Theses and Dissertations

Advisor

Rudzin, Johna

Committee Member

Brown, Michael

Committee Member

Mercer, Andrew

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Immediate Worldwide Access

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geoscience (Professional Meteorology/Climatology)

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

Different oceanic salinity profiles seen in the Atlantic have been found to influence tropical cyclone (TC) intensity. With the freshwater plume from the Amazon-Orinoco reaching into a TC development region during peak hurricane season, the stable ocean feature it creates has effects on SST, ocean mixing, enthalpy fluxes, and convection. This study investigates the relationship between sea surface salinity (SSS) and inner-core lightning of north Atlantic TCs and further explores the spatial variations of this relationship with TC intensity. SSS values are collocated with lightning flashes, which are split between “fresher” and “saltier” waters. Further investigations found that TCs have a slightly higher flash count over “fresher” water, but this relationship was mainly seen at major hurricane intensities. The SSS distribution for collocated lightning flashes showed little variance between TC quadrants, but slight differences emerged in SSS distributions in collocated flashes relative to the radial distance from the TC center.

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