Understanding regional sea level variations is crucial for assessing coastal vulnerability, with ... more Understanding regional sea level variations is crucial for assessing coastal vulnerability, with accurate sea level data playing a pivotal role. Utilizing historical sea level marigrams can enhance datasets, but current digitization techniques face challenges such as bends and skews in paper charts, impacting sea level values. This study explores often-overlooked issues during marigram digitization, focusing on the case study of Dún Laoghaire in Ireland (1925-1931).
Communication with the public about the risk of natural hazards (NHs) is important to enable comm... more Communication with the public about the risk of natural hazards (NHs) is important to enable community resilience and encourage autonomy in handling NHs impacts. The need for communication becomes even more crucial as NHs become more frequent and intense due to climate change. Among these NHs are hurricanes that, due to warmer sea surface temperatures and decreased vertical wind shear, can undergo extratropical transition and reach northern latitudes including NW Europe and Ireland more easily. As a result, the potential impact of extratropical remnants of hurricanes is increasing in Ireland. On the 16 th of October 2017, ex-Hurricane, or post-Tropical cyclone (PTC), Ophelia made landfall on the southwest coast of Ireland causing severe disruption across the southern half of Ireland, especially Co. Cork. This study assesses the risk perception of the people in Co. Cork towards NHs, especially hurricanes and their satisfaction with risk communication following Ophelia. A standardised survey methodology (n=89) was employed to analyse the risk communication chain, content, and media and to obtain suggestions for communication improvement using expert interviews. The results show that 55% of respondents are not overly concerned about being affected by NHs but that, after being affected by Ophelia, they are aware of the risks of hurricanes. The study also shows that 60% perceive hurricanes as being of higher risk in the future. Overall, 55% and 64% of the participants are satisfied with the communication on the threats from this event and how to behave during Ophelia, respectively. Improvements were suggested by the public and by experts in terms of better information and training for the public in dealing with these events. It was also suggested that a more robust electricity supply system is needed given the frequency of outages during major windstorm events including this one.
Coastal Environments in the West of Ireland; Sea, Land and Spirit, 2023
This papers outlines the impact of the Tambora eruption of Ireland in the context of the weather ... more This papers outlines the impact of the Tambora eruption of Ireland in the context of the weather and climate of the period 1809-1819 including temperature, precipitation and extreme events. In addition the impact of the event on the Irish population is discussed including the typhus epidemic and famine
This book chapter is a brief overview of the key aspects o the climate of Co. Monaghan including ... more This book chapter is a brief overview of the key aspects o the climate of Co. Monaghan including temperature precipitation and other key parameters
The sustained hourly gale record from Valentia Observatory, SW Ireland over the time period from ... more The sustained hourly gale record from Valentia Observatory, SW Ireland over the time period from 1874-2006 shows very significant variations including high values in the 1920s, 1940s, 1960s and 1980s but a decline since then down to the lowest recorded levels at present. Most gales occur in winter and in particular in December and January. An analysis of the wind duration and speed data shows that there has been increased variability in the duration of gales over the last 20 years and despite an overall decline in mean wind speed there is no indication that gale strengths have changed in any systematic way. This gale data is strongly in contrast to the outputs and predictions from the various scenarios in the ECHAM4 models which predict at worst no changes in cyclonicity of depressions below 1,000 hPa but significant increases in cyclonicity of severe depressions below 940 hPa. At present the actual data is running contrary to the model outcomes at Valentia and elsewhere in Ireland. The sustained gales have given rise to wave heights in excess of 30 m and this documentary evidence is verified by more recent satellite and marine buoy data.
The storm of 31 January to 1 February 1953 and its impact on Scotland
Scottish geographical journal, 2001
... Page 6. 288 KIERAN R. HICKEY ... In the parish of Dyke and Moy the storm was described as the... more ... Page 6. 288 KIERAN R. HICKEY ... In the parish of Dyke and Moy the storm was described as the worst in living memory (Hamilton, 1965). There are many other similar com-ments in the descriptions of the storm from the various documentary sources. ...
Comparing Historic Storminess Records and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Chronology for the Azores and Northern North Atlantic Region
AGUSM, May 1, 2001
An account is presented of separate records of historic storminess for the Azores archipelago and... more An account is presented of separate records of historic storminess for the Azores archipelago and the northern North Atlantic (Scotland and NW Ireland). The analysis shows that temporal patterns of storminess in the two areas have functioned essentially in phase with each other since circa 1840 AD. This observation is not consistent with present understanding of the North Atlantic Oscillation
Historic Storminess Changes in North Atlantic Region
Reconstructed patterns of historic storminess (1870-1990 AD) for North Atlantic region as indicat... more Reconstructed patterns of historic storminess (1870-1990 AD) for North Atlantic region as indicated by measurements from selected stations in Iceland, Faeroes, Scotland and Ireland show clear links with the climate "seesaw" winters first described by Van Loon and Rogers. The stormiest winters appear to have occurred during periods when measured Greenland air temperatures at Jacobshavn and reconstructed air temperatures from the Summit ice core site have been exceptionally low and when air temperature across northern Europe have been well above average. Maxima and minima of recorded winter storms for the various stations are also in agreement with the Sodium chronology from GISP2 that points to increased sea salt precipitation on Greenland ice at Summit during Greenland "below" periods of the climate seesaw.
A.G. Dawson, K. Hickey, T. Holt, L. Elliott S. Dawson, I.D.L Foster, P. Wadhams, I. Jonsdottir, J. Wilkinson, J. McKenna, N.R. Davis and D.E Smith. Complex North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index signal of historic North Atlantic storm-track changes
A Methodology to Assess the Morphological Change of a Multilevel Beach Cusp System and their Hydrodynamics: Case Study of Long Strand, Ireland
Journal of Coastal Research, 2020
ABSTRACT Nuyts, S.; Murphy, J.; Li, Z., and Hickey, K., 2020. A methodology to assess the morphol... more ABSTRACT Nuyts, S.; Murphy, J.; Li, Z., and Hickey, K., 2020. A methodology to assess the morphological change of a multilevel beach cusp system and their hydrodynamics: Case study of Long Strand, Ireland. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 593-598. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Characterising the behaviour of highly dynamic and small-scale coastal features is challenging, for lack of a non-intrusive and cost-effective survey methodology that can map coastal features with high spatial and temporal resolution. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are already widely used in coastal research but to date, they have primarily been used as an auxiliary approach for traditional survey methods (e.g. beach profiles). In this study, a methodology is proposed to fully capture the dynamic behaviour of a multilevel beach cusp system. The aim of the research is to establish a method that links the morphological change of these rhythmic coastal features with detailed information of the hydrodynamics in the study area. This is achieved with a UAV system in combination with MIKE 21 Spectral Waves FM Model. Long Strand, Co. Cork in Ireland is used as a case study to evaluate the proposed methodology. Results show that the proposed approach allows to accurately determine beach cusp parameters (i.e. spacing, amplitude, elevation, and depth) and link their high spatial topographical data with the hydrodynamic forces at any given location. Using this survey method in future, coastal research will allow for a better understanding of complex dynamic coastal features and their behaviour over time.
The ways in which information and communications technology can be used to support environmental ... more The ways in which information and communications technology can be used to support environmental regulation were the subject of an international exploratory workshop in NUI Galway on 20–21 June 2013. The event, ‘Information and Communications Technology for Environmental Regulation: Developing a Research Agenda’, was funded by NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research, the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change, and the Irish Research Council. It attracted over fifty international experts from Europe, the United States of America and Australia. The delegates were experts in law, the physical and social sciences, information systems and web science. The lively discussions addressed topics such as real-time monitoring of air pollution through sensors; large-scale databases of geographical information on the health of rivers, lakes and beaches; satellite-based monitoring of farming patterns; and the provision of information on industrial p...
This paper presents the observed morphological evolution of a multilevel beach cusp system in Lon... more This paper presents the observed morphological evolution of a multilevel beach cusp system in Long Strand, Co. Cork, Ireland. The surveys were carried out with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system between March and September 2019. From this site, three levels of beach cusps on the beachface (i.e., lower beach level, mid beach level and upper beach level), and critical cusp parameters are reported, including cusp spacing, cusp elevation, cusp depth, and cusp amplitude. Thus far, such an extensive dataset has not previously been reported in the literature from a single site. The evolution of the different cusp parameters is then linked with the hydrodynamics in the study area, and new prediction theories are proposed for the different cusp parameters. The Lower beach level cusps (1 < z < 2.5 m Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM)) changed with every tide and appeared when surf-similarity parameter-ξ0 < 1.55. These cusps had a mean cusp spacing of λmean = 11.09 m, which are clos...
Previous reports have suggested a link between increased storminess in the North Atlantic during ... more Previous reports have suggested a link between increased storminess in the North Atlantic during recent years with a period of time during which the North Atlantic Oscillation Index has been strongly positive. New analyses of late nineteenth-century gale-day data for meteorological stations in northern Scotland and western Ireland indicate that the relatively high storminess that characterized this period was associated with monthly NAO Index values that rarely exceeded +2 and, on several occasions, were strongly negative. It is speculated that this difference may reflect the influence of an expanded sea-ice cover in the Greenland Sea that caused a considerable southward displacement of the North Atlantic storm track during the late nineteenth century. Such changes imply that the polar atmospheric and oceanic fronts in the North Atlantic were displaced southward during the late nineteenth century.
The paper uses Greenland GISP2 ice core data together with historical documentary information to ... more The paper uses Greenland GISP2 ice core data together with historical documentary information to investigate the nature of climate changes that took place between AD 1270 and 1450 across the North Atlantic region. Detailed Deuterium and deuterium excess time series resolved to c. 8—10 samples per year are used to reconstruct relative changes in Greenland air temperature and past changes in sea surface temperature across the western North Atlantic. The data show that sea surface temperatures during the late thirteenth century and the majority of the fourteenth century were characterized by relatively high-amplitude warming and cooling `events'. These changes preceded a marked reduction in the amplitude of the sea surface temperature changes c. 30—40 years before the well-known change in Northern Hemisphere tropospheric circulation characterized by a marked increase in regional storminess that started between c. AD 1400 and 1420. The time interval between AD 1270 and 1450 also app...
Most research concerned with the relationship between volcanic activity and global climate change... more Most research concerned with the relationship between volcanic activity and global climate change has focused on the impacts that volcanoes have on atmospheric temperature. Very little attention, however, has been given to the effect of volcanic eruptions on patterns of storminess. Here we present a historical record of gale-day frequency for Edinburgh, Scotland, extending from AD 1780 to 1988 (the Mossman-Hickey chronology), which we believe represents the longest historical record of gales in Europe. Calculation of gale- day frequency for this time interval shows three clear peaks in storminess that follow the volcanic eruptions of Tambora (1815), Krakatoa (1883) and El Chichon (1982). It appears that the greatest periods of storminess evident in the Edinburgh record during the last 200 years have taken place during relatively short intervals following major episodes of volcanism. If correct, the processes linking high-magnitude volcanic eruptions to storminess in the North Atlant...
There is abundant landscape evidence for extensive land reclamation conducted within the Shannon ... more There is abundant landscape evidence for extensive land reclamation conducted within the Shannon estuary wetlands. To date, little published research is available which identifies how much reclamation has occurred, its timing and the likely environmental implications. This paper addresses these questions on the basis of available cartographic and documentary data on land reclamation in this area. Identification of reclaimed land was based on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey of Ireland Map Series of 1924. These maps represent landscape features relating to reclamation, such as embankments, artificial arterial drainage channels and sluices. Using such indicators for the purpose of demarcation, the extent of the lands reclaimed has been mapped. Documentary information on reclamation schemes was acquired from the National Archives files on the Irish Quit Rent Office, including letters, memoranda, draft bills and Government Acts, legal documents and statements of account, and these suppor...
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