Mesoscale Frontal Waves

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Meteorologists recognize that most heavy precipitation and severe weather events are controlled by factors that occur on what is termed the stormscale or mesoscale as it is called by meteorologist. These features have typical spatial scales of 10 to 100 kilometers and are not well sampled by the operational weather system nor well understood. In a collaborative effort with a scientist from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Principal Investigator will study small mesoscale disturbances that have been observed to develop on large scale synoptic frontal surfaces. The primary questions to be addressed are the hydrodynamic mechanisms that give rise to mesoscale waves, their interactions with convection and their effect on the structure of the frontal zones on which they form. Answers to these questions will enhance our basic understanding of the distribution and intensity of precipitation along frontal boundaries. This investigation involves theory, numerical models and observational analysis. The data to be used were collected during two field investigations focussed on mesoscale processes -- the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment and the Oklahoma-Kansas Preliminary Regional Experiment for STORM-Central (STORM stands for Stormscale Operational and Research Meteorology).