Multi-scale Interactions Influencing Lake-Effect Systems

湖泊效应暴风雪对大湖区的人们和社区以及典型的湖泊效应雪带以外的地区有很大影响，关于经常影响这些风暴的多尺度相互作用，仍然有几个科学问题没有得到解答。这项研究调查的相互作用范围从了解湖泊效应风暴如何受到不同急流风型的影响，到湖泊效应风暴对冬季降雪量的贡献。这项研究将对难以预测的复杂湖泊影响天气系统以及这些风暴产生的降雪提供有价值的见解。该项目将通过广泛的教育和培训活动造福下一代科学家。研究成果将传达给科学界和公众，并通过已建立的联系与大湖区的国家气象局预报办公室分享。这项研究将对影响湖泊效应系统(LES)环境中中尺度和对流边界层热力学和动力学的复杂相互作用提供新的理解。这些相互作用跨越多个时空尺度，包括天气尺度系统与中尺度系统的相互作用。研究的科学目标是：(1)了解对流层短波槽与LES的相互作用及其对LES降雪、结构和时空演变的影响；(2)了解LES多湖连接(MLC)在上游湖泊和中间地带的结构和演变的变异性，以及MLC上游对流边界层对下游湖泊LES的影响；(3)了解远距离内陆延伸的LES雪带的形成和维持的因素及其气候特征。以及(4)了解大湖区冬季降雪量的季节内和年际变化，以及冰盖分布对大湖区冬季降雪量变化的影响。此外，这项研究将产生五大湖现存最广泛和最全面的LES数据库，其中将包含24个寒冷季节LES发生的信息。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。

Lake-effect snowstorms have large impacts on people and communities in the Great Lakes region, as well as areas beyond the typical lake-effect snowbelts, and there remain several unanswered scientific questions regarding multi-scale interactions that regularly effect these storms. The interactions this research investigates range from understanding how lake-effect storms are influenced by varying jetstream wind patterns to the contribution lake-effect storms have to winter snowfall totals. This research will give valuable insight into complex lake-effect weather systems that are difficult to forecast, as well as the snowfall produced by these storms. This project will benefit the next generation of scientists through a wide range of educational and training activities. The research results will be communicated to the scientific community and public, as well as shared with the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in the Great Lakes region through established connections. The research will provide new understanding of complex interactions that influence mesoscale and convective boundary layer thermodynamics and dynamics in lake-effect system (LES) environments. These interactions span across multiple spatiotemporal scales, including interactions of synoptic-scale systems with mesoscale systems. The scientific objectives of the research are to: (1) understand the interaction of tropospheric short-wave troughs with LES and their impact on LES snowfall, structure, and spatiotemporal evolution, (2) understand the variability in structure and evolution of LES multi-lake connections (MLC) across areas of the upstream lake and intervening land, as well as the influence that the MLC upstream convective boundary layer has on LES over the downstream lake, (3) understand the factors responsible for the development and maintenance of long-distance, inland-extending LES snowbands, as well as their climatological characteristics, and (4) understand the intraseasonal and interannual variability of the LES contribution to total winter snowfall throughout the Great Lakes region, as well as determine the influence that ice cover distribution has on LES snowfall variability. Additionally, this research will result in the most expansive and comprehensive LES database in existence for the Great Lakes which will contain information of LES occurrences across 24 cold seasons.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.