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The Bow Echo and MCV Experiment: Observations and Opportunities
Observations and Opportunities
The Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment (BAMEX) is a research investigation using highly mobile platforms to examine the life cycles of mesoscale convective systems. It represents a combination of two related investigations to study (a) bow echoes, principally those that produce damaging surface winds and last at least 4 h, and (b) larger convective systems that produce long-lived mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs). The field phase of BAMEX utilized three instrumented research aircraft and an array of mobile ground-based instruments. Two long-range turboprop aircraft were equipped with pseudo-dual-Doppler radar capability, the third aircraft was a jet equipped with dropsondes. The aircraft documented the environmental structure of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), observed the kinematic and thermodynamic structure of the convective line and stratiform regions (where rear-inflow jets and MCVs reside), and captured the structure of mature MCVs. The ground-based instruments augmented sounding coverage and documented the thermodynamic structure of the PBL, both within MCSs and in their environment. The present article reviews the scientific goals of the study and the facility deployment strategy, summarizes the cases observed, and highlights the forthcoming significant research directions and opportunities.
The Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment (BAMEX) is a research investigation using highly mobile platforms to examine the life cycles of mesoscale convective systems. It represents a combination of two related investigations to study (a) bow echoes, principally those that produce damaging surface winds and last at least 4 h, and (b) larger convective systems that produce long-lived mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs). The field phase of BAMEX utilized three instrumented research aircraft and an array of mobile ground-based instruments. Two long-range turboprop aircraft were equipped with pseudo-dual-Doppler radar capability, the third aircraft was a jet equipped with dropsondes. The aircraft documented the environmental structure of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), observed the kinematic and thermodynamic structure of the convective line and stratiform regions (where rear-inflow jets and MCVs reside), and captured the structure of mature MCVs. The ground-based instruments augmented sounding coverage and documented the thermodynamic structure of the PBL, both within MCSs and in their environment. The present article reviews the scientific goals of the study and the facility deployment strategy, summarizes the cases observed, and highlights the forthcoming significant research directions and opportunities.
Abstract
Students from the University of Alabama in Huntsville successfully deployed three micro superpressure balloon satellites in winter 2021. Students planned and implemented all phases of the project: obtaining funding, determining project timelines, preparing equipment, launching balloons, designing and implementing a website, writing daily blogs on the balloon progress, and analyzing the data. The objective of the flights was to use the balloons as a meteorological tool to study conditions in the lower stratosphere (12–14 km), as a tracer for evaluating modeled air parcel trajectories, and as an outreach and educational tool. The three balloons successfully traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers, making an accumulated total of 16 global circumnavigations. Throughout the project, students made connections with hundreds of researchers, ham radio operators, STEM groups, and other students around the globe. The balloons provided velocity telemetry within many different weather regimes, including vigorous jets over the Himalayas, slow-moving equatorial air masses over the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and dense polar air masses over the Arctic Circle. This study has found that the accuracy of HYSPLIT-calculated trajectories using numerical weather predication (NWP) meteorological data can be quantified using parcel velocity, duration of trajectory forecast, and spatial resolution of the NWP model.
Abstract
Students from the University of Alabama in Huntsville successfully deployed three micro superpressure balloon satellites in winter 2021. Students planned and implemented all phases of the project: obtaining funding, determining project timelines, preparing equipment, launching balloons, designing and implementing a website, writing daily blogs on the balloon progress, and analyzing the data. The objective of the flights was to use the balloons as a meteorological tool to study conditions in the lower stratosphere (12–14 km), as a tracer for evaluating modeled air parcel trajectories, and as an outreach and educational tool. The three balloons successfully traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers, making an accumulated total of 16 global circumnavigations. Throughout the project, students made connections with hundreds of researchers, ham radio operators, STEM groups, and other students around the globe. The balloons provided velocity telemetry within many different weather regimes, including vigorous jets over the Himalayas, slow-moving equatorial air masses over the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and dense polar air masses over the Arctic Circle. This study has found that the accuracy of HYSPLIT-calculated trajectories using numerical weather predication (NWP) meteorological data can be quantified using parcel velocity, duration of trajectory forecast, and spatial resolution of the NWP model.
