9707443 Lackmann The ultimate goal of this project is to gain insights into the large-scale atmospheric flow patterns that precede and accompany heavy precipitation events (HPE). HPE's are here defined as those events where precipitation exceeds the average 24 hour seasonal rainfall totals by two standard deviations. If characteristic flow patterns associated with such events can be identified , new insights about the diabatic heating and precipitation processes and feedbacks involved may be obtained. This information, in turn, could serve as the basis for better parameterization of the physics in numerical forecast models. The principal investigator has obtained some promising results with a preliminary study of HPE's over western Canada. This study will examine HPE's in the northeastern part of the U.S., principally in the cold season. His analyses will involve both composite and case studies of these events diagnosed from a quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity perspective and will examine the role of moisture transports in the evolution of HPE's. This award is part of NSF's Research in Undergraduate Institutions activity. Dr. Lackmann will involve several undergraduates directly in his research.
