Further Studies of Convective Initiation, Structure and Maintenance

首席研究员将继续研究大气对流的起源、结构和行为，目的是加强对风暴起源和维持的了解，提高模拟和预报这些对流系统的能力。 该项目包括对诸如飑线、对流卷和海风环流等现象进行补充调查，利用从高度理想化到具有复杂初始化和现实地形的区域尺度中尺度模型的一系列模型进行调查。 具体而言，首席研究员将研究现有风暴如何影响其周围环境，导致其维持和/或激发新的对流，以及如何在模型中启动对流，以测试和调整微物理方案。 主要的研究工具是数值模拟，但越来越重视利用来自实地的数据，包括雷达和卫星信息以及地面和高空观测数据，对模型结果进行校准和验证。这项研究的基本目标是扩大知识的对流风暴，特别强调对流启动（CI）过程。 这项研究的学术价值在于加深了对风暴如何发展和维持的理解。 该项目的更广泛的影响包括积极的影响，这项研究可能对预报员的能力，以了解和预测风暴的发展，并在提高业务模型的技能，在捕捉CI在一个现实的方式。

The Principal Investigator will continue research into the initiation, structure and behavior of atmospheric convection, with the objective of enhancing understanding of storm initiation and maintenance and improving the ability to simulate and forecast these convective systems. The project consists of complementary investigations of such phenomena as squall lines, convective rolls and sea-breeze circulations, made utilizing a hierarchy of models ranging from the highly idealized to regional-scale mesoscale models with complex initializations and realistic topography. Specifically, the Principal Investigator will study how existing storms influence their surrounding environments, leading to their maintenance and/or the excitation of new convection, and how convection should be initiated in models, for the purposes of testing and tuning microphysical schemes. The primary research tool is numerical simulation, but with a significant and increasing emphasis on calibrating and validating the model results with data from the field, including radar and satellite information, and surface and upper air observations. The fundamental objective of this research is to extend knowledge of convective storms, with special emphasis on the convective initiation (CI) process. The intellectual merit of the research resides in an enhanced understanding of how storms develop and are maintained. The project's broader impacts include the positive influence this research could have on the ability of forecasters to understand and anticipate storm development and also in improving the skill of operational models in capturing CI in a realistic manner.