School of Meteorology Seminar Series presents...
Thunderstorm Generation by Bores and Solitons
Steve Koch
Director, NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory
23 October 2012, 4:00 PM
National Weather Center, Room 1350
120 David L. Boren Blvd.
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK
Bores and solitons are fundamental phenomena of geophysical flows, including avalanches, oil slicks, tides, and thunderstorm outflows. The basic properties of these phenomena are described from theory and laboratory studies, and then compared to a wide variety of ground-based and airborne remotely sensed observations collected in field experiments. The fundamental differences that give rise to the initiation of deep moist convection by bores in some cases and not in others are suggested from these experiments. Radar, lidar, interferometric, and high-resolution numerical model examination of the nature of the vertical mixing processes attending solitons reveal processes that result in observed turbulence intensity structures and the importance this has in explaining observed surface drying and warming attending these phenomena.