NSF Org:	AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
Recipient:	OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
Initial Amendment Date:	February 13, 2023
Latest Amendment Date:	February 13, 2023
Award Number:	2233182
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Nicholas Anderson nanderso@nsf.gov  (703)292-4715 AGS  Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	March 1, 2023
End Date:	February 28, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$400,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$400,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2023 = $400,000.00
History of Investigator:	David Bromwich (Principal Investigator) bromwich.1@osu.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Ohio State University 1960 KENNY RD COLUMBUS OH  US  43210-1016 (614)688-8735
Sponsor Congressional District:	03
Primary Place of Performance:	Ohio State University 1960 KENNY RD COLUMBUS OH  US  43210-1016
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	03
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	DLWBSLWAJWR1
Parent UEI:	MN4MDDMN8529
NSF Program(s):	Physical & Dynamic Meteorology
Primary Program Source:	01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s):	152500
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

Blowing snow is a common wintertime hazard in the Northern Great Plains. While the general conditions responsible for the process are understood, recent observations have demonstrated that blowing snow and blizzard conditions can vary significantly in time and space. Forecasting these events is difficult; weather models do not include the process, meaning that forecasters are reliant on imperfect techniques to predict the hazard. Further, it is believed that blowing snow can modify the lower atmosphere suggesting that additional downstream errors in forecasts are possible. Besides these immediate impacts on society, blowing snow is a critical process in open, cold regions of the globe by impacting the distribution of water and energy at the Earth?s surface. Innovative observations are needed to better understand blowing snow and provide the ground truth needed to advance efforts to model the process.

This collaborative project seeks to understand the physical mechanisms and impacts of blowing snow in the Northern Great Plains. The project will investigate the microphysical structure of blowing snow layers and the roles that terrain, atmospheric state, and sublimation have on the evolution of these events. Innovative observations will be made in and around eastern North Dakota/northwestern Minnesota, a region prone to blizzards and blowing snow events. The project will continue development of affordable, ground-based and balloon-borne microphysical imagers. Collectively with traditional radiosondes and vertically pointing lidars, observations will be used to evaluate and improve a fully coupled blowing snow parameterization within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, and the improved model will be applied to identify the key aspects determining blowing snow behavior. Multiple graduate students and numerous undergraduate students will be impacted through field work, analysis of data, numerical modeling, and deployment of hydrometeor imagers to other academic institutions. The project will promote other public outreach efforts and includes partners such as state tribal colleges and the National Weather Service, ensuring dissemination of knowledge to diverse groups.

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.

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