RUI: Characterization of Aerosol Effects within an Urban Lightning Climatology across a North American Climatic Gradient

被称为气溶胶的大气微粒有可能改变雷暴的寿命和强度以及闪电的性质。这个研究项目从气候学的角度研究了城市气溶胶如何影响美国三个不同地点的雷暴：华盛顿特区、堪萨斯城和盐湖城。研究人员将评估背景气候和天气条件如何影响城市气溶胶条件的变化，以及这反过来又如何影响雷暴的强度。该奖项将通过增加对高影响城市天气的了解而产生更广泛的社会影响。作为一个促进主要本科院校研究的奖项，该项目还将通过让大量本科生参与研究来培养下一代科学家。研究小组特别建议描述城市和区域气溶胶条件在雷暴环境控制的更大背景下是如何变化的，以及这反过来如何放大或抑制雷暴和闪电活动，而不仅仅是从热力学/风切变的角度来预期。将分析来自美国3个不同城市地区的闪电、气溶胶、空气质量和探空数据，以实现以下目标：1)量化气溶胶浓度与闪电产生和大气环境的协变；2)评估稳定性和闪电产生之间阈值关系的地理表达；3)将天气尺度分类获得的城市雷暴环境与气溶胶和局部热力学变量得出的类型进行比较。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Small atmospheric particulates, known as aerosols, have the potential to modify the lifespan and intensity of thunderstorms and properties of lightning. This research project takes a climatological look at how urban aerosols influence thunderstorms at three distinct sites across the US: Washington DC, Kansas City and Salt Lake City. The researchers will assess how background climate and weather conditions shape variability in urban aerosol conditions and how this, in turn, affects the intensity of thunderstorms. The broader societal impacts of the award will be through the increased knowledge of high-impact urban weather. As a Facilitating Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions award, the project will also train the next generation of scientists by involving a significant number of undergraduates in the research itself.The research team specifically proposes to characterize how urban and regional aerosol conditions vary within the larger context of environmental controls on thunderstorms, and how this in turn may amplify or dampen thunderstorm and lightning activity beyond what would be expected from a thermodynamic/wind shear perspective alone. Lightning, aerosol, air quality, and sounding data from 3 distinct urban areas across the United States would be analyzed to achieve the following objectives: 1) Quantify how aerosol concentration covaries with lightning production and atmospheric environments, 2) Assess geographic expression of threshold relationships between stability and lightning production, and 3) Compare urban thunderstorm environments obtained from synoptic-scale classifications with typologies derived from aerosols and local thermodynamics variables.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.