Phys.org October 2, 2023 Convective clouds in the atmosphere can aggregate in a variety of ways, from individual cells to larger systems like tropical cyclones and squall lines. An international team of researchers (USA – University of New Mexico, MIT, Germany, Ethiopia, France) used remote sensing datasets of water vapor isotopic composition along with objective measures of convective aggregation to better understand the impact of convective aggregation on the atmospheric hydrologic cycle in the global tropics for the period 2015–2020. When convection was unaggregated, vertical velocity profiles were top-heavy, mixing ratios increased and water vapor δD decreased as the mean […]
Tag Archives: Thunderstorms
Underused satellite, radar data may improve thunderstorm forecasts
Science Daily March 9, 2023 Many of the processes necessary for daytime convection initiation (CI) are rooted in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), which numerical models struggle to accurately predict. To improve ensemble forecasts of the PBL and subsequent CI forecasts in CAM ensembles, researchers at Pennsylvania State University explored the use of underused data from both the GOES-16 satellite and the national network of WSR-88D radars. The GOES-16 satellite provides observations of brightness temperature (BT) to better analyze cloud structures, while the WSR-88D radars provide PBL height estimates and clear-air radial wind velocity observations to better analyze PBL structures. […]