Extreme Wind and Snow Loads for Alaska in Projected Future Climates
Publication: ASCE Inspire 2023
ABSTRACT
Extreme wind and snow loads can be critical structural design parameters for Alaska. Understanding these extreme climate conditions under climate change conditions is valuable for adaptation and community resilience. Wind or snow loads can be the principal climatic loads, and the other can be the companion load. The effect of climate change on these two extreme climatic variables deserves investigation. Moreover, how climate change impacts both extreme climatic variables is still being determined; it is also worth understanding the spatial effect of climate change over Alaska for each hazard. For this purpose, this study investigated a large ensemble of simulations under a high-emissions climate change scenario to analyze the uncertainties of the future extreme wind climate and snow loads for Alaska. The impact of climate change on the design level of extreme events was investigated. The nonstationarity of the extreme wind speeds and ground snow loads under climate change scenarios were examined. The effects of the nonstationarity on determining the design wind speeds and ground snow loads are discussed. The correlation between the extreme wind speeds and ground snow loads is explored to understand how to consider the companion climatic loads in climate change scenarios. Uncertainties associated with future projections are explored. Structural design for climate change adaptation and community resilience in extreme wind and snow hazards is discussed.
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ASCE Inspire 2023
Pages: 61 - 69
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Published online: Nov 14, 2023
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