David J. Gochis

General Information

RAL & TIIMES
Scientist
BEACHON

Contact Information:
PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000
Office: FL2 - 2024
Telephone: 303-497-2809
Email: gochis@ucar.edu
Home Page - Vita

Research Focus FY08:

Fine Mesh Project

The Fine Mesh Project wrapped up this year with a paper summarizing the results from the fine-mesh modeling work within the Community Atmosphere Model - Community Land Model (CAM - CLM) climate model. more...

Headwaters

In support of Colorado Headwaters research efforts, work has been initiated on testing and evaluating a distributed version of the Noah-distributed hydrological model for use over the mountainous regions of Colorado. This work forms the basis for modeling spring snow-pack, snowmelt and runoff processes under both current and future climate scenarios.

Minutes that Save Lives: New Warning System Boosts Flash-Flood Prediction

With a 30-minute head start, emergency managers can dramatically reduce flash-flood risk along Colorado’s Front Range. The Front Range, with its steep topography and intense summer storms, is unusually vulnerable to summertime flash floods. A new forecasting system that underwent testing and development during summer 2008 may soon provide emergency managers with information on the likelihood of a flash flood minutes or even hours before waters start rising...more (from the NCAR 2008 Annual Report)

BEACHON

In support of the BEACHON project, extensive hydrometeorological and hydroclimatological field data is being collected starting during the summer of 2008. These observations of critical terrestrial hydrological and biogeochemical processes will form the basis for understanding the controls on biogenic emissions from water-limited ecosystems, a principal goal of the BEACHON program. To date a network of precipitation observing equipment has been deployed around the BEACHON site which includes: rain gauges, precipitation radar, disdrometers, rainwater collectors (for chemical analysis), soil moisture and soil temperature profiles. Additionally, several more in-situ measurements are being made in an effort to characterize the hydrologic, hydraulic and bioegeochemical function of the MEF ecosystem.

Plans for FY09 and Beyond

1. Continue planning and development of the BEACHON and Colorado Headwaters research programs.
2. Continue field data collection under the BEACHON research effort at the Manitou Experimental Forest.
3. Upon completion of testing of the Noah-distributed hydrological model over the Colorado Headwater region, work will initiate on adapting the distributed modeling framework to permit use of the CLM/CN land surface model instead of the Noah land surface model in detailed hydrobiogeochemical studies. This work is directly linked to that outlined in #2 above and is targeted for development and use within the BEACHON research program.

Community Service FY08:

• Guest Editor: CLIVAR Exchanges
• Member: NOAA CPPA Advisory Panel
• Chair: North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) Science Working Group, NOAA & CLIVAR
• Member: Variability of American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS) Panel, CLIVAR
• Member: Water Cycle Science Steering Group, U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP)
• Graduate Research Advisor: Cedric David (University of Texas, Austin)
• Graduate Research Advisor: Seshadri Rajagopal (University of Arizona, Tucson)
• Thesis Committee - PhD: Kazungu Maitaria (University of Arizona, Tucson)
• Thesis Committee - PhD: Hernan Moreno (New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM)
• Thesis Committee - Masters: Angela Rowe (Colorado State University, Fort Collins)
• Thesis Committee - PhD: Chunmei Zhu (University of Washington, Seattle)
• 5th Grade Science Lecture (Colorado Springs, CO September 2008)

Scientific Talks FY08:

• Assessing Snowpack from Colorado’s Headwater Basins using a Very High Resolution Atmospheric Model (Boulder, CO, August 2008)
• Flash Flood Prediction for the Colorado Front Range (Fort Collins, CO, September 2008)
• Land – Atmosphere Interactions in the U.S. Great Plains (Amarillo, TX, March 2008)
• Precipitation – History, Forecasting and Modeling (Amarillo, TX, March 2008)
• Statistical Downscaling of Warm Season Medium-Range Precipitation Predictions in the Core North American Monsoon Region with Application to Water Resources Forecasting (Talahassee, FL, October 2007)
• The hydrologically-enhanced Noah-distributed land surface model (Boulder, CO, March 2008)
• The hydrologically-enhanced Noah-distributed land surface model (Laramie, WY, August 2008)

Publications FY08:

Lyon, S. W., F. Dominguez, D. J. Gochis, N. A. Brunsell, C. L. Castro, F. K. Chow, Y. Fan, D. Fuka, Y. Hong, P. A. Kucera, S. W. Nesbitt, N. Salzmann, J. Schmidli, P. K. Snyder, A. J. Tueling, T. E. Twine, S. Levis, J. D. Lundquist, G. G. Salvucci, A. M. Sealy, M. T. Walter, 2008: Coupling terrestrial and atmospheric water dynamics to improve prediction in a changing environment. Bulletin of the American Physical Society, doi: 10.1175/2008BAMS2547.1.4

Liebman, B., I. Blade, N. A. Bond, D. J. Gochis, D. Allured, G. T. Bates, 2008: Characteristics of North American summertime rainfall with emphasis on the monsoon. J. Climate, 21(6), 1277-1294.3

Kursinski, E. R., R. A. Bennett, D. J. Gochis, S. I. Gutman, K. L. Holub, R. Mastaler, C. M. Sosa, I. M. Sosa, T. van Hove, 2008: Water vapor and surface observations in northwestern Mexico during the 2004 NAME enhanced observing period. Geophys. Res. Lett., 35(3), L03815.4

Gochis, D. J., 2008: A view from the golden years of the North American Monsoon Experiment. CLIVAR Exchgs. Newslett., 13(2) April.1

Vivoni, E. R., C. J. Watts, J. C. Rodriguez, J. Garatuza-Payan, L. A. Mendez-Barroso, E. A. Yepez, J. Saiz-Hernandez, D. J. Gochis, 2008: Relation between surface flux measurements and hydrologic conditions in a stubtropical scrubland during the North American Monsoon. CLIVAR Exchgs. Newslett., 13(2) April.4

Nesbitt, S., D. J. Gochis, T. Lang, 2008: The diurnal cycle of clouds and precipitation along the Sierra Madre Occidental observed during NAME-2004: Implications for warm season precipitation estimation in complex terrain. J. Hydrometeorol., 9, 728-743.2