NSF Award
2312315
The prediction of severe weather such as tornadoes, large hail, and flooding continues to improve, allowing weather forecasts to better help society prepare for dangerous and damaging storms. Much of this improvement has come through understanding the causes of severe thunderstorms using models that simulate large portions of the atmosphere in detail, a procedure that requires the speed and performance of modern-day computers. Such computational capability allows the creation of multiple forecasts instead of just one for a given storm situation, highlighting the features in the atmosphere – like the degree of moisture or the wind profile – that lead to storms of different severity. These simultaneous forecasts also reveal how likely it is that upcoming storms may be severe, based on whether the different forecasts all agree on severe conditions (high likelihood of a severe event) or if forecasts show storms with a wide range of magnitudes (lower likelihood of a severe event). While these research methods have focused on understanding and improving severe storm prediction on a day-to-day basis, the predictability of high-impact weather events in a changing climate is unclear. The research aims to understand whether severe storms and their associated hazards can be better predicted as Earth's climate warms. This research is unique in that it goes beyond other studies that seek to uncover whether severe storms will become more or less frequent, instead determining if they are more or less predictable, a characteristic linked to the general atmospheric conditions that different climates support. The work will be performed by creating and analyzing big datasets of numerical weather model forecasts of severe storms in both recent (end of 20th century) and future (end of 21st century) climates. Specifically, how and why forecasts for severe storm situations evolve differently in different centuries will be assessed to understand the role climate change plays in atmospheric prediction.<br/><br/>There are numerous expected impacts of this work on the scientific community and society. Understanding if probabilistic forecasts of severe storms will have increased or decreased uncertainty could show whether such forecasts could be used effectively in societal applications. One such example includes water reservoir operations, which rely on accurate predictions of flood risk to efficiently manage water resources. If flooding were to become more predictable, applications like this that benefit from forecast certainty could become more common, substantially helping regional water supply and mitigating the negative consequences of climate change in areas that become drier. The research will also involve the creation of a large dataset of severe storm-resolving simulations, allowing scientists who wish to analyze the data to investigate other aspects of severe storm-climate relationships beyond that suggested here. Several graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in the research in several ways: graduate and undergraduate research and dissemination through journal articles, academic coursework, and presentations at university symposia and professional scientific conferences. The general public and K-12 students in communities surrounding the participating universities will also benefit from planned outreach events including weekend events at university museums, university-sanctioned summer camps, and open house events that promote 1-on-1 interaction in casual environments with project scientists.<br/><br/>This project is jointly funded by the Climate and Large-Scale Dynamics and Physical and Dynamic Meteorology programs in the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences as well as the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences to support projects that increase research capabilities, capacity and infrastructure at a wide variety of institution types, as outlined in the GEO EMBRACE DCL.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
