TY - JOUR
T1 - Determining the best method for estimating the observed level of maximum detrainment based on radar reflectivity
AU - Carletta, Nicholas D.
AU - Mullendore, Gretchen L.
AU - Starzec, Mariusz
AU - Xi, Baike
AU - Feng, Zhe
AU - Dong, Xiquan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the support from NSF Grants ATM-0918010 and ATM-1432930. The authors thank Timothy Lang for providing access to the STEPS and CHILL dual- Doppler data. The authors would also like to thank Mark Askelson for his advice as a graduate committee member. The authors also thank the three anonymous reviewers for taking the time to provide thoughtful and constructive feedback. Dr. Zhe Feng at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research as part of the Atmospheric System Research Program and the Regional and Global Climate Modeling Program. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated for DOE by the Battelle Memorial Institute under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Meteorological Society.
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - Convective mass transport is the transport of mass from near the surface up to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) by a deep convective updraft. This transport can alter the chemical makeup and water vapor balance of the UTLS, which affects cloud formation and the radiative properties of the atmosphere. It is, therefore, important to understand the exact altitudes at which mass is detrained from convection. The purpose of this study was to improve upon previously published methodologies for estimating the level of maximum detrainment (LMD) within convection using data from a single ground-based radar. Four methods were used to identify theLMDand validated against dual-Doppler-derived vertical mass divergence fields for six cases with a variety of storm types. The best method for locating the LMD was determined to be the method that used a reflectivity texture technique to determine convective cores and a multilayer echo identification to determine anvil locations. Although an improvement over previously published methods, the new methodology still produced unreliable results in certain regimes. The methodology worked best when applied to mature updrafts, as the anvil needs time to grow to a detectable size. Thus, radar reflectivity is found to be valuable in estimating the LMD, but storm maturity must also be considered for best results.
AB - Convective mass transport is the transport of mass from near the surface up to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) by a deep convective updraft. This transport can alter the chemical makeup and water vapor balance of the UTLS, which affects cloud formation and the radiative properties of the atmosphere. It is, therefore, important to understand the exact altitudes at which mass is detrained from convection. The purpose of this study was to improve upon previously published methodologies for estimating the level of maximum detrainment (LMD) within convection using data from a single ground-based radar. Four methods were used to identify theLMDand validated against dual-Doppler-derived vertical mass divergence fields for six cases with a variety of storm types. The best method for locating the LMD was determined to be the method that used a reflectivity texture technique to determine convective cores and a multilayer echo identification to determine anvil locations. Although an improvement over previously published methods, the new methodology still produced unreliable results in certain regimes. The methodology worked best when applied to mature updrafts, as the anvil needs time to grow to a detectable size. Thus, radar reflectivity is found to be valuable in estimating the LMD, but storm maturity must also be considered for best results.
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U2 - 10.1175/MWR-D-15-0427.1
DO - 10.1175/MWR-D-15-0427.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84981239982
VL - 144
SP - 2915
EP - 2926
JO - Monthly Weather Review
JF - Monthly Weather Review
SN - 0027-0644
IS - 8
ER -