Professor Michaelson will assemble a precipitation dataset for western North America from Mexico to Alaska. He will analyze the data using frequency domain time series techniques to determine spatial and temporal variability in precipitation over the region. The research will produce a more comprehensive precipitation database than currently exists for the region, and the analysis will lead to a better understanding of large-scale climatic variability in western North America. The information concerning fluctuations in water availability that will result will be useful theoretically and for hydrologists and water-use planners.
