Date of Award

Summer 2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

First Advisor

Joseph M Woznicki

Committee Chair

Joseph M Woznicki

Committee Member 1

Michael Baldwin

Committee Member 2

Sonia Lasher-Trapp

Committee Member 3

Robert J. Trapp

Abstract

All modes of deep convective storms perturb their local environment on temporal and spatial scales that are larger than the storm itself. Such upscale feedbacks associated with the mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are well known; much less is known about the feedbacks associated with supercell thunderstorms that, like MCSs, represent a highly organized convective mode. Data from the Mesoscale Predictability Experiment (MPEX), in addition to CM1 model simulations, provide the means to quantify these upscale feedbacks and determine their relative influence on the subsequent predictability of the atmosphere. The 700-500 mb lapse rate (MLR), mean-layer CAPE up to 475 mb (MLCAPE475), and 1-6 km wind shear (S16) are calculated from the raw MPEX sounding files and CM1 output for three supercell cases and one squall line case. The most significant upscaling occurs in the lowest levels of the atmosphere, and is introduced by each storm's cold pool boundary.

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