A Synoptic Climatology of Warm Season Convection in the Southern Great Lakes Region

南部大湖区暖季对流的天气气候学

• 批准号: 9213072
• 负责人: Julie Winkler
• 金额: $ 14.97万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1992
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1992-08-01 至 1998-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9213072&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Synoptic; Climatology; Warm; Season; Convection

The frequency, character, seasonality, and diurnal phasing of convection are important components of the climatology of a place or region. The southern Great Lakes region of the United States has been understudied in this regard. It lies within a transition zone separating western regions where nocturnal thunderstorms predominate during the warm season and eastern regions where thunderstorms occur mostly during the daytime. This makes the southern Great Lakes unique in that nocturnal and daytime convection are equally frequent during the warm months of the year. The nature and extent of the influence of lake breezes and land-water temperature differences and their relationship to the occurrence, timing, and intensity of convection is unknown for this region. This research will document, using lightning and radar observations, the convective climatology of the southern Great Lakes region at a fine temporal and spatial scale. The project will identify the differences in the statistical properties of nocturnal versus daytime convective systems, and examine the nature and extent of variations in convective frequency and timing. Differences in the meso-alpha scale and synoptic scale atmospheric environment in which nocturnal and daytime convective events form will be evaluated. This will assist in an assessment of the relative hazard to human life and property posed by convective storms in terms of potential lightning damage and the probability of heavy precipitation. The improved convective climatology resulting from this research will allow for a re-evaluation of currently proposed explanations for differences in the diurnal phasing of convective storms. The linkages identified between the statistical properties of convective storms and the large-scale environments in which they form can be employed in the short-range forecasting of convection.

对流的频率、特征、季节性和日相位是一个地方或地区气候学的重要组成部分。在这方面，对美国南部大湖地区的研究不足。它位于一个过渡区，西部地区在温暖季节夜间雷暴占优势，东部地区在白天雷暴主要发生。这使得南部五大湖的独特之处在于，在一年中温暖的几个月里，夜间和白天的对流同样频繁。湖泊微风和陆水温差影响的性质和程度及其与对流的发生、时间和强度的关系在该地区尚不清楚。本研究将利用闪电和雷达观测，在精细的时间和空间尺度上记录大湖区南部的对流气候学。该项目将确定夜间对流系统与日间对流系统统计特性的差异，并检查对流频率和时间变化的性质和程度。将评估夜间和白天对流事件形成的中尺度和天气尺度大气环境的差异。这将有助于评估对流风暴对人类生命和财产造成的相对危害，包括潜在的闪电损害和强降水的可能性。这项研究对对流气候学的改进将允许对目前提出的对流风暴日相位差异的解释进行重新评估。在对流风暴的统计特性和它们形成的大尺度环境之间所确定的联系可用于对流的短期预报。