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Does Climate Change Imply a Shift in Mid-Latitude Storm Tracks? | |
| Student Participants: |
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Experimental Forecasts of Aircraft and Surface Icing Using the WRF Model | |
 Funded by an NC Space Grant Undergraduate Research Scholarship, Richard is studying freezing rain and aircraft icing due to both freezing precipitation and supercooled clouds. | Student Participants: |
| Research related links:
NC Space Grant Page | |
 | At left is an image from the Unidata Integrated Data Viewer (IDV)
depicting WRF model-predicted turbulent kinetic energy (TKE, blue isosurface)
superimposed with actual aircraft reports of turbulence (plus signs).
Using the model's internal
parameterization of turbulent energy has shown very promising early results as
a forecasting diagnostic. |
Experimental Forecasts of Clear Air Turbulence using the WRF Model | |
 Funded by an NC Space Grant Undergraduate Research Scholarship, Monica is studying Clear Air Turbulence above the planetary boundary layer affecting aircraft. During the summer of 2006, she will examine different configurations of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to optimize model predictions of turbulence. In addition, Monica has examined a brief climatology of turbulence events in order to gain an appreciation for the conditions giving rise to jet-level turbulence. | Student Participants: |
| Research related links:
NC Space Grant Page | |
| At left is an image from the Unidata Integrated Data Viewer (IDV)
depicting WRF model-predicted turbulent kinetic energy (TKE, blue isosurface)
superimposed with actual aircraft reports of turbulence (plus signs).
Using the model's internal
parameterization of turbulent energy has shown very promising early results as
a forecasting diagnostic. |
Winter Precipitation-Type Forecasting in the Carolinas | |
 The NWS office here in Raleigh has traditionally been a leader in developing new techniques to forecast precipitation type. This tradition continues as the NWS contributes to ongoing research to test and refine winter weather prediction tools. One such tool, based on "partial thickness" (the thickness, or distance between two given pressure levels, is a measure of the temperature in the intervening layer), has been used and tested extensively. Undergraduate researcher Danny Pydynowski has been working with Dr. Lackmann and NWS personnel to test this algorithm, and perhaps generalize it in new ways. | Student Participants: |
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Flash Flood Forecasting | |
On the 4th of July holiday in 2001, a strong
squall line moved over Wake County, NC and produced
flash flooding, frequent lightning and up to 6 inches of rain over
just a few hours.This event was not accurately predicted
by numerical models, and it had major impacts on the public, as
people were caught outdoors and unprepared at
holiday events. Quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) has
been shown to the weakest parameter of numerical weather
prediction, yet precipitation (especially of the convective type)
affects the public considerably. | Student Participants: |
Climatic Study of NC Snowfall | |
 North Carolina snowfall events were analyzed in order to produce composite maps of a "typical North Carolina snowstorm." A ridge/low couplet was evident in many of the cases, suggesting a climatological pattern to such events. This research was presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at NC State on April 27, 2000. | Student Participants: |
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