Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Undergraduate
Project Type
individual
Authors' Class Standing
Austen R Flannery, Senior
Lead Presenter's Name
Austen R Flannery
Faculty Mentor Name
Shawn Milrad
Abstract
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Convective-Boundary Research Engaging Educational Student Experiences 2.0 (ERAU CBREESE 2.0) was a 15-day Doppler-on-Wheels (DOW) and Mobile Mesonet educational deployment from the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR). Building off the success of ERAU CBREESE in May 2015, the educational deployment was designed to observe and measure sea-breeze processes and convection, with a specific focus on Central Florida sub-regions that contain multiple mesoscale breezes and boundary collisions. On 6 July 2018, the first-ever DOW-observed mesolow was recorded along the Space Coast near Titusville, Florida. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model to accurately diagnose and forecast this feature. After calculating the height of the DOW beam at each elevation scan, it was noted that the mesolow was predominantly observed in the 900–600-hPa layer. The 20 UTC HRRR analysis shows that the mesolow circulation was resolved by the model as it occurred. Since the HRRR explicitly diagnoses and forecasts many variables that other models, such as the Global Forecast System (GFS), are only able to parameterize, this also yielded the opportunity to explore what mechanisms may have contributed to the initial formation of the mesolow.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
An Analysis of the First Ever DOW-Observed Mesolow
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Convective-Boundary Research Engaging Educational Student Experiences 2.0 (ERAU CBREESE 2.0) was a 15-day Doppler-on-Wheels (DOW) and Mobile Mesonet educational deployment from the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR). Building off the success of ERAU CBREESE in May 2015, the educational deployment was designed to observe and measure sea-breeze processes and convection, with a specific focus on Central Florida sub-regions that contain multiple mesoscale breezes and boundary collisions. On 6 July 2018, the first-ever DOW-observed mesolow was recorded along the Space Coast near Titusville, Florida. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model to accurately diagnose and forecast this feature. After calculating the height of the DOW beam at each elevation scan, it was noted that the mesolow was predominantly observed in the 900–600-hPa layer. The 20 UTC HRRR analysis shows that the mesolow circulation was resolved by the model as it occurred. Since the HRRR explicitly diagnoses and forecasts many variables that other models, such as the Global Forecast System (GFS), are only able to parameterize, this also yielded the opportunity to explore what mechanisms may have contributed to the initial formation of the mesolow.