Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS): Results from the First Deployment in Winter 2020 and a Look Ahead to Winter 2022
Abstract
Snowstorms (IMPACTS) is a NASA-funded Earth Venture Suborbital-3 field campaign to study banded precipitation structures within winter mid-latitude cyclones. The goals of IMPACTS are to characterize the spatial and temporal scales and structures of snowbands; understand the dynamical, thermodynamical and microphysical processes that produce the observed structures; and apply this understanding to remote sensing and modeling of snowfall. The first deployment took place January February 2020 and two subsequent deployments are planned for January February 2022 and January February 2023. In order to sample storms over a broad geographical expanse from the Midwest to northeastern United States, aircraft are the primary platforms for obtaining observations. The high-altitude NASA ER-2 carries a suite of remote sensing instruments including cloud and precipitation radars, lidar, and passive microwave instruments to simulate satellite-borne instrumentation, and the in-situ NASA P-3 samples environmental and microphysical quantities using a turbulent air motion measurement system, microphysics probes, and a dropsonde system to sample vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and winds. These airborne measurements are supplemented with ground-based measurements from rawinsondes launched from mobile sounding systems and at National Weather Service stations near the storms of interest, ground-based radars stationed over Long Island, and the New York State mesonet ground network of meteorological and profiling instruments. Preliminary analysis of data from the 2020 deployment illustrates the utility of sampling snowband structures with both remote sensing instrumentation and in situ observations. Initial results highlighting the differences in radar characteristics and microphysical properties within and outside of snowband structures from the 2020 deployment will be presented. Plans for the 2022 deployment will also be discussed.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFM.A23A..02M