Award Abstract # 2114011
Collaborative Research: WINTRE-MIX: Winter Precipitation Type Research Multi-scale Experiment

NSF Org: AGS
Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
Recipient: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
Initial Amendment Date: September 1, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: November 5, 2024
Award Number: 2114011
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Nicholas Anderson
nanderso@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4715
AGS
 Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: September 1, 2021
End Date: August 31, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $1,827,602.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $1,837,002.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $1,337,016.00
FY 2022 = $499,986.00
History of Investigator:
  • Katja Friedrich (Principal Investigator)
    katja.friedrich@colorado.edu
  • Andrew Winters (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Colorado at Boulder
3100 MARINE ST
Boulder
CO  US  80309-0001
(303)492-6221
Sponsor Congressional District: 02
Primary Place of Performance: University of Colorado at Boulder
ATOC, 311 UCB
Boulder
CO  US  80309-0311
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
02
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): SPVKK1RC2MZ3
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Physical & Dynamic Meteorology
Primary Program Source: 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 9178, 9251, SMET
Program Element Code(s): 152500
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

During near-freezing weather conditions, a diversity of surface precipitation types are possible, including: rain, drizzle, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, wet snow, ice pellets, and snow. Such near freezing precipitation affects wide swaths of the United States and Canada, impacting aviation, road transportation, power generation and distribution, winter recreation, ecology, and hydrology. This award is for a field experiment, named the Winter Precipitation Type Research Multi-scale Experiment (WINTRE-MIX) with the overarching goal of improving understanding of how a variety of processes influence the variability and predictability of the type and amount of precipitation that falls during winter weather events. The project has direct societal impact through the potential for improved forecasting of these events. Additionally, the project will have significant student involvement, public outreach events, and citizen science participation.

The WINTRE-MIX campaign will be conducted in southern Quebec, Canada and northern NY and VT in the United States. The Canadian National Research Council Convair-580 research aircraft and the University of Illinois mobile radars will be deployed along with a host of surface-based instrumentation in February and March of 2022 to make observations that can be used to determine the thermodynamic, dynamic, and microphysical processes that interact to determine near-freezing precipitation type. More specifically, the project has three overarching scientific questions that will be addressed using observations, analysis, and modeling: 1) How do mesoscale dynamics modulate near-freezing precipitation, 2) How do microscale processes modulate near-freezing precipitation, and 3) How do multi-scale processes combine to determine the predictability of near-freezing precipitation?

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.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Winters, Andrew_C and Bassill, Nick_P and Gyakum, John_R and Minder, Justin_R "Regime-Dependent Characteristics and Predictability of Cold-Season Precipitation Events in the St. Lawrence River Valley" Weather and Forecasting , v.39 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-23-0218.1 Citation Details

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