Vertical Extent of Thunderstorm Inflows Revealed by Polarimetric Radar

Melnikov, Valery; Zrnić, Dušan S.; Burgess, Donald W.; Mansell, Edward R.

doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0096.1

i

Vertical Extent of Thunderstorm Inflows Revealed by Polarimetric Radar

2015
By Melnikov, Valery ; Zrnić, Dušan S. ; Burgess, Donald W. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
Personal Author:

Melnikov, Valery ; Zrnić, Dušan S. ; Burgess, Donald W. ; Mansell, Edward R.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) ; CIMMS (Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies)
Description:

It is shown that the dual-polarization radar parameters can be used to estimate the vertical extent of inflow regions in thunderstorms. Atmospheric biota trapped by inflows allows identification of inflow regions. It is shown that weak echoes from biota can be observed at signal-to-noise ratios as low as −7 dB. The vertical extent of inflow reached 5.2 km in the analyzed tornadic thunderstorm and 6.7 km in a severe thunderstorm.
Keywords:

Inflow Radar Severe Storms Severe Storms
Source:

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 32(10), 1860-1865
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0096.1
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA11OAR4320072
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:a0b93ceea022bbd12afe776470657b68fc15ea380997db7c1e10e6723d6148c8
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/32125/noaa_32125_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.57 MB ]

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