CAREER: Thunderstorm Electrical Energy Structure, Dissipation, and Visualization

职业：雷暴电能结构、耗散和可视化

• 批准号: 1352144
• 负责人: Eric Bruning
• 金额: $ 73.86万
• 依托单位: Texas Tech University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-05-01 至 2021-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1352144&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Thunderstorm; Electrical; Energy; Structure

During this project, a two-year field campaign will measure the turbulent character of thunderstorm flow with two high-resolution weather radars. Comparison of the turbulence data to lightning flash rate and extent will test the hypothesis that turbulent convective motions are the source of electrical energy in storms. The rich textural character of thunderstorm data will be conveyed to the public in an innovative art exhibit. Data and software will be shared openly alongside traditional forms of publication.Intellectual Merit :After thunderstorms become electrified, it is of basic interest to understand how often lightning will occur and how extensive those lightning flashes will be. Electrical potential energy stored in a storm's electric field is the result of charge carried on precipitating and non-precipitating hydrometeors which are themselves embedded in the storm's flow. In updraft regions of the storm, where conditions are most favorable for electrification, the storm's flow is highly turbulent, while downstream in anvils or in organized stratiform precipitation regions, flow is smoother. Recent work with a Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) has revealed that a lightning energy spectrum calculated from flash extent and flash rate looks much like the energy spectrum that would be predicted by Kolmogorov's classical turbulence theory for thunderstorm convective plumes. This project will assess turbulent characteristics of thunderstorms using high-resolution radars to quantitatively measure thunderstorm kinematics with weather radars. The combination of radar and LMA data will provide a quantitative test of the hypothesis that turbulence controls the distribution of sizes of charge regions, which in turn controls flash rate and extent. By establishing quantitative links between convective and electrical energy at the range of scales native to both lightning and the convective character of the plume, this project is expected to establish a fundamental new relationship between lightning and deep convection, including a reliable statistical statement about the distribution of flash sizes expected in thunderstorms.Broader Impacts :Attending lightning are recreational, commercial and environmental impacts, which makes lightning an area of interest to individuals and formal decision support services provided by and between businesses and government agencies. This project will help clarify the distribution of electrical potential in storms, which controls to a large extent whether a flash strikes ground. The field campaign and its results will be shared at local high schools to stimulate interest in science and mathematics. During the project, artists will produce an immersive gallery exhibit derived from field data. This exhibit will include a survey component to test its effectiveness in presenting lightning data with the rich texture as it actually exists in storms, countering notions of lightning as singleton storm-wide discharges between simple vertically stacked charge layers. Data collection, analysis, and publication of results in a team setting will provide students with scholarly and methodological training through a project that is rich in cross-disciplinary theory and in practical skills tied to observational work. In an era of increasing computational resources and emphasis on data management and digital knowledge dissemination, this project will train students to adopt best practices in reproducible scientific research using open, pan-disciplinary tools enabled by dispersed, diverse internet-based communities.

在该项目期间，为期两年的现场活动将使用两个高分辨率天气雷达测量雷暴流的湍流特征。将湍流数据与闪电频率和范围进行比较将检验湍流对流运动是风暴中电能来源的假设。雷暴数据丰富的纹理特征将通过创新的艺术展览向公众传达。数据和软件将与传统的出版形式一起公开共享。智力价值：雷暴带电后，了解闪电发生的频率以及闪电的范围有多大是基本的兴趣。储存在风暴电场中的电势能是沉淀和非沉淀水凝物携带电荷的结果，这些水凝物本身嵌入风暴流中。在风暴的上升气流区域，那里的条件最有利于带电，风暴的流动是高度湍流的，而在下游的砧或有组织的层状降水区域，流动更加平滑。最近对闪电测绘阵列（LMA）的研究表明，根据闪光范围和闪光速率计算出的闪电能量谱看起来很像柯尔莫哥洛夫的雷暴对流羽流经典湍流理论所预测的能量谱。该项目将利用高分辨率雷达评估雷暴的湍流特征，并利用气象雷达定量测量雷暴运动学。雷达和 LMA 数据的结合将为湍流控制电荷区域大小的分布，进而控制闪光速率和范围的假设提供定量检验。通过在闪电和羽流的对流特性固有的尺度范围内建立对流和电能之间的定量联系，该项目预计将在闪电和深层对流之间建立一种基本的新关系，包括关于分布的可靠统计陈述雷暴中预计的闪电大小。更广泛的影响：闪电会带来娱乐、商业和环境影响，这使得闪电成为个人以及企业和政府机构之间提供的正式决策支持服务感兴趣的领域。该项目将有助于阐明风暴中的电势分布，这在很大程度上控制着闪电是否会击中地面。实地活动及其结果将在当地高中分享，以激发人们对科学和数学的兴趣。在该项目期间，艺术家将根据现场数据制作一个身临其境的画廊展览。该展览将包括一个调查组件，以测试其在呈现风暴中实际存在的丰富纹理的闪电数据方面的有效性，反驳了闪电作为简单垂直堆叠电荷层之间单个风暴范围放电的概念。在团队环境中进行数据收集、分析和结果发布将通过一个富含跨学科理论和与观察工作相关的实践技能的项目为学生提供学术和方法论培训。在计算资源不断增加、强调数据管理和数字知识传播的时代，该项目将培训学生使用分散、多样化的互联网社区支持的开放、跨学科工具，采用可重复科学研究的最佳实践。