Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Atmospheric and Earth Science
Committee Chair
Udaysankar Nair
Committee Member
Rahul Ramachandran
Committee Member
Sundar Christopher
Research Advisor
Udaysankar Nair
Subject(s)
Convection (Meteorology), Land use--Environmental aspects, Land cover--Environmental aspects, Cities and towns--Growth--Environmental aspects, Remote sensing, Cincinnati (Ohio)--Climate, Louisville (Ky.)--Climate, Evansville (Ind.)--Climate
Abstract
This thesis evaluates how urban growth modifies warm-season rainfall and convection near Louisville, Cincinnati, and Evansville. From 1987–2024, rainfall increased at most stations, but MERRA-2 and statistical modeling show that regional ascent and moisture were the primary controls on seasonal precipitation. Radar analysis identified storm initiation as the dominant event type, especially near Louisville’s urban–river boundary and northeastern downwind corridor. Louisville’s developed land increased from 53.5% to 66.3%, while MODIS showed significant nighttime warming but little daytime warming. GOES cloud-frequency patterns were also locally enhanced near river, urban-edge, southeastern vegetated, and downwind areas. WRF sensitivity simulations showed that urban land cover deepened the modeled boundary layer and altered the timing and location of cloud water and rainfall, although total precipitation changed less consistently. Overall, regional forcing controls rainfall magnitude, while urbanization and land-surface contrasts locally modify boundary-layer growth, cloud development, storm initiation, and precipitation distribution.
Recommended Citation
Wallner, Madison, "The impacts of land use land cover change and urbanization on precipitation in the Kentucky–Ohio River Valley" (2026). Theses. 847.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/847