A comparison of microphysical properties in lake-effect and synoptic snowfall near Buffalo, NY
Peters, McKenzie Rose
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125726
Description
Title
A comparison of microphysical properties in lake-effect and synoptic snowfall near Buffalo, NY
Author(s)
Peters, McKenzie Rose
Issue Date
2024-07-16
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Nesbitt, Stephen W
Pettersen, Claire
Department of Study
Climate Meteorology & Atm Sci
Discipline
Atmospheric Sciences
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Snow
Precipitation microphysics
Buffalo, NY
observations
Lake-effect snow
Synoptic snow
Abstract
Wintertime precipitation events greatly impact the environment and society, particularly in the Great Lakes region. Snowfall has socioeconomic impacts on transportation, recreation, agriculture, and infrastructure, as well as environmental impacts on regional ecology and hydrology. The extent of these impacts is dictated by storm type which induces differences in snowfall characteristics which poses a challenge in terms of forecasting snowfall. To improve forecasting of snow events, it is imperative to understand how the snowfall event type, mesoscale versus synoptic, dictates what an observer sees at the ground level. One location that endures extreme snowfall is Buffalo, NY, which is located along the long axis of Lake Erie, and can experience large lake-effect and synoptic snow accumulations. The University of Illinois System for Characterizing and Measuring Precipitation (SCAMP) is a suite of deployable ground-based instruments consisting of a profiling Micro Rain Radar 2, a Parsivel2 laser disdrometer, a precipitation weighing gauge, and a weather sensor. This instrument suite measures various characteristics of precipitation, such as precipitation amounts, radar reflectivities and Doppler velocities, and hydrometeor particle size distributions, supplemented by environmental conditions. SCAMP was deployed east of Buffalo, NY, for two full winter seasons, allowing synoptic and mesoscale snow events to be sampled. Using three events from the SCAMP dataset (two lake-effect events on 18-20 November 2022 and 23-25 December 2022 and a synoptic event observed on 17 January 2022), the observed snowfall parameters will be examined to help understand how the event type impacts surface snowfall characteristics.
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