Collaborative Research: AGS-FIRP Track 2: Lake-Effect Electrification (LEE) and the Impacts of Wind Turbines on Electrification East of Lake Ontario

湖效应电气化（LEE）项目将于2022-23年9月至3月期间进行，重点是安大略湖和纽约州北部的下风（湖以东）地区。该地区频繁的湖效应暴风雪每年都会产生几次雷雪事件，本项目将首次测量湖效应雪云的电性结构，并推断其中的闪电与云中降水过程的关系。在另一个nsf资助的项目中，安大略省冬季湖效应系统（OWLeS）在2013-14冬季的现场活动中，所有的湖效应闪电都发生在内陆，许多闪电与Maple Ridge风电场有关，该风电场由大约200台超过100米高的涡轮机组成。闪电是风力涡轮机损坏（如叶片损坏）的重要原因，增加了风力发电成本。因此，研究区域是一个理想的自然实验室，在这里可以推进对云电结构的基本了解，同时也可以改进对此类事件的预测，并了解它们对能源基础设施的影响。这项资助将涉及许多本科生和研究生收集和分析数据，发展测量、仪器和数据分析技能，同时激发他们进一步的教育和对研究事业的兴趣。湖效应电气化（LEE）项目在凉爽的季节集中在安大略湖的东部（典型的下风/背风面）。LEE项目旨在首次记录湖泊效应风暴的总闪电和电荷结构以及相关的风暴环境，使用闪电测绘阵列（LMA）、双偏振x波段雷达和气球探测，测量温度、湿度、风、电场和水流星类型的垂直剖面。先前的研究表明，五大湖，特别是安大略湖，在湖泊效应风暴期间，以混合降水类型引发闪电。大部分安大略湖闪电发生在单长轴降水带。一些问题仍然存在，例如解释在一些湖效应和类似的海洋效应风暴（例如，日本）中正极性闪电的优势，以及为什么湖效应闪电从安大略湖上空到更远的内陆发生最大的气候变化。这可能是由于该地区最近的风力发电场建设，但这些涡轮机如何产生闪电仍有许多未知因素。由于湖效应风暴的浅层和这些过程接近地面，LEE项目还提供了改进对流到层状电发展的观测的机会。最后，湖效应风暴条件代表了闪电起始的最低阈值，因为许多这些风暴不产生闪电。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。

The Lake-Effect Electrification (LEE) Project will occur between September and March 2022-23 focused on Lake Ontario and the downwind (east of the lake) region of upstate New York. The frequent lake-effect snowstorms in this area produce several thundersnow events each year, and this project will make the first ever measurements of the electrical structure of lake-effect snow clouds and infer how lightning within them is related to precipitation processes in the clouds. During another recent NSF-funded project, the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign during the 2013-14 winter season, all lake-effect lightning occurred inland and many flashes were associated with the Maple Ridge Wind Farm, composed of approximately 200 turbines over 100 m tall. Lightning is a significant cause of wind turbine damage (e.g., to the blades), increasing wind energy generation costs. The study region is therefore an ideal natural laboratory within which basic understanding of the electrical structure of clouds can be advanced while also improving forecasts of such events and understanding their impacts on energy infrastructure. This grant will involve many undergraduate and graduate students in the collection and analysis of data, developing measurement, instrumentation and data analysis skills while inspiring their further education and interest in research careers.The Lake-Effect Electrification (LEE) Project is focused over and east (the typical downwind/lee side) of Lake Ontario during the cool season. Project LEE aims to document, for the first time, the total lightning and electrical charge structures of lake-effect storms and the associated storm environment using a lightning mapping array (LMA), a dual-polarization X-band radar, and balloon soundings that will measure vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, wind, electric field, and hydrometeor types. Previous work has shown that the Great Lakes, especially Lake Ontario, initiate lightning in a mix of precipitation types during lake-effect storms. Most of the Lake Ontario lightning occurs during single, long-axis precipitation bands. Several questions still remain, such as explaining the preponderance of positive polarity lightning in some lake-effect and similar sea-effect storms (e.g., Japan), and why there has been a climatological shift in maximum lake-effect lightning occurrence from over Lake Ontario to farther inland. This is likely due to the recent wind farm construction in this area, but there are still many unknowns on how these turbines produce lightning. Project LEE also affords the opportunity to improve observations of convective-to-stratiform electrical development due to the shallowness of lake-effect storms and the proximity of these processes to the ground. Finally, lake-effect storm conditions represent minimal thresholds for lightning initiation as many of these storms do not produce lightning.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.