RUI: Field Study and Modeling of Lake-Effect Snow Near Lake Ontario

任何居住在五大湖背风处的人都熟悉一种被称为“湖泊效应暴风雪”的中尺度气象现象。 湖泊效应降雪是相对局部的天气事件，可能会导致某些地区降雪量高达 100 厘米，而其他仅几十公里外的地方可能几乎没有降雪量。 特别是安大略湖，由于其长度和相对于盛行风的方向，拥有异常清晰的雪带，年降雪量超过 500 厘米。 湖泊效应降雪的认识和研究已经有一段时间了，在确定成因方面已经取得了很大进展。 然而，我们的知识仍然存在差距，无法一致地预测大雪的时间、地点和数量就证明了这一点。 1990 年冬季，一家私营电力公司、国家海洋和大气管理局以及宾夕法尼亚州立大学将合作开展一项名为“安大略湖冬季风暴项目”(LOWS) 的联合实地工作。 该项目将侧重于提高对安大略湖背风处局部强降雪的理解和预测。 现场组件将利用先进的中尺度测量系统来解决这个问题，例如多普勒雷达、风和热力学剖面系统以及微波辐射计。 根据美国国家科学基金会的本科院校研究计划 (RUI)，首席研究员 (PI) 提议参与 LOWS 项目。 PI 不仅为该项目带来了气象专业知识，还将通过部署两个移动大气探测系统直接为观测工作做出贡献，这些系统将由该地区 RUI 学院的本科生操作。 后期现场实验研究将集中于诊断研究和数值模拟，最终目标是更好地了解湖泊效应雪形成和维持所涉及的环境结构和物理机制。 PI 的活动很好地补充了参与该项目的其他科学家。 //

Anyone who lives to the lee of the Great Lakes is familiar with a mesoscale meteorological phenomenon know as "lake effect snow storms". Lake effect snows are relatively local weather events that can cause some areas to receive as much as 100 cm of snow while other locations only a few tens of kilometers away may experience barely a trace. In particular, Lake Ontario, because of its length and orientation with respect to the prevailing winds, has an unusually well defined snowbelt with annual snowfall accumulations that exceed 500 cm. Lake effect snows have been recognized and studied for some time with much progress having been made in determining causative factors. Gaps, however, still exist in our knowledge as is evidenced by an inability to consistently predict the timing, location and amount of heavy snows. During the winter of 1990, a private power company, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Pennsylvania State University will collaborate in a joint field effort called the Lake Ontario Winter Storms Project (LOWS). The project will focus on improved understanding and prediction of intense local snowfalls to the lee of Lake Ontario. The field component will bring to bear on this problem advanced mesoscale measuring systems such as Doppler radar, wind and thermodynamic profiling systems, and a microwave radiometer. Under the National Science Foundation's program for Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI), the Principal Investigators (PIs) proposes to participate in the LOWS Project. The PIs bring to the project not only their meteorological expertise, but also they will contribute directly to the observational effort by fielding two mobile atmospheric sounding systems which will be operated by undergraduate students from RUI colleges in the area. Post field experiment research will concentrate on diagnostic studies and numerical simulations with the ultimate goal of gaining a better understanding of the environmental structure and physical mechanisms involved in the formation and maintenance of lake effect snows. The activities of the PIs complement nicely the other scientists involved in the project. //