Ten Years after T-REX: What Have We Learned?

Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) was a complex international field campaign that took place in 2006 in the lee of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. The key T-REX scientific objectives were focused on the formation and dynamical evolution of atmospheric rotors as part of the boundary-layer/rotor/mountain-wave coupled system. The field experiment and the attendant research effort also had a number of auxiliary objectives, from the boundary-layer dynamics in a deep valley to deep vertically propagating gravity waves.

In this ten-year retrospective view, through the analysis of scholarly output and other select indicators, we examine the impact this major experimental effort had on enabling new research discoveries, preparation of the next generation of researchers, and creating new pathways from research to operations. We also comment on the value of new observational technologies that have become available since T-REX on addressing its original objectives.