Studies of Tornadoes and Severe Convective Storms

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

This project seeks to improve our basic scientific understanding of severe convective storms and tornadoes by conducting small, annual field programs, testing out the latest, innovative observing instruments, and analyzing the data collected using these instruments and all other available data. New analysis techniques will be devised for the instruments, tested, and then applied to scientific studies. Intellectual Merit: In particular, it is to continue to study the structure and evolution of severe convective storms and tornadoes using rapidly scanning mobile Doppler radars, one of which has polarimetric capabilities, thus facilitating the identification of debris, the types of scatterers in the storms, and locating strong updrafts without the need for multiple radars. Rapid-scan radars are necessary because tornadoes evolve very quickly. It is also to continue to experiment with a pulsed Doppler lidar system, which has the potential for providing ultra-high vertical resolution of the wind field in the clear-air boundary layer in and near tornadoes and their parent storms. It is thought that the structure and behavior of the boundary layer are critical to the dynamics of tornadoes and severe convective storms. This proposal seeks to analyze existing data collected during previous grants and also to collect new datasets in the Plains of the U. S. during the spring. Owing to the unpredictable and highly variable nature of severe weather on inter-annual time scales, it is necessary to conduct field operations for a number of years to increase the chances for successful data collection. Broader Impacts: The results of this research have the potential to increase our skill in issuing more accurate short-term forecasts and more timely warnings of severe convective storms and tornadoes, thereby reducing the risk of death and injuries. A more detailed knowledge of the wind field in and near tornadoes has the potential to provide information to structural engineers that can lead to improved construction practices, thereby mitigating property damage. The educational impact of this project in mentoring graduate students in their studies, conducting field studies, learning to use state-of-the art instrumentation, analyzing data, and advancing our basic scientific knowledge, will contribute to providing the human capital for the next generation of forecasters, educators, and researchers in the U. S. What is learned from this research will be widely disseminated in scientific journals, made available to the general public via the media, and in the next generation of textbooks.