24 February 2011: An unexpected opportunity has NASA's atmospheric scientists call one strange phenomenon of "Thundersnow" If a the last storm it sparked directly over their heads to study.
Walt Petersen and Kevin Knupp are widely traveled to study winter storms. They never dreamed that the most extraordinary one would - see it cast with freakish Thundersnow, a 50-mile-long lightning bolt and almost a dozen schwere-- would burst into their own back yards. The storm met Huntsville, Alabama, on the evening of January 9th.
"This incredible storm right extended the national space science and Technology Center in which we work," says Knupp. "What luck!"
Snowstorms glide in the rule in the background with soft snowflakes drifting silently on the Earth. But this Alabama swept snow storm in with the fanfare Flash and the growl of Thunder.
The nightly events described eyewitness Steve Coulter: "it was like a lightning Assistant, behind a large white curtain was spinning." The bolts, muted in thick, low-hanging clouds, lit purplish blue, like light through a Prism. And then the Thunder crested deep and low. This was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. ""
It was a unique scene for every lucky enough to see it, but especially exciting scientists, find the key which makes nature shows. Petersen and Knupp, with the help of students from the University of Alabama-Huntsville, had their research equipment primed and ready.
His first place workstation can Petersen Lightning Detector monitor networks and control radar that he used to measuring and recording of the storm. But when the storm first hit his response was a little less scientific: "I was so excited that I ran outside to make slippers to shots in my house," he recalls. At approximately 10:30 am, he heard the first rumble of Thundersnow. "My first thought was, 'award, a bonus!'"
This snowstorm acting like a storm has what? Petersen, explains:
"You have lightning rarely in a snow storm." But in this case, you set the stage for it some unique conditions. Moist air at the bottom of which was storm lifted up fast formation of snow and ice. Some of the snow also grew in pellet forms called 'Sleet', "says he."
Snowflakes and ice pellets in various sizes mounted with different S?tzen-- and they began to exchange fees. The process is not fully understood, it rub but a result of the particles together (as on carpet wool socks). Like the cloud to charged, it began to less like an ordinary winter snowstorm and act more like a summer thunderstorm.
It is no coincidence that the Thundersnow called gravity waves was accompanied by massive roller coasters in the air. These waves are the waves in the ocean, but through the air instead of water roles.
"It was a virtually constant, uniform course of gravity waves, starting at the Monte Sano, a small hill a few miles east of us and moving to the West, directly from our building," says Knupp, the storm duration with his eyes riveted on instrument displays within the teams mobile X-band radar van spent. "An easterly flow bumped, 11 separate waves, make was pushed by air on the other side of the ridge and over Monte Sano about one per hour."
He believes the movement and movement of the waves variations in the updrafts created responsible for the heavy snow, which generated at the charge separation, the lightning. Unfortunately, if the storm most impressive lightning bolt sky aglow set he was knee deep in the computer screens instead of snow.
"The bolt from the Tower on Monte Sano mountain very Molton, Alabama, about 50 kilometers, reached", Knupp says. "And I missed it."
Was he disappointed?
"I felt cheated, but it has paid off trade to." "I learned some interesting things."
Like a scientist true spoken.
Author: Dauna Coulter | Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
Thundersnow hits deep South-spacewalk
Dr. Knupp is a Professor of atmospheric science and Director of severe weather research at UA-Huntsville.
Dr. Petersen is an atmospheric scientist of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. He leads a NASA-funded group, trips around the world collect precipitation, a network of Earth monitoring satellite developed by NASA referred to the global precipitation measurement (GPM) mission is support. Blizzard provided an excellent opportunity for Petersen's team detailed measurements of precipitation and use as a kind of database or model, what would the constellation GPM see satellite from space to simulate these observations. By the combination of observations on the ground that of polarimetric radar, Petersen's team expected, very much about the processes responsible for creating the snow to learn, and more precisely measure the water content of snow from space and the rate at which, that accumulate snow water equivalent to the ground.
Knupp and Petersen work at a research center in Huntsville, Alabama, known as the national space science and Technology Center, where NASA, scientists are UA-Huntsville and other entities.
The team used University and NASA instruments including two lightning detector networks, an extended dual polarization Doppler radar at Huntsville international airport and the national weather service Doppler radar at Hytop in Jackson County. Knupp sent the University mobile dual polarization Doppler radar outside of new market in northeastern Madison County set up unit.
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