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  • Author or Editor: Lorena Medina Luna x
  • RELAMPAGO-CACTI: High Impact Weather in Subtropical South America x
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Kristen L. Rasmussen
,
Melissa A. Burt
,
Angela Rowe
,
Rebecca Haacker
,
Deanna Hence
,
Lorena Medina Luna
,
Stephen W. Nesbitt
, and
Julie Maertens

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the Advanced Study Institute: Field Studies of Convection in Argentina (ASI-FSCA) program, a 3-week dynamic and collaborative hands-on experience that allowed 16 highly motivated and diverse graduate students from the United States to participate in the 2018–19 Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. This program is unique as it represents the first effort to integrate an intensive Advanced Study Institute with a field campaign in atmospheric science. ASI-FSCA activities and successful program outcomes for five key elements are described: 1) intensive field research with field campaign instrumentation platforms; 2) recruitment of diverse graduate students who would not otherwise have opportunities to participate in intensive field research; 3) tailored curriculum focused on scientific understanding of cloud and mesoscale processes and professional/academic development topics; 4) outreach to local K–12 schools and the general public; and 5) building a collaborative international research network to promote weather and climate research. These five elements served to increase motivation and improve confidence and self-efficacy of students to participate in scientific research and field work with goals of increasing retention and a sense of belonging in STEM graduate programs and advancing the careers of students from underrepresented groups as evidenced by a formal program evaluation effort. Given the success of the ASI-FSCA program, our team strongly recommends considering this model for expanding the opportunities for a broader and more diverse student community to participate in dynamic and intensive field work in atmospheric science.

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Matthew R. Kumjian
,
Rachel Gutierrez
,
Joshua S. Soderholm
,
Stephen W. Nesbitt
,
Paula Maldonado
,
Lorena Medina Luna
,
James Marquis
,
Kevin A. Bowley
,
Milagros Alvarez Imaz
, and
Paola Salio

Abstract

On 8 February 2018, a supercell storm produced gargantuan (>15 cm or >6 in. in maximum dimension) hail as it moved over the heavily populated city of Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba Province, Argentina. Observations of gargantuan hail are quite rare, but the large population density here yielded numerous witnesses and social media pictures and videos from this event that document multiple large hailstones. The storm was also sampled by the newly installed operational polarimetric C-band radar in Córdoba. During the RELAMPAGO campaign, the authors interviewed local residents about their accounts of the storm and uncovered additional social media video and photographs revealing extremely large hail at multiple locations in town. This article documents the case, including the meteorological conditions supporting the storm (with the aid of a high-resolution WRF simulation), the storm’s observed radar signatures, and three noteworthy hailstones observed by residents. These hailstones include a freezer-preserved 4.48-in. (11.38 cm) maximum dimension stone that was scanned with a 3D infrared laser scanner, a 7.1-in. (18 cm) maximum dimension stone, and a hailstone photogrammetrically estimated to be between 7.4 and 9.3 in. (18.8–23.7 cm) in maximum dimension, which is close to or exceeds the world record for maximum dimension. Such a well-observed case is an important step forward in understanding environments and storms that produce gargantuan hail, and ultimately how to anticipate and detect such extreme events.

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Stephen W. Nesbitt
,
Paola V. Salio
,
Eldo Ávila
,
Phillip Bitzer
,
Lawrence Carey
,
V. Chandrasekar
,
Wiebke Deierling
,
Francina Dominguez
,
Maria Eugenia Dillon
,
C. Marcelo Garcia
,
David Gochis
,
Steven Goodman
,
Deanna A. Hence
,
Karen A. Kosiba
,
Matthew R. Kumjian
,
Timothy Lang
,
Lorena Medina Luna
,
James Marquis
,
Robert Marshall
,
Lynn A. McMurdie
,
Ernani de Lima Nascimento
,
Kristen L. Rasmussen
,
Rita Roberts
,
Angela K. Rowe
,
Juan José Ruiz
,
Eliah F.M.T. São Sabbas
,
A. Celeste Saulo
,
Russ S. Schumacher
,
Yanina Garcia Skabar
,
Luiz Augusto Toledo Machado
,
Robert J. Trapp
,
Adam C. Varble
,
James Wilson
,
Joshua Wurman
,
Edward J. Zipser
,
Ivan Arias
,
Hernán Bechis
, and
Maxwell A. Grover

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the experimental design, execution, education and public outreach, data collection, and initial scientific results from the Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. RELAMPAGO was a major field campaign conducted in the Córdoba and Mendoza provinces in Argentina and western Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil in 2018–19 that involved more than 200 scientists and students from the United States, Argentina, and Brazil. This campaign was motivated by the physical processes and societal impacts of deep convection that frequently initiates in this region, often along the complex terrain of the Sierras de Córdoba and Andes, and often grows rapidly upscale into dangerous storms that impact society. Observed storms during the experiment produced copious hail, intense flash flooding, extreme lightning flash rates, and other unusual lightning phenomena, but few tornadoes. The five distinct scientific foci of RELAMPAGO—convection initiation, severe weather, upscale growth, hydrometeorology, and lightning and electrification—are described, as are the deployment strategies to observe physical processes relevant to these foci. The campaign’s international cooperation, forecasting efforts, and mission planning strategies enabled a successful data collection effort. In addition, the legacy of RELAMPAGO in South America, including extensive multinational education, public outreach, and social media data gathering associated with the campaign, is summarized.

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