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Matt Gilmore
Research Scientist - Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
April 9, 2008
3:00 pm: Conversation and Cookies in Room 108 Atmospheric Sciences Building
3:30 pm: Seminar in Room 103 Transportation Building
To begin this talk, first I will review the current state of knowledge on the environmental conditions associated with significant tornadoes - touching on how modeling studies have contributed to significant gains in our understanding. In particular, modeling studies from the 1970s and 1980s demonstrated the environmental properties that support supercell storms while those from the 1990s and this decade have clarified the controls on strong low-level rotation and tornadoes. One important factor in the overall supercell structure and strength is the melting and evaporation within downdrafts (which, when minimized, results in a stronger vertically-stacked storm and larger low-level buoyant forcing in the immediate vicinity of tornadoes). Second, analysis is underway to understand the dynamic processes associated with the long-track tornado simulated for the 2004 NOVA television program. This is believed to be the first long-lived (45+ min) tornado simulated in the modeling community providing motivation for further analysis to explain its longevity and intensity. I will show illustrative animations as part of the discussion. Finally, I will discuss why more advanced microphysics schemes are needed and how we can use polarimetric radar data to help evaluate model performance. |
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