈥� Frew said. 鈥淚n order to understand this environment, someone has to go into it and take the measurements, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e here for.鈥�</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="hero"><i class="fa-solid fa-camera">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;IRISS snapshots from the road</p><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="align-center image_style-large_image_style"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Hail4.jpg?itok=ESXHC7sF" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Cars on the side of the road with storm clouds overhead"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Tracking a storm near Wichita Falls, Texas</p> </span> </div> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="align-center image_style-large_image_style"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Hail5.jpg?itok=ZSQcintD" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Man lies on hood of white sub and talks to two other people in front of car"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Taking a break in Tucumcari, New Mexico</p> </span> </div> </div></div><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Hail1.jpg?itok=tUPOlNk8" width="1500" height="2250" alt="Clumps of hail next to a dirt road"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Seeing hail in northeast Colorado</p> </span> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Hail6.jpg?itok=HEfPlA-6" width="1500" height="2250" alt="Five people pose for photo on side of highway with suv in background"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Posing for a photo in eastern New Mexico</p> </span> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-06/Hail8.jpg?itok=-LAS1YPc" width="1500" height="2249" alt="Hand holds three large pieces of hail"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Finding hail near Morton, Texas</p> </span> </div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>For six weeks this summer, scientists from across the country, including researchers at 色戒成人直播, are criss-crossing the Great Plains to investigate how hailstorms form鈥攁nd how homeowners and builders can protect their properties.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Zebra Striped</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 18 Jun 2025 05:47:07 +0000 Daniel William Strain 54848 at /today