Along-frontal kinematic and moisture variability and the impact on convection initiation

The International H₂O Project (IHOP_2002) was designed to sample the three-dimensional time-varying moisture field to better understand convective processes. Numerous research and operational water vapor measuring systems and retrievals were operated in the U.S. Southern Great Plains from 13 May to 25 June 2002. This was done in combination with more traditional observations of wind and temperature. Convection initiation (CI) missions were designed to maximize observational overlap from multiple instruments to better understand the processes leading to the development of deep, moist convection.

Spectral analyses of numerous fields on 12 June 2002 identified internal gravity waves. The waves were interacting with two boundaries (i.e., cold front/outflow boundary and dryline) prior to CI. The goal is to examine the moisture and kinematic variability associated with the waves, especially at the intersections between the waves and the boundaries. It is suspected that the waves may cause an along-boundary periodicity of moisture and vertical motion. Mobile datasets to be included in this study will be ELDORA; LEANDRE II; DRI MMR; UWKA and NRL P-3 in situ measurements; MIPS; NAST-I; radiosondes and dropsondes. Although the ground-based sensors (i.e., S-Pol, mobile radars and mobile mesonets) were farther west than the CI area, they are useful for illustrating the boundary layer high-resolution kinematics and thermodynamics. Several fixed profiling instruments west of the CI region (e.g., SRL, Harlie, GLOW, MAPR) may be added to the analysis, if useful. The combination of these high-temporal and -spatial resolution measurements should provide a detailed account of the interaction of various boundaries and their impact on convective development.