In-situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains (ICECHIP)

该奖项代表了一个小的规划赠款，为未来的一个潜在的实地实验，为冰雹的研究。 平原冰雹收集现场合作实验（ICECHIP）研究将利用一系列仪器来研究大平原和落基山脉前山脉雷暴中的冰雹过程，美国最常遇到冰雹。 该项目将与保险业和业务天气预报员等利益攸关方接触，以确保产生广泛的社会影响。 大量学生的参与将确保下一代科学家的培训和教育，ICECHIP实地活动将利用研究飞机、一套地面雷达、无人驾驶航空系统、地面和高空仪器以及冰雹地面观测。 研究小组确定了他们计划解决的5个主要科学主题：1）提高对冰雹发展，风暴特征和下降行为的理解; 2）检查风暴冰雹轨迹和对流上升气流的关系; 3）评估不同环境热力学和动力学制度以及地理位置对冰雹过程和可预测性的影响;该奖项反映了NSF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。

This award represents a small planning grant for a potential future field experiment for the study of hail. The In-Situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail in the Plains (ICECHIP) study would make use of a host of instrumentation to study hail processes in thunderstorms in the Great Plains and Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, the US locations that most commonly experience hail. The project would engage with stakeholders such as the insurance industry and operational weather forecasters to ensure broad societal impact. Significant student participation would ensure the training and education of the next generation of scientists.The ICECHIP field campaign would make use of research aircraft, a set of ground-based radars, unmanned aerial systems, surface and upper-air instrumentation, and ground observations of hail. The research team has identified 5 major science themes that they plan to address: 1) improve understanding of hailstone development, in storm characteristics, and fall behavior; 2) examine in-storm hail trajectory and convective updraft relationships; 3) assess the impact of differing environmental thermodynamic and kinetic regimes and geographic location on hail processes and predictability; 4) summarize surface properties of hailstones and associated impacts; 5) characterize hailstone physical properties and their relationship to radar observations.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.