Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Convective Storms

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During the Spring and Summer months, mesoscale convective systems account for most beneficial rainfall as well as economically disruptive and life-threatening phenomena such as tornadoes, hail, flash floods and high winds. Mesoscale convective systems are collections of thunderstorms that cover areas several hundreds of kilometers in typical dimension and have lifetimes of more than one day. The Principal Investigator proposes a joint observational analysis and numerical simulation approach in furthering knowledge of mesoscale convective systems. Observational data to be used are those that have been collected during previous experiments sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Among the research goals are: 1. Analysis and simulation of mesoscale convective systems which exhibit random patterns of thunderstorms. The objective is to determine why some of these systems develop these random precipitation patterns while others exhibit a line structure. 2. Use radar reflectivity fields to identify pulsations in volumetric rainfall rates and other morphological characteristics of mesoscale convective systems over their lifetimes. 3. It has been noted that some mesoscale convective systems tend to produce severe wind storms with most of the damage occurring on the north side of synoptic-scale warm fronts. The Principal Investigator will use a combination of numerical simulation and observational analyses to determine what combination of convective- scale and meso/synoptic scale features lead to severe winds. 4. Using advanced numerical techniques, the Principal Investigator will investigate the dynamical interactions between the synoptic, meso-alpha and meso-beta scale.