Past Field Projects
The Doppler-on-Wheels provided precipitation and wind measurements in Alpine valleys.
MAP - Mesoscale Alpine Project
The Mesoscale Alpine Project was the largest weather research project ever conducted in Europe, involving researchers from 11 countries. MAP studied the effects of winds and precipitation over mountainous terrain during fall 1999. MAP had two phases: "Wet-MAP" examined how wind flowing over mountains affects precipitaion and flooding, while "dry-MAP" investigated how mountains produce clear-air turbulence and damaging winds. NSSL scientists provided expertise in the design and execution of flight plans involving multiple research aircraft. NSSL also jointly directed the use of the portable Doppler-on-Wheels radar unit to provide direct measurement of precipitation intensity and winds within Alpine valleys too deep to be sampled by aircraft. Researchers expect the data to improve computer weather and climate models of these events and to lead to better interpretation of WSR-88D radar information in the mountainous western U.S.
MEAPRS - MCS Electrification and Polarimetric Radar Study
The MCS Electrification and Polarimetric Radar Study was designed to investigate polarization radar signatures and electrification in mesoscale convective systems occurring over the Oklahoma-Texas-Kansas region during May 1998. The experiment used an array of fixed and mobile sensors, including P-3 airborne Doppler radar, NSSL's Cimarron radar and several mobile laboratories, to simultaneously sample a target MCS. Scientists are using data collected during MEaPRS to determine if polarimetric radar is useful in identifying precipitation types. They also want to refine conceptual models of how thunderstorms and MCSs form, move, evolve and produce lightning.
FASTEX - Fronts and Atlantic Storm Tracks Experiment
Shannon, Ireland, was the base of field operations for the Fronts and Atlantic Storm Tracks Experiment, a multinational program that intensely documented and studied the life cycles of cyclones originating over the data-sparse North Atlantic during January and February 1997. During FASTEX, observations were made using seven research aircraft and four research ships. NSSL scientists played a lead role in the design and execution of FASTEX as principal investigators, aircraft chief scientists and members of the P-3 aircraft crew. FASTEX provided the first data sets to document the evolution of rapidly developing cyclones over the ocean. FASTEX was also the first project to target observations in areas where numerical models indicated there would be a benefit to forecasts of cyclone development. Using data collected during FASTEX, scientists are now making numerical simulations of cyclone structure and dynamics. Researchers expect results to apply to storm tracks over both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The VORTEX team captured this tornado in Dimmitt TX in 1995.
VORTEX - Verification of the Origin of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment
The Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment was designed to answer questions about the causes of tornado formation. The project, held in the central and southern plains during spring 1994 and 1995, was unique because field resources targeted a single storm each day to gather data over a complete supercell lifecycle. A team of investigators operated a dozen instrumented vehicles, two mobile laboratories, a mobile Doppler radar and two Doppler-equipped aircraft. Scientists found the leading edges of pools of cooler air left behind by thunderstorms are prime locations for later tornado formation. They also discovered that tornado formation seems to be linked to the character and behavior of the "rear-flank" downdraft at the back side of the supercell storm. Surprisingly, it appears fewer supercells and mesocyclones produce tornadoes than scientists believed, with only subtle differences occurring between tornadic and non-tornadic mesocyclones. Subsequent smaller field efforts based on these discoveries focused data collection on the storm's small hook echo region. The goal of this ongoing work is to determine those types of rear-flank downdrafts that support tornado formation and those that hinder or prevent it. Archive of tornado track information for VORTEX-95 events.
SWAMP - Southwest Area Monsoon Project:
The 1993 SWAMP project marked the first cooperative venture between NSSL and private industry, the Salt River Project. Since then it has evolved into a series of meteorological field studies and experimental forecasting exercises focused on the operational needs of the SRP. SWAMP has two objectives. First, NSSL and the Salt River Project will continue their collaboration to use and evaluate WSR-88D products in power dispatch, transmission operations and water diversion operations at SRP. Second, NSSL and the National Weather Service will continue to evaluate the utility of NSSL-developed experimental radar algorithms in the desert environment of Phoenix. The project has three ongoing major scientific study targets: central Arizona thunderstorm environments, monsoon structures and moisture fluxes, and Mexican convective systems.
