Over the years, atmospheric scientists and wind engineers have enjoyed fruitful collaborations that have addressed fundamental problems in the two disciplines. The majority of the research projects active within the Atmospheric Science Group and Wind Science and Engineering (WISE) center at Texas Tech University involve field experimentation. It has been recognized, however, that the link between the active research portfolio and the classroom could be stronger. The work under this award will provide new tools to further interactions between atmospheric scientists and wind engineers and incorporate these tools into a classroom setting.
Under this award, the Principal Investigator will develop two new graduate classes, establish a Measurement and Analysis Laboratory (MAL) and conduct a research agenda focused on the atmospheric boundary layer in non-idealized (extreme) events. The initial research focus will be on the wind structure found within the hurricane planetary boundary layer (HPBL) -- specifically, documenting the HPBL wind flow characteristics and relating them to storm-scale processes. Special attention will be given to the coastal transition region.
The two new graduate classes will focus on providing a fundamental foundation in making and analyzing measurements. The courses will provide students a unique and comprehensive experience at building instrumentation and acquisition systems, acquiring relevant data sets and analyzing them.
The MAL will provide a central resource for students and researchers to efficiently learn about and develop instrumentation and data acquisition (DAQ) systems both in and out of the classroom. The MAL will be used to teach both of the newly developed courses and will be available to students and researchers to assist them in the development and testing of instrumentation and DAQ systems.
The focus of the integrated approach is on providing a bridge to the students between the classroom and the field. The strength of existing programs within WISE will be enhanced because the current facilities can be brought into the classroom and used as "real world" examples and sources for class projects. This will link the educational aspects with the main research thrusts of WISE and provide the graduate students an educational foundation to accomplish the goals of their research projects.
Successful completion of this research will lend new insights into important meteorological phenomena such as the wind structure in the hurricane boundary layer. The educational activities will provide an excellent environment for developing the next generation of wind engineers and atmospheric scientists and give them an exceptional background in observational issues.
