Collaborative Research: Doppler on Wheels International H2O Project Participation and Studies of Convective Initiation

国际H20项目（IHOP）是一个多研究者、多机构的项目，其主要目的是改进水蒸气四维分布的表征及其应用，以提高对对流的理解和预测。 该计划的重点是四个重要的研究领域：定量降水预报;对流开始，大气边界层过程;和仪器测试。IHOP成功的关键是跨越几个运动尺度的风和热力学值的测量。 这将通过独特和多样的仪器来实现。 为了帮助实现国际保健和饭店协会的目标，主要调查员提出了合作建议。 作为所需的IHOP仪器套件的一部分，主要研究人员将部署俄克拉荷马州大学的多普勒车轮（DOW）雷达。 这些雷达为IHOP的研究人员提供了获得详细风测量的高分辨率仪器。 这些测量方法适用于IHOP的所有四个研究组成部分。 道斯将与固定站点和移动的观测平台协调，以前所未有的数据密度和分辨率对对流前环境进行采样，包括边界和辐合线内和沿着边界和辐合线的风和热力学特性。主要研究人员将分析这些数据，以阐明水汽场梯度的大小，以及风场在聚焦中的作用这些不均匀性。 例如，主要研究人员将确定是否局部收敛中尺度环流沿着边界或收敛区之间的交叉点，可能与水平对流卷（HCR），创建口袋的高水汽含量。 他们将进一步评估水蒸气梯度相对于HCR的方向。 除了边界研究外，主要研究人员还将对在没有明显辐合区的日子收集的数据进行分析，以确定在没有实质性聚焦机制的情况下水汽场的变化程度。 在了解了对流前环境中水汽变化的性质和程度后，进一步的分析将集中在这些不均匀性与基于当前假设的对流起始过程的关系上。 例如，如果发现存在高水蒸气含量的口袋，首席研究员将研究这些位置是否真的有利于深对流。 他们将详细研究与观测到的非常小尺度的环流和辐合区相关的抬升深度，以确定边界层中的水汽输送。我们的目标是更好地了解在对流前环境中的水蒸气变率的机制和动力学过程，这种变化表现在对流启动过程。

The International H20 Project (IHOP) is a multi-investigator, multi-agency program whose chief aim is improved characterization of the four-dimensional distribution of water vapor and its application to improving the understanding and prediction of convection. Program emphasis is on four important research areas: quantitative precipitation forecasting; convective initiation, atmospheric boundary layer processes; and instrumentation testing. Critical to the success of the IHOP is the measurement of wind and thermodynamic values spanning several scales of motion. This will be accomplished with unique and varied instrumentation. To contribute to achieving the goals of IHOP, the Principal Investigators have submitted collaborative proposals. As part of the required IHOP instrumentation suite, the Principal Investigators will deploy the University of Oklahoma Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radars. These radars provide the IHOP researchers with a high resolution instrument for obtaining detailed wind measurements. These measurements have applications to all four IHOP research components. The DOWs will coordinate with both fixed-site and mobile observing platforms to sample with unprecedented data density and resolution the pre-convective environment, including wind and thermodynamic properties within and along boundaries and convergence lines.For their research contribution to the IHOP, the Principal Investigators will analyze these data to elucidate the magnitude of gradients in the water vapor field and the role of the wind field in focusing these inhomogeneities. For example, the Principal Investigators will determine if locally convergent mesoscale circulations along boundaries or intersections between convergence zones, possibly associated with horizontal convective rolls (HCRs), create pockets of high water vapor content. They will further assess the orientation of water vapor gradients with respect to the HCRs. In addition to boundary studies, the Principal Investigators will perform analyses of data collected on days without obvious convergence zones to determine the degree of variability in the water vapor field in the absence of substantial focusing mechanisms. After understanding the nature and degree of water vapor variability in the pre-convective environment further analysis will focus on the relationship of these inhomogeneities to the convective initiation process based on current hypotheses. For example, if pockets of high water vapor content are found to exist, the Principal Investigators will then examine whether deep convection indeed is favored at these locations. They will examine in detail the depth of lifting associated with observed very small scale circulations and convergence zones to determine the transport of water vapor in the boundary layer. The goal is a better understanding of the mechanisms governing water vapor variability in the preconvective environment and the dynamical processes by which this variability is manifested in the convective initiation process.