Radar Studies of Severe Convective Storms and Tornadoes

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Intellectual Merit: The main objective of this research is to understand better the dynamics and kinematics of severe convective storms and the tornadoes that they sometimes spawn. Broader Impacts: Severe convective storms and tornadoes are responsible for deaths, injuries, and damage in many portions of the U.S. It is expected that some of the basic scientific results from this project will eventually be put to practical use by weather forecasters. The improvements in radar technology that will be a byproduct of this project will aid in the study and understanding of other meteorological phenomena. The objectives of this project will be met by analyzing data collected in recent years by mobile, truck-mounted, Doppler radars, by collecting new datasets during small, highly focused field experiments to be conducted in the Southern Plains of the U.S., where severe weather is most likely to occur, and by collaborating with radar engineers to develop and test new techniques for probing severe convective storms and tornadoes. In particular, the Principal Investigator will: (1) Continue to analyze data collected in past years in severe convective storms and tornadoes by mobile, X- and W-band, Doppler radars. (2) Use for the first time a mobile, X-band, phased-array radar developed by the Navy, which can map the Doppler velocity and reflectivity fields in convective storms and tornadoes on time scales from seconds to tens of seconds, and develop techniques for displaying and analyzing the data. (3) Continue to use data from and develop analysis techniques for a high-resolution, W-band Doppler radar, which maps the Doppler-velocity wind and reflectivity fields in tornadoes and along clear-air surface boundaries, along which convective storms may form. (4) Continue to collaborate with radar engineers who are developing techniques for mapping the two-dimensional wind field and the precipitation field in convective storms using a "spaced antenna."