Research 

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Convective Upscale Growth Processes during RELAMPAGO

NSF Grant AGS-2146708
Award period 01/01/2022-12/31/2024

Data source: 2018-19 Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO)
​Research Questions:
  • How do microphysics and kinematics within convective systems evolve as they grow upscale?
  • Which synoptic and mesoscale factors support rapid upscale growth and how does terrain modify those factors?​​

Topographic Influences on Extreme Warm Season Precipitation

NSF Grant AGS-1854443
Award Period: 08/01/2019-07/31/2023

Data source: 2022 Prediction of Rainfall Extremes Campaign in the Pacific (PRECIP)
Research Questions:
  • Are the primary forcing mechanisms for extreme rainfall due to unique dynamic or thermodynamic processes, or some combination of both? (Taiwan is a moisture-rich environment)
  • Do extreme rainfall events result from fundamentally different processes compared to ordinary rainfall events? (consider role of steep topography and microphysical processes)
  • What are the most important factors for predictive skill for warm season extreme rainfall? (use of model data assimilation)

Linking Convective Cloud Processes and Air Motion through Airborne Datasets

NASA ROSES Award 80NSSC20K0894
Award Period: 03/16/2020-03/15/2024

Data sources: 
  • 2017 Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX)
  • 2021 Convective Processes Experiment - Aerosols and Winds (CPEX-AW)
  • 2022 Convective Processes Experiment - Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV)

Research Questions:
  • What are the range of convective types and intensities observed over tropical oceanic regions and can we distinguish their large-scale environments?
  • What are the relationships between convective inflow characteristics and convective structure and environmental moisture variability?
  • What is the relationship between convective systems and boundary layer and free tropospheric winds throughout convective lifecycle?

PREVIOUS RESEARCH PROJECTS

Radar Observations of Convective Lifecycle Near Argentina's Sierras de Cordoba

Agency: NSF Physical and Dynamical Meteorology
Award Period: 08/15/2017-07/31/2022
Role: PI

West Coast Precipitation Processes as Modulated by Storm Structure and Terrain

Agency: NSF Physical and Dynamical Meteorology
Award Period: 08/15/2017--7/31/2020
Role: Co-PI

Shallow-to-Deep Convective Transition in the Amazon

Agency: DOE Atmospheric System Research
Award Period: 08/01/2016-07/31/2020
Role: Co-I

Diagnosis of Convective Organization and Cold Pools using ARM Datasets and Evaluation of a Unified Convection Parameterization (UNICON)

Agency: DOE Atmospheric System Research
Award Period: 08/01/2016-07/31/2019
Role: Co-I

FIELD CAMPAIGNS