BOULDER--From the air and the ground, scientists this spring and summer will examine some of the world's largest thunderstorm complexes, behemoths that can spread hurricane-force wind and torrential rain for hundreds of miles across the U.S. Midwest. The study, scheduled from May 20 to July 6, should provide the clearest picture to date of how these storms wreak havoc and how forecasters can better predict their trails of damage. The Bow Echo and MCV Experiment (BAMEX) is being organized by scientists Christopher Davis and Morris Weisman at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. MCV stands for mesoscale convective vortex, a low-pressure center associated with large clusters of storms. The $4-million study is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Collaborators include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Naval Research Laboratory, and a dozen colleges and universities (see full participant list below). The BAMEX study area encompasses most of the Midwest. Field operations, including three aircraft and a forecast center, are based at MidAmerica Airport, just east of St. Louis, where a media day will be held on May 19 (see details below). Mobile weather labs will traverse the study area. Ron Przybylinski (NOAA National Weather Service, St. Louis) says that NWS forecasters in the region are eager to participate in BAMEX, which is the area's biggest thunderstorm-related study since the 1970s. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The more knowledge we have about the evolution of these systems, the better we can predict them." --A warm-season threat-- Unlike many summer storms that develop and decay in an hour or two, mesoscale convective systems--which can produce bow echoes and MCVs-- are often large, intense, and long-lasting. Typically, such a system develops in the warmth of the late afternoon and can last through the night. As it grows, a downdraft of high winds from rain-cooled air can push it into a bow-like configuration, seen as a bow echo on radar. Weak tornadoes may form along the bow or at either end, but the main threat is from straight-line winds that can gust to over 100 miles per hour. While a typical tornadic thunderstorm might span 12 miles, the long- lived systems studied in BAMEX can stretch more than 90 miles in width and carve paths more than 500 miles long. Such storms can be terrifying, especially late at night--the time when they are most likely across much of the Midwest. On the night of July 26, 1990, a bow echo barreled through Kansas City packing winds of 74 mph. The storm ripped off roofs, downed trees, and cut electric power to about 100,000 homes and businesses. Between January 1995 and July 2000, high winds from U.S. mesoscale convective systems caused over $1.4 billion in damage, 72 deaths, and over 1,000 injuries. BAMEX will study how these damaging winds unfold at night, when low-level air usually cools and stabilizes. Once a mesoscale convective system dissipates, its vortex may persist as a focus for new storms the next day, making the vortex a potential forecasting tool. Several days of storms can be triggered as an MCV makes its way across the central and eastern United States. "This characteristic of an MCV is most interesting, for it implies a greater degree of predictability in storm initiation than previously thought possible," says Stephan Nelson, NSF program director for mesoscale meteorology. Heavy rain is a particular threat with multiday MCV episodes. One MCV that formed in South Dakota in July 1977 ended up producing a catastrophic flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that killed 78 people. --Casting a wide net-- Although researchers have made progress in simulating mesoscale convective systems with computer models, there have been no large- scale experiments in recent years aimed at gathering data on these enormous complexes. According to Weisman, "We came to realize that we'd gone about as far as we could with the idealized simulations. We needed to get good data." During BAMEX, three research aircraft will track developing bow echoes and MCVs as they move east across the Midwest from South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas to the Ohio Valley. Two of these aircraft have Doppler radar on board. A third will release dropsondes--instrument packages that sample the atmosphere and transmit weather data as they gently descend via parachute. Ground-based crews will intercept the storms in mobile weather laboratories, deploying weather balloons and using atmospheric profilers and other instruments to sample the storm environment. "It's going to be unique in that we'll be all over the place and never know where we'll be the next night," says NCAR's Ned Chamberlain, who is overseeing the balloon launches. "We'll be driving hundreds of miles in a day." To capture the storm systems' evolution at night, operations could extend as late as 2:00 a.m. Forecasters from National Weather Service offices throughout the Midwest will take turns sharing their expertise in St. Louis, examining computer models and diagnosing storm behavior. The data gleaned from BAMEX should enable forecasters to improve their warnings for the high winds produced by bow echoes and the heavy rains triggered by MCVs. The Joint Office for Science Support (JOSS)--part of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which operates NCAR--has built a Web-based catalog to provide up-to-the-minute field data and serve as an archive for later use. JOSS is also teaming with NCAR and other participants to set up and staff the BAMEX operations center. The project will benefit greatly from the expertise of the NWS forecasters on hand, according to JOSS's James Moore. "We expect to take advantage of their local knowledge and appreciation for these strong mesoscale systems. They'll be a real asset." The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under primary sponsorship by the National Science Foundation. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. ======================================= Questions and answers: The Bow Echo and MCV Experiment (BAMEX) ======================================= --How will the BAMEX aircraft operate? Three aircraft (see below), to be based at the BAMEX Operations Center, will fly within a 500-mile radius of St. Louis. Flight dates and locations will be determined by weather conditions. On operational days, the aircraft will fly as early as noon and as late as 6:00 a.m. Two P-3 aircraft will sample the storm using on-board Doppler radar, typically at heights of around 10,000 feet. The third aircraft, a Lear Jet, will deploy dropsondes in and around the storm from heights of 30,000 to 45,000 feet, away from populated areas. --How will the airborne instrument packages be operated? Radiosondes (weather balloons) will be launched from vehicles positioned in and near regions of expected storm development. These lightweight packages will transmit data as they ascend, while dropsondes will send data as they descend via parachute from an airplane. --What other BAMEX activities will be visible from the road? Several mobile units (see below) will canvass the study region, making periodic stops to take measurements. One vehicle will have a roof-mounted observing station that monitors weather while on the road. The presence of a BAMEX vehicle doesn't necessarily mean that a given location will get severe weather. All BAMEX vehicles will be clearly marked by institution (see list below). ========================= More on BAMEX instruments ========================= Aircraft Period of study Typical altitude NOAA P-3 May 20-July 6 10,000-18,000 ft. NRL P-3 May 20-July 6 5,000 ft. Lear Jet (Weather Modification, Inc.) May 20-July 6 30,000-45,000 ft. --Ground-based mobile instruments-- The Mobile Integrated Profiling System (MIPS), from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), includes: --A Doppler wind profiler (upward-pointing radar that senses precipitation and winds aloft) --A Doppler sodar (sonic-based radar that senses wind direction and speed aloft) --A lidar ceilometer (upward-pointing, laser-based radar that detects cloud height and airborne particles) --A microwave profiling radiometer (a device that senses microwave radiation and infers temperature, moisture and cloud water at various heights) --A disdrometer (a device that measures the sizes of raindrops) --An electric field mill that measures lightning discharges and electric field variations associated with thunderstorms --Advanced surface instrumentation UAH is also providing a roof-mounted mobile weather station. The NCAR Mobile GLASS (GPS/Loran Atmospheric Sounding System) will be deploying up to 275 radiosondes. Additional data will be provided by standard NOAA observing networks. =================================== Institutions participating in BAMEX =================================== --Agencies and laboratories-- National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and National Weather Service (NWS) Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) --Colleges and universities-- University of Alabama in Huntsville Augustana College University of California, Los Angeles Colorado State University University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Iowa State University University of Missouri University at Albany, State University of New York Pennsylvania State University Purdue University Saint Louis University Texas A&M University