CAREER: Research on Convective Snow in the Central United States

雷雪事件(伴有闪电和雷电的雪地)将使用标准气象平台(例如，雷声探测网、国家闪电探测网)、实地观测(综合探空系统、雪晶采集)和数值模式模拟，采用多尺度方法进行研究。该项目将首先研究1961年至1990年的雷雪档案案例，以了解产生雷雪的天气环境。在接下来的几年里，将在野外追踪雷雪事件，以便直接对它们进行采样，并试图确定产生它们的云的一些基本特征。对雷雪事件的直接观测将不仅揭示云的微物理结构，而且还将揭示伴随着它们的稳定性和垂直速度廓线。数值天气预报模式的模拟将有助于阐明垂直运动的天气尺度和中尺度强迫机制。在学术上，该项目将寻求利用学生对危险现象的自然迷恋：在这种情况下，闪电和大雪。将为该地区的高中生举办暑期工作坊，向他们介绍气象学和预报。密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校的本科生将在首席调查员教授的课程中被介绍给该项目，并将每日雷雪预报作为实验室练习纳入课堂。在冬季，暑期工作坊的高中生将被邀请回来观看本科生对雷雪的常规预报和展望，从而超越以往中学生气象暑期课程的范围。研究生学员将冒险到野外进行雷雪发生的观测。在这样做的过程中，他们将在操作和使用现场雷达探测仪和剖面仪设备以及地面观测和雪晶收集方面获得独特的经验。这些活动将为研究生提供广泛的研究经验，从现场数据收集到实验室质量控制，再到最终数据集的分析。拟议工作的更广泛影响不仅限于科学出版物或会议，也不仅限于在项目期间得到指导的学生，还包括通过改进对危险冬季天气的预报而得到更好保护的人群。

Thundersnow events (snow attended by lightning and thunder) will be examined with a multiscale approach using standard meteorological platforms (e.g., rawinsonde network, National Lightning Detection Network), observations in the field (integrated sounding system, snow crystal collection), and with numerical model simulations. The project will begin by examining archived cases (1961-1990) of thundersnow to understand the synoptic environment that produces it. Ensuing years will be spent in the field, in pursuit of thundersnow events in order to sample them directly and attempt to determine some fundamental characteristics of the cloud that engenders them. Direct observations of thundersnow events will reveal not only cloud microphysical structure, but also the stability and vertical velocity profiles that accompany them. Simulations with the numerical weather prediction models will help to clarify the synoptic scale and meso-alpha scale forcing mechanisms for vertical motion.Academically, this project will seek to capitalize on students' natural fascination with dangerous phenomena: in this case, lightning and heavy snowfall. Summer workshops will be held for area high school students to introduce them to meteorology and forecasting. Undergraduates at the University of Missouri-Columbia will be introduced to the project in courses taught by the Principal Investigator with daily forecasting of thundersnow incorporated into the class as a lab exercise. During the winter season, the high school participants from the summer workshop will be invited back to observe the creation by undergraduates of the routine forecasts and outlooks for thundersnow, thus reaching beyond prior summer programs in meteorology for secondary school students. The graduate student participants will venture into the field to perform the observations of thundersnow occurrence. In so doing, they will acquire unique experience in the operation and utility of in-situ rawinsonde and profiler equipment, as well as surface observations and snow crystal collection. These activities will provide the graduate students with the gamut of research experience, from data collection in the field, to quality control in the lab, to the analysis of the final datasets.The broader impacts of the proposed work are not limited to scientific publications or conferences, or the students who are mentored during the Project, but include a better-protected population through improved forecasting of dangerous winter weather.