Invitation to Participate in the Houston Environmental Aerosol Thunderstorm Project (HEAT)

The Houston Environmental Aerosol Thunderstorm (HEAT) Project is currently planned for July and August 2005 in the Houston area. This major field program is motivated by the observation that lightning near and downstream of Houston, Texas is approximately double what would be expected for this geographical area. The cause of this enhancement is unknown, but must be related in some way to anthropogenic modifications to the chemical or aerosol population in the urban environment, urban modifications to local atmospheric thermodynamic or kinematic characteristics, the presence of coastal irregularities, or some combination or interaction of the above.

Because of the range of phenomena which must be studied, the HEAT Project will be a comprehensive field program that will simultaneously measure atmospheric aerosol and cloud microphysical characteristics, urban heat island processes and effects, sea breeze structure and inhomogeneities, and three-dimensional lightning characteristics. Complementary measurements of the redistribution or modification of atmospheric trace constituents by convection will also be made. Scientists with an interest in investigating or modeling any of these phenomena or their interactions are welcome to participate.

Major instrumentation planned for the field program include two polarized Doppler radars, two mobile Doppler radars, two to three research aircraft, surface flux measurements, and special sonde launches.

The field program will occur during the extended observation period of TexAQS-II, an air quality field program studying ozone and haze in eastern Texas.