MRI: Acquisition of a Multi-purpose Cloud Radar

这个主要研究仪器奖是为了获得一个雷达系统，用于研究野火羽流和云和降水过程。 小型雷达系统将部署在一辆拖车上，可以由一辆皮卡牵引，允许近距离收集野火数据。 该系统还将以固定模式用于收集沿海和山区环境中云和降水过程的数据。 更好地预测火羽行为和火-大气相互作用的能力将有助于通知消防员和其他应急人员，以安全地灭火并做出明智的决策。 该雷达系统还将在少数民族服务机构用作教育工具，为学生提供实践经验，研究小组将获得一个Ka波段双极化雷达，用于研究野火烟羽动力学以及沿海和山区的云和降水。 该雷达将安装在拖车上，并与SJSU现有的移动的大气剖面系统相结合。 当雷达没有远程部署时，它将被放置在SJSU校园的屋顶天文台。 对于野火，检索到的数据将包括平均和湍流羽流特性、灰烬颗粒大小和形状分布，以及与高温对流云的发生有关的细节，包括对流层上部冰的形成。这些数据将大大推进野火羽流动力学的新兴科学。 云的研究课题将包括地形和对流抬升机制和地形卷云的形成和演变。

This Major Research Instrumentation award is for the acquisition of a radar system for the study of wildfire plumes and cloud and precipitation processes. The small radar system will be deployable on a trailer that can be towed by a pickup truck, allowing for up-close data collection on wildfires. The system will also be used in a stationary mode to collect data on cloud and precipitation processes in coastal and mountainous environments. The ability to better predict fire plume behavior and fire-atmosphere interactions will help to inform fire fighters and other emergency personnel in their efforts to fight fire safely and make informed decisions. The radar system will also be used as an educational tool at a Minority Serving Institution, providing hands-on experience to students.The research team will acquire a Ka-band dual-polarization radar for studies of wildfire smoke plume dynamics and clouds and precipitation in coastal and mountainous regions. The radar will be trailer-mounted and incorporated into SJSU's existing mobile atmospheric profiling system. When the radar is not remotely deployed, it will be placed at a rooftop observatory on the SJSU campus. For wildfires, the retrieved data will include mean and turbulent plume properties, ash particle size and shape distributions, and details pertaining to the onset of pyro-convective clouds, including the formation of ice in the upper troposphere. These data will significantly advance the nascent science of wildfire plume dynamics. Cloud study topics will include orographic and convective lifting mechanism and the formation and evolution of orographic cirrus clouds.