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

这一奖项代表着一笔小额规划赠款，用于未来可能进行的冰雹研究现场实验。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美国大平原和落基山脉前缘地区雷暴中的冰雹过程，这两个地区是美国最常见的冰雹发生地点。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。大量学生参与将确保对下一代科学家的培训和教育。国际冰雹中心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)研究风暴中的冰雹轨迹和对流上升气流关系；3)评估不同的环境热力学和动力机制以及地理位置对冰雹过程和可预测性的影响；4)总结冰雹的地面特性和相关影响；5)描述冰雹的物理特性及其与雷达观测的关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.