Collaborative Research: RAPID--Integration of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) into the Program for Research on Elevated Convection with Intense Precipitation

夜间雷暴和强降雨对美国中部的生命和财产构成威胁，是一项困难的预测挑战。计划在2015年夏天开展一项实地活动，研究这些雷暴复合体是如何形成和维持自身的。这一奖项将通过从无人机系统(UAS)平台提供观测来加强这一活动。无人机将在锋面边界附近和雷暴附近的目标位置飞行，进行测量，并输入计算机模型。该项目的总体目标是提高对这些危险事件的理解和预测。此外，该项目将通过教育和培训一名研究生和本科生以及让其他一些学生参与实地工作，促进科学队伍的发展。强降水高空对流研究方案是一个正在进行的项目，目的是确定创造有利于发展和维持有组织高空深层对流的环境的过程。UAS观测将被同化到天气研究和预报模式中，以解决该项目的目标，方法是改进以下内容：1)天气尺度锋面上游的气团，2)天气尺度冷气团内和之上的中尺度提升机制，如开尔文-亥姆霍兹巨浪和重力波，以及3)冷空气内风暴产生的外流结构。参与该奖项的研究人员将带头评估UAS观测对模式预报的影响，并测试定向观测的策略，以产生最大的预报技能收益。

Nighttime thunderstorms with heavy rainfall pose a threat to lives and property in the central United States and are a difficult forecasting challenge. A field campaign is planned during the summer of 2015 to study how these thunderstorm complexes form and maintain themselves. This award will augment that campaign by providing observations from an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) platform. The UASs will fly in targeted locations near a frontal boundary and in the vicinity of thunderstorms, making measurements that will be input into a computer model. The overall goal of the project is to improve understanding and forecasting of these hazardous events. In addition, the project will contribute to scientific workforce development through the education and training of a graduate and undergraduate student and the involvement of a number of other students in the field work.The Program for Research on Elevated Convection with Intense Precipitation is an ongoing project with a goal of characterizing the processes responsible for creating environments conducive to the development and maintenance of organized elevated deep convection. UAS observations will be assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting model to address the goals of the project by improving the representation of: 1) the airmass upstream of the synoptic scale front, 2) mesoscale lifting mechanisms such as Kelvin-Helmholtz billows and gravity waves within and above the synoptic-scale cold airmass, and 3) the structure of storm-generated outflow within the cold air. The researchers involved in this award will take the lead on assessing the impact of UAS observations on model forecasts and testing strategies for targeting observations to produce the largest gains in forecast skill.