A case study on the impact of moisture variability on convection initiation using radar refractivity retrievals

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

Volumn 49, Issue 8, 2010, Pages 1766-1778

  Bodine, D ^a   Heinselman, P L ^b   Cheong, B L ^a   Palmer, R D ^a   Michaud, D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA   (United States)

^b NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS; CONVECTIVE INHIBITION; CONVERGENCE ZONES; DEWPOINT TEMPERATURE; INVERSION LAYER; MOISTURE GRADIENT; MOISTURE VARIABILITY; OKLAHOMA; RADAR REFRACTIVITY; WEATHER SURVEILLANCE RADAR-1988 DOPPLER; WIND FIELD;

LAKES; RADAR; REFRACTION; STORMS; SURVEILLANCE RADAR; WEATHER FORECASTING;

MOISTURE;

ATMOSPHERIC CONVECTION; ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE; DOPPLER RADAR; THERMODYNAMICS; WEATHER FORECASTING;

EID: 77957725153     PISSN: 15588424     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/2010JAMC2360.1     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Bean, B. R., and E. J. Dutton, 1968: Radio Meteorology. Dover Publications, 435 pp.
2. Benjamin, S. G., and Coauthors, 2004: An hourly assimilation/forecast cycle: The RUC. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132, 495-518.
3. Brock, F. V., K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, G. W. Cuperus, S. J. Stadler, H. L. Johnson, and M. D. Eilts, 1995: The Oklahoma Mesonet: A technical overview. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 12, 5-19.
4. Buban, M. S., C. L. Ziegler, E. N. Rasmussen, and Y. P. Richardson, 2007: The dryline on 22 May 2002 during IHOP: Ground-radar and in situ data analyses of the dryline and boundary layer evolution. Mon. Wea. Rev., 135, 2473-2505.
5. Cheong, B. L., R. D. Palmer, C. D. Curtis, T.-Y. Yu, D. S. Zrnić, and D. Forsyth, 2008: Refractivity retrieval using the Phased Array Radar: First results and potential for multi-function operation. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 46, 2527-2537.
6. Colby, F. P., 1984: Convective inhibition as a predictor of convection during AVE-SESAME II. Mon. Wea. Rev., 112, 2239-2252.
7. Crook, N. A., 1996: Sensitivity of moist convection forced by boundary layer processes to low-level thermodynamic fields. Mon. Wea. Rev., 124, 1767-1785.
8. Dabberdt, W. F., and T. W. Schlatter, 1996: Research opportunities from emerging atmospheric observing and modeling capabilities. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 305-323.
9. Demoz, B., and Coauthors, 2006: The dryline on 22 May 2002 during IHOP: Convective-scale measurements at the profiling site. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 294-310.
10. Doswell, C. A., 1987: The distinction between large-scale and mesoscale contribution to severe convection: A case study example. Wea. Forecasting, 2, 3-16.
11. Doswell, C. A., and E. N. Rasmussen, 1994: The effect of neglecting the virtual temperature correction on CAPE calculations. Wea. Forecasting, 9, 625-629.
12. Emanuel, K., and Coauthors, 1995: Report of first prospectus development team of the U.S. Weather Research Program to NOAA and the NSF. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76, 1194-1208.
13. Fabry, F., 2004: Meteorological value of ground target measurements by radar. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 21, 560-573.
14. Fabry, F., 2006: The spatial variability of moisture in the boundary layer and its effect on convective initiation: Project-long characterization. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 79-91.
15. Fabry, F., C. Frush, I. Zawadzki, and A. Kilambi, 1997: On the extraction of near-surface index of refraction using radar phase measurements from ground targets. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 14, 978-987.
16. Geerts, B., and Q. Miao, 2005: The use of millimeter Doppler radar echoes to estimate vertical air velocities in fair-weather convective boundary layer. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 22, 225-246.
17. Hart, J. A., and W. Korotky, 1991: The sharp workstation vl.50 users guide. NOAA/National Weather Service Tech Rep., 30 pp.
18. Heinselman, P. L., B. L. Cheong, R. D. Palmer, D. Bodine, and K. Hondl, 2009: Radar refractivity retrievals in Oklahoma: Insights into operational benefits and limitations. Wea. Forecasting, 24, 1345-1361.
19. Johns, R. H., and C. A. Doswell, 1992: Severe local storms forecasting. Wea. Forecasting, 7, 588-612.
20. Koch, S. E., and S. Saleeby, 2001: An automated system for the analysis of gravity waves and other mesoscale phenomena. Wea. Forecasting, 16, 661-679.
21. Lakshmanan, V., T. Smith, K. Hondl, G. J. Stumpf, and A. Witt, 2006: A real-time, three-dimensional, rapidly updating, heterogeneous radar merger technique for reflectivity, velocity, and derived products. Wea. Forecasting, 21, 802-823.
22. Lakshmanan, V., T. Smith, G. J. Stumpf, and K. Hondl, 2007: The Warning Decision Support System-Integrated Information. Wea. Forecasting, 22, 596-612.
23. McLaughlin, D., and Coauthors, 2009: Short-wavelength technology and the potential for distributed networks of small radar systems. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 90, 1797-1817.
24. McNulty, R. P., 1978: On upper tropospheric kinematics and severe weather occurrence. Mon. Wea. Rev., 106, 662-672.
25. McPherson, R. A., and Coauthors, 2007: Statewide monitoring of the mesoscale environment: A technical update on the Oklahoma Mesonet. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, 301-321.
26. Miao, Q., B. Geerts, and M. LeMone, 2006: Vertical velocity and buoyancy characteristics of coherent echo plumes in the convective boundary layer, detected by a profiling airborne radar. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 45, 838-855.
27. National Research Council, 1998: The Atmospheric Sciences: Entering the Twenty-First Century. National Academy Press, 373 pp.
28. Parsons, D. B., M. A. Shapiro, R. M. Hardesty, R. J. Zamora, and J. M. Intrieri, 1991: The finescale structure of a west Texas dryline. Mon. Wea. Rev., 119, 1242-1258.
29. Parsons, D. B., M. A. Shapiro, and E. Miller, 2000: The mesoscale structure of a nocturnal dryline and of a frontal-dryline merger. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 3824-3838.
30. Roberts, R. D., and Coauthors, 2008: REFRACTT-2006: Real-time retrieval of high-resolution low-level moisture fields from operational NEXRAD and research radars. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, 1535-1548.
31. Wakimoto, R. M., and H. V. Murphey, 2009: Analysis of a dryline during IHOP: Implications for convection initiation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 137, 912-936.
32. Weckwerth, T. M., 2000: The effect of small-scale moisture variability on thunderstorm initiation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 4017-4030.
33. Weckwerth, T. M., J. W. Wilson, and R. M. Wakimoto, 1996: Thermodynamic variability within the convective boundary layer due to horizontal convective rolls. Mon. Wea. Rev., 124, 769-784.
34. Weckwerth, T. M., and Coauthors, 2004: An overview of the International H20 Project (IHOP) and some preliminary highlights. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 85, 253-277.
35. Weckwerth, T. M., C. R. Pettet, F. Fabry, S. Park, M. A. LeMone, and J. W. Wilson, 2005: Radar refractivity retrieval: Validation and application to short-term forecasting. J. Appl. Meteor., 44, 285-300.
36. Wilson, J. W., and W. E. Schreiber, 1986: Initiation of convective storms at radar-observed boundary-layer convergence lines. Mon. Wea. Rev., 114, 2516-2536.
37. Ziegler, C. L., and E. N. Rasmussen, 1998: The initiation of moist convection at the dryline: Forecasting issues from a case study perspective. Wea. Forecasting, 13, 1106-1131.
38. Ziegler, C. L., T. J. Lee, and R. A. Pielke, 1997: Convective initiation at the dryline: A modeling study. Mon. Wea. Rev., 125, 1001-1026.
39. Zrnić, D. S., and Coauthors, 2007: Agile-beam phased array radar for weather observations. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88, 1753-1766.