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

湖泊效应电气化（LEE）项目将于2022年9月至2023年3月期间进行，重点关注安大略湖和纽约州北部的下风（湖以东）地区。该地区频繁的湖泊效应暴风雪每年都会产生几次雷暴雪事件，该项目将首次测量湖泊效应雪云的电结构，并推断其中的闪电与云中的降水过程之间的关系。在NSF最近资助的另一个项目中，安大略冬季湖泊效应系统（OWLeS）在2013-14冬季的现场活动中，所有的湖泊效应闪电都发生在内陆，许多闪电都与枫树岭风电场有关，该风电场由大约200个超过100米高的涡轮机组成。 闪电是风力涡轮机损坏的重要原因（例如，到叶片），增加了风能发电成本。因此，该研究区域是一个理想的天然实验室，在其中可以推进对云的电气结构的基本了解，同时还可以改善对此类事件的预测并了解其对能源基础设施的影响。这项资助将使许多本科生和研究生参与数据的收集和分析，发展测量、仪器和数据分析技能，同时激发他们的进一步教育和对研究事业的兴趣。湖效应电气化（LEE）项目的重点是在凉爽季节期间，在安大略湖的上方和东部（典型的顺风/背风侧）。LEE项目旨在首次记录湖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），双极化X波段雷达和气球探测，测量温度，湿度，风，电场和水凝物类型的垂直剖面。以前的研究表明，五大湖，特别是安大略，在湖泊效应风暴期间，在混合降水类型中引发闪电。大部分的安大略湖闪电发生在单，长轴降水带。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中正极性闪电的优势（例如，日本），以及为什么最大湖效应闪电发生的气候变化从安大略湖到更远的内陆。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数。LEE项目还提供了一个机会，以改善对流到层状电气发展的观测，由于湖效应风暴的浅和这些过程接近地面。最后，湖效应风暴条件代表闪电启动的最低阈值，因为许多这些风暴不会产生闪电。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.