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Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Radar

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Radar Signatures In Tropical Cyclone Tornadic And Nontornadic Supercells, Michaela Wood May 2023

Radar Signatures In Tropical Cyclone Tornadic And Nontornadic Supercells, Michaela Wood

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Tropical cyclones (TCs) contain highly-sheared environments that are conducive for supercell thunderstorms. These TC supercells sometimes produce tornadoes, often with little warning. Given the often-close proximity of tornadic and nontornadic TC supercells, environments may not be well-distinguished, pointing to the potential value of radar observations. In this study, dual-polarimetric radar signatures of a sample of TC supercells are examined in the context of known supercell structure and microphysics. Tornadic and nontornadic TC supercells are compared with their midlatitude counterparts, and the environments and characteristic structure of these storms are shown to be notably different. An attempt is made to distinguish …


A Polarimetric Radar Analysis Of Cold- And Warm-Based Supercells, Timothy J. Gunkel Mar 2020

A Polarimetric Radar Analysis Of Cold- And Warm-Based Supercells, Timothy J. Gunkel

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Polarimetric analyses of supercell thunderstorms have been increasingly common within the past decade, since operational polarimetric radar data became available in 2013. Although polarimetric signatures within supercell thunderstorms are well known, few have investigated variability in these signatures in differing environments. Polarimetric signatures can provide vital information regarding the microphysical characteristics and processes in supercell thunderstorms. Specific polarimetric signatures of interest are the differential reflectivity (ZDR) column, the low-level polarimetrically inferred hail core, and the ZDR arc. These signatures provide information regarding updraft characteristics, hailfall characteristics, and size sorting processes in the storm- relative inflow. Previous studies …


An Analysis Of Differential Reflectivity Arc Characteristics In 109 Supercell Storms, Matthew Wilson Jun 2019

An Analysis Of Differential Reflectivity Arc Characteristics In 109 Supercell Storms, Matthew Wilson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Differential reflectivity (ZDR)arcs are one of the most prominent dual-polarization features of supercell storms, and are manifest as an arc-shaped area of high ZDR along a supercell’s forward flank reflectivity gradient. Since previous modelling studies have hypothesized that the magnitude of the drop-size sorting by the storm-relative wind which creates the arc signature is related to the strength of the low-level shear and SRH in a storm’s environment, the presence of a strong ZDR arc is often said to indicate that a storm may have the potential to develop strong low-level rotation and potentially become tornadic. …