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 年 9 月至 2022-23 年 3 月期间实施，重点关注安大略湖和纽约州北部的顺风（湖东）地区。该地区频繁的湖泊效应暴风雪每年都会产生几次雷雪事件，该项目将首次测量湖泊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。在最近的另一个 NSF 资助的项目中，即 2013-14 冬季的安大略冬季湖效应系统 (OWLeS) 现场活动中，所有湖效应闪电都发生在内陆，并且许多闪电与枫树岭风电场有关，该风电场由大约 200 台高度超过 100 m 的涡轮机组成。 闪电是风力涡轮机损坏（例如叶片）的重要原因，从而增加了风能发电成本。因此，该研究区域是一个理想的自然实验室，可以促进对云电结构的基本了解，同时还可以改进对此类事件的预测并了解其对能源基础设施的影响。这笔赠款将让许多本科生和研究生参与数据收集和分析，培养测量、仪器仪表和数据分析技能，同时激发他们的进一步教育和对研究职业的兴趣。湖效应电气化 (LEE) 项目重点关注凉爽季节安大略湖的上空和东部（典型的顺风/背风侧）。 LEE 项目旨在首次使用闪电测绘阵列 (LMA)、双偏振 X 波段雷达和气球探测来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，气球探测将测量温度、湿度、风、电场和水凝物类型的垂直剖面。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。安大略湖的大部分闪电发生在单一的长轴降水带中。仍然存在一些问题，例如解释在一些湖泊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，以及为什么最大湖泊效应闪电发生从安大略湖上空转移到更远的内陆地区。这可能是由于该地区最近的风电场建设所致，但这些涡轮机如何产生闪电仍存在许多未知数。由于湖泊效应风暴的浅度以及这些过程接近地面，LEE 项目还提供了改善对流到层状电发展观测的机会。最后，湖泊效应风暴条件代表了闪电引发的最低阈值，因为许多风暴不会产生闪电。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点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.