Lauren Pounds

Convective Meteorology (Mesoscale Dynamics)

Lauren Pounds

Creating a Database of Observed Soundings from the VORTEX-SE, meso18-19, and PERiLS Field Campaigns to Study Different Southeast US Convective Environments

April 26th, 2024

3:30 pm / NWC 1350

Abstract: Observed soundings from field projects in the southeast U.S., including VORTEX-SE (2016–2020), meso18-19 (2018–2019), and PERiLS (2022–2023), are used to differentiate convective environments. A total of 40 cases will be used with hundreds to thousands of observed soundings. Studies have been completed to evaluate sounding characteristics of given convective environments, though these have generally focused on the Great Plains region and primarily supercellular environments. Convective mode (or storm mode) is important to consider given that it can play a role in the range of outcomes of a storm, such as its ability to produce severe hazards or the severity of a hazard itself (e.g., size of hail, maximum wind gust, or tornado intensity). Using multi-radar multi-sensor (MRMS) composite reflectivity data, at the nearest MRMS time when a sounding is available, storm objects are identified using an objective identification algorithm. Once these are obtained, convective mo
de (defined by Smith et al. 2012) is assigned to each object within 100 km of the observed sounding. Each object that contains one or more mesocyclones is identified and each mesocyclone location is recorded. Finally, each mesocyclone is classified as tornadic, pre- or post-tornadic, or nontornadic based on whether it was associated with tornado production within 90 min from the sounding time. The information gathered for each storm object and mesocyclone will be used to understand which environments are supportive of a range of convective modes and which environments are supportive of tornadoes. We seek to understand if there are differences in these environments in the southeast U.S., and if so, what unique characteristics to each environment can be extracted from observed soundings. The creation of this database is intended to lay the groundwork for understanding how different convective modes and storm intensities modify the environment, and if certain modes can modify the envir
onment more (or differently) than another. This talk focuses on the methodology to be followed for completion of the project.