Simulations of Aerosol Influences on Severe Convective Storms

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This research focuses on investigations of hazardous weather from mesoscale convective systems (MCS). The Principal Investigator will address two research objectives: (1) Modeling studies of the effects of dust and pollution-produced aerosol on severe storms with an emphasis on tornado outbreaks; (2) Implementation of a three-moment hail model and applying it to studies of impacts of aerosol on hail size and severe storm dynamics. Thus, the intellectual merit of the research is that it will explore relationships between aerosols and the severity of convective storms. The broader impacts involve investigating a causal relationship between dust and storm severity, which potentially could lead to a modification of severe storm forecasting techniques to include aerosol variability. These techniques could include nowcasting of severe weather using satellite-derived dust and pollution products as well as development of a new infrastructure in numerical weather prediction centers for implementation of aerosol physics into models, the retrieval of quantitative aerosol products, and models for dust and pollution sources and transport. This improvement in forecasting could lead to a reduction in storm damage and loss of life. The educational benefit of this research is that results of this work will be immediately incorporated in the course content of first year and advanced courses in cloud physics and cloud dynamics as well as textbooks authored by the Principal Investigator. In addition, the research will provide support for two PhD and one postdoctoral student.